Minutes
Quincy School Committee Joint Teaching & Learning and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Subcommittees Meeting
A joint meeting of the Teaching & Learning and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Subcommittees was held on Thursday, June 6, 2024 at 6:20 pm in the Coddington Building. Present were Teaching & Learning Subcommittee members Mr. Paul Bregoli, Mrs. Kathryn Hubley, and Mrs. Emily Lebo, Subcommittee Chair and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Subcommittee members Mr. Paul Bregoli, Mr. Doug Gutro, and Mrs. Tina Cahill, EDI Subcommittee Chair. Also present were School Committee Member Mrs. Courtney Perdios; Superintendent Kevin Mulvey, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Erin Perkins, Ms. Kim Connolly, Mr. Michael Marani, Ms. Maura Papile, Ms. Kimberley Quinn, Ms. Bridget Vaughan; and Ms. Laura Owens, Clerk.
English Language Arts Coordinator Bridget Vaughan and Mathematics Coordinator Kim Quinn presented an update on the updating and aligning of Kindergarten through Grade 5 Report Cards, Rubrics, and Pacing Guides due to the implementation of new curriculum for both ELA and Mathematics. Samples of the updated report cards and rubrics, pacing, and alignment documents were shared with School Committee. All of the documents are accessible to all elementary staff members through the shared Google drive. These documents were a collaborative process among teachers and the Curriculum coordinators, with support from the IT department. The revised report cards will be rolled out for the 2024-2025 school year.
Mrs. Hubley asked about the continuing real-time revision process. Ms. Quinn said any teacher can reach out to a curriculum team member. Larger changes would be discussed at the citywide professional development meetings and implemented after analysis and agreement.
Mr. Bregoli asked about the ELA curriculum and the inclusion of sight words. Ms. Vaughan said this is part of the developmentally appropriate Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) curriculum, along with word and sound walls.
Mrs. Cahill asked for clarification, the 2024-2025 school year will be the second year of using the CKLA program at all schools. Some schools had additional experience through the piloting process in the 2021-2022 school year. Ms. Vaughan is looking forward to the spring MAP results for demonstrated growth for our students.
Mrs. Lebo said the CKLA program is a high interest program, appealing to even reluctant readers.
Mrs. Lebo asked for clarification, the Common Core are national standards and there are also Massachusetts standards that are close but not identical. The Illustrative Mathematics program is correlated to Common Core, so the Quincy Public Schools pacing and alignment guide pulls in additional resources to support any different Massachusetts standards to ensure those are taught as well.
Assistant Superintendent Dr. Erin Perkins and Curriculum Director Michael Marani presented an update on the Quincy Public Schools initiatives on Chronic Absenteeism, reminding School Committee that students are considered Chronically Absent when they have missed 10% of enrolled school days, typically 18 or more out of 180 school days. The Superintendent’s goal for the 2023-2024 school year was to reduce chronic absenteeism in Grades 1-8 by 2% from a base of 14.9% and in Grades 9-12 by 3% from a base of 26.2%. As of May 24, 2024, 1428 students have been absent 16 or more days. In the same time frame last year, 216 additional students were chronically absent, so the snapshot shows a decrease of 13%.
The principals have made tremendous efforts to combat chronic absenteeism, implementing attendance recovery through the Accelerated Academy offerings on Saturdays and during school vacations. Increased communication and education of parents/guardians, personalized outreach, and continuing the multi-tiered approach to support students and families including early interventions before students get into the chronically absent category. The final Accelerated Academy will be offered the week of June 24, with the possibility of students earning back up to five days.
Mr. Marani noted that Kindergarten is not part of the Chronic Absenteeism data, but the elementary schools are emphasizing the importance of school attendance to Kindergarten families. For high school, students are concerned about their course credits and participate in credit recovery through the online Accellus platform. In the fall, principals will have opportunities for formal sharing of best practices.
Dr. Perkins emphasized that the success of this initiative is due to the hard work of the principals, encouraging regular attendance and celebrating the students who have made progress.
Mr. Bregoli asked for a breakout of data by Grades 1-5 and 6-8. Mr. Bregoli asked if DESE provides guidelines about absenteeism and promotion, especially for middle school students. A student who misses school and does not pass classes won’t have the foundational skills needed for high school. Dr. Perkins said there is no state guidance on promotion, it is a local decision. Dr. Perkins said that sometimes students have other issues, need the supports of the PASS program or other family interventions.
Mr. Gutro agreed with the request for the data to be broken down by grade level grouping, as well as the breakdown of issues that prevent students from attending school regularly. Mr. Gutro asked when the analysis of the 2023-24 school year will be presented, Dr. Perkins said it will be part of the annual data presentation in October and the School Improvement Plan presentations in November.
Mr. Gutro suggested surveying families who have shown improvement in absenteeism what changed for them, was it internal or external factors.
Mrs. Hubley asked about the absenteeism for EL high school students, Dr. Perkins said that we are continuing to analyze high school student engagement, especially looking at ACCESS data vs. students’ class schedules, and offer alternative supports to ensure that students make progress towards graduation.
Mrs. Hubley asked about traveling families, students who are traveling internationally for extended periods of time are withdrawn. Dr. Perkins said families taking multiple shorter vacations are more of a concern.
Mrs. Lebo asked for clarification on the high school data, some students are in multiple categories on the chart. Mrs. Lebo said that for the high school students, one option to incentivize older EL students would be bilingual paraprofessionals in CVTE classes.
Mrs. Lebo said that the in the past, family’s DTA benefits were affected by school attendance. Ms. Papile will research whether this is still an issue.
Mrs. Cahill asked about the pre-COVID chronic absenteeism rate, it was much lower (after several years of efforts to reduce it). Mrs. Cahill asked for analysis of high school students who are new to the US and having absenteeism issues. Mrs. Cahill asked about the transition process for older students, there are EL curriculum area courses at both high schools. Some students can finish high school in four years while others may need additional time due to not having credits from their home country.
Mrs. Hubley made a motion to adjourn the Joint Teaching & Learning and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Subcommittees meeting at 7:25 pm, seconded by Mr. Bregoli. On a voice vote, the ayes have it.