Standards, Courses & Curricula (SCC) Subcommittee

Notes for the Meeting of May 24, 2006

Committee Chair: Sean Gallagher.

SCC Mission:  Improving standards and aligning courses to standards. Identifying gaps in curricula and course content to fill them. Continuous improvement to curriculum to assure the highest quality courses.

Recommendations:  The two priority strategies were to develop standard outcomes and pre-requisite knowledge and skills for core 100-200 level engineering science; and develop assessments based on standard outcomes and rubrics. 

Agenda for the first meeting - May 24, 2006 3:30 - 5:30
3:30 - 3:35 Introductions, opening remarks

3:35 - 3:50

Special Guest: Bill Becker, speaking on the work being done at the state level for standards & assessment in science

 

 Review of purpose and results of OPAS Initiative & SCC subcommittee task
  Appoint:  Vice-Chair, Recorder, Sergeant at Arms
 

Action Item: Outcomes

Identify as a group the expected outcomes for this committee

  1. What would I like to see as a participating member?
  2. Timeline
  3. Education levels on which to focus
  Presentation:  What does an engineering curriculum look like? – Gallagher - click here for slides
  • Embedded
  • Stand-a-lone
  • Integrated
  • Relationship to Science & Math
  Action Item: Assign tasks

 

 

Other business

- 5:30 Future Meetings
  1. Virtual
    1. Phone, Web, etc,,,
  2. Face-to-face
Scheduling of next meeting and adjournment

 

Notes: posted June 19, 2006 - Jo

OPAS Standards, Courses, and Curricula (SCC) #1
May 24, 2006 3:30 – 5:30
Capital Center

Attendees:  Ken Cone (OUS), Sean Gallagher (Hermiston HS), Jo Oshiro (OUS/OPAS), Bruce Schafer (OUS), Bill Becker (PSU), Walt Mayberry (Retired Industry, HS teacher)

Handouts: Agenda; Mission & recommendations from the summit; an email from Don Domes of Hillsboro HS detailing the conflict between his enrollment forecasts and staffing prioritizing core classes.

State Assessment and Contents Panel for Science:
Bill Becker (Center for Science Education, PSU; OPAS Steering committee) and Steve Day (Beaverton School District Science Specialist, OPAS Steering committee) are members of the State Assessment and Contents Panel for Science recently convened by ODE.  Jo has summarized this information in a separate document.

Sean:  State Testing that is now done tends to assess the school rather than the student – produces results that are not as diagnostic as teachers need to monitor and adjust their teaching practices. The timing of tests is also really important.  The end of the year is too late for teachers to fix anything for that class.

David Conley could be valuable asset/resource for OPAS.  We should consider what questions we’d have for him; we’d also need to engage him on a volunteer, rather than professional consulting basis.

Paradigms for Curricular Change
The Paradigms for Curricular Change, also called the Strategic Alternatives for HS Curricula, introduced at the Steering Committee’s May 16 meeting are:

  1. Academic Enhancement – get more students in to & through IB/ AP level courses
  2. Technical Enhancement – get more students in to & through PTE & applied course
  3. Redesign – change current curricula/ standards to include engineering problem solving, inquiry- and project-based learning

The Steering Committee likes these as a framework to hone our discussions and focus, but has not decided which paradigm or how it should be nuanced.

Discussion:

Sean: The key way to increase incoming college freshman is to put in place something that exposes kids, hands-on, to engineering.  Examples of applied science education discussed were the Hermiston Agricultural Education program and the Southern Oregon Satellite Balloon program.

Walt:  We need to have everybody be more technically literate.  Who is our target?  Are we aiming at the 5% of the 25% of HSers who go to college and graduate in engineering from college?  The 75% who may go to CC?  Do we need to address VoTech?  VoTech and VocEd are dirty words now.  [Jo notes this echoes discussions with Don Domes]

Bruce: Vocational Education is now called Professional Technical Education and is taught with  21st century methods.  It’s not just changing sparkplugs.

Don Domes’ current experience with Technical Education in Hillsboro High School shows contention for FTE between PTE and core academics, because of district/building mandates to shrink class sizes in core academics.  He has the enrollment for more classes than he has FTE to support, and no way to get more.

Sean:  VocEd model was a dumping ground for the kids who don’t thrive in academic environments, which is the origin of its bad reputation.  The PTE model partners with core academics to make sure the rigor is there as well as the Technical Education. Hermiston’s education model – give every HS senior the opportunity to take AP Calc, which pushes down into Middle School.

Walt:  The doors are closed by the end of middle school.  Particularly the girls are gone if they are not motivated in MS.

Sean:  MS experience is the key.

  1. Academic Enhancement – get more students in to & through IB/ AP level courses
  1. Bruce feels OPAS recommendations here could make these curricula better address engineering.  Walt: recommend a minimum set of AP or IB classes that pertain to engineering.
  2. AP & IB are driven top-down.  That’s part of why they work.
    1. Bruce votes for a hybrid of academic enhancement & redesign.  Try to find a way to do some sort of pilot at the middle school level.
    2. Sean: pursuing Academic and Technical Enhancement higher priority for now.
    3. Walt:  This is Step 1.
  1. Technical Enhancement – get more students in to & through PTE & applied course.
    • Sean, Walt, and Don Domes feel this is a critical piece.
  2. Redesign – change current curricula/ standards to include engineering problem solving, inquiry- and project-based learning
    • Walt: This is Step 2.
    • Ken: How can this be done in the current environment?

The committee decided to further discuss what changes we wanted to pursue and how they should be made.   Each of the paradigms could be subject to subrecommendations or modification.  Not all schools will fit the same solution space.

Bruce:  for every solution:

  1. own it (Lead)
  2. cooperate with it (Follow)
  3. let someone else do it. (Get out of the way)

OPAS may be ready with a legislative concept for 2008.  The fastest way to turn the aircraft carrier is a Senate Bill or a change in standards.  (Recently House Bill 3129 upgraded state high school graduation requirements to 4 years of English and 3 years of math.  The level of the work is not specified.)

Next meeting:  Wednesday June 21, 9:30-11:30

  1. Review mission & recommendations
  2. What do we want to see?
  3. What level of engagement? 
  4. Ken reports on his investigation of inquiry based science curricula.

Respectfully submitted by Jo Oshiro

For questions or information regarding this webpage, please email Jo Oshiro or call (503) 725.2910.