Focus Group Notes for 17 May 04

Attendees: Shandra Rickman, Tammy Tagge, Jessica Vickers, Cathy Moretto, Marsha Silva, Pam Armstrong, Danell Hepworth, Jack Hepworth, Seija Anderson.

ESLR's-

-The practical application of math in the real world was discussed. Some children don't see the need for Algebra. Others can‚t conceptualize a math problem when placed in context of a story problem. Getting from a story problem to a math sentence is challenging for some students.
-Development of basic math skills is necessary for students to be able to perform higher-level math.
-There was a discussion of students not „showing their work‰ when answering math problems. Many present feel that it is important for students to show their work so that if there is an error, it can be identified as being something procedural or mathematical (i.e. did they add first instead of multiplying or was it an error such as 2+2=5).

-Evaluation of math problems:

1) Students need to be taught to show their work, without which it makes it very difficult to accurately assess the student‚s proficiency.
2) The algebra requirement is difficult to meet. Many students need additional help from tutors to be able to meet the standard.
(Several options were discussed for providing math help. Possible tutors mentioned were Darla Hanson and Joyce Niles. Other options include myskillstutor.com, and Riverdeep- Destination Math)
3) The quality of the math book. Is the math book what the student needs?
4) We need to see the results from the benchmark assessments.
5) On-line and computer based resources.

Portfolio samples- Using a rubric, the focus group analyzed student work samples to address the quality of the sample. The rubric was discussed as to how it was to be interpreted.

The focus group's first assignment was reviewed. As a reminder, we are to ascertain if the web link on the vendors list works, what the vendor provides, if it is a service where is it provided, and if the phone number is correct.

Have a great day!
Jack Hepworth
Education Specialist
Connecting Waters Charter School