US+Meeting+2015+10+26

Double Check DOLs, PBLs, etc.

Junior Year Homework From Class Council: anecdotal evidence about excessive homework. Academic support noticing that posting of major assignments is late and that assessments retakes are not similar in the same course, homework posting (info. out and discussion to take back to your departments)

= CARP THIS YEAR: =
 * __Why __****: We intend to study curriculum with an emphasis on assessment strategies and skills building within our division, emphasizing skills/process. We will identify gaps, redundancies, continuities, and progressions in knowledge and demonstrated skills. We will have an eye toward the strategic plan, but the goal is to document what we already do rather than focus on building new program or focusing on innovation. **


 * __How __****: Approach/Action Plan: During department meetings, we make productive use of time to discuss what an ideal US History/Social Studies graduate will look like, taking into account the “around the world” 9-11 curriculum as well as Global Studies and elective courses. What does a USM student “look” like upon graduation? We will collate information on learning targets and assessment strategies. Ultimately, we will use the data we gather within our own division to facilitate discussions across divisions when we meet for CARP. **

9/15: share plan with department, discuss 11/16: CARP 11/30: Department Meeting—return with findings from CARP meeting 1/5, 2/22, 4/25: TBD contingent on previous progress and additional tasks as assigned by Division Head.
 * __When __****: **
 * 10/26: Address “What graduate should look like”; Collate information on assessments and learning targets. **

CARP Carp—focus on curriculum alignment Assessment: report out

Begin: what are we doing? Look at assessments and describe skills, process.
In the vein of assessment. NOT CONTENT. What kinds of assessments. What are you doing to find out if the kids are getting it? How do you determine if the child is successful? Don’t do final grade.

what do we want a graduate to be like? Skills/process, broad content.

 * Then, how do we try to get there? Assessment strategies.
 * Both what do we use to assess within our classroom and how we get to that end grade.
 * Chuck knows how guys in the department do it, but x-div other people don’t know how he does it.
 * Grading policies?
 * Be Clear with Vocabulary
 * o How do you arrive at a letter grade?
 * § Learning goals…
 * § We’re not defending/criticizing, we are reporting.


 * o How to find out if kids are hitting learning targets?
 * o What are the assessments we’re using?
 * o What are the outcomes we seek?
 * Discussion and homework?

Defining Strands: A content or skills strand. Where taught/how taught/where spirals? Learning Outcomes?

 * Skills:
 * o Research
 * o Global
 * o Reading across
 * o What if we go across vertical teams Use this time to meet as vertical teams.
 * Content? Is our curriculum map the same across all divisions? Is it ok to have it different within a department within a division? PK/SK are primarily skills.
 * What about English/History overlap on skills?
 * Joe: assessments as a point of departure. I would like to look at final quarter and work backwards….
 * Surveys? Which skills strands do you most want to look at?