Here are the suggestions made at the December Focus Group Meeting reviewing the 2nd half of the Curriculum and Instruction document (changes/suggestions in red).

3. Upon completion of the high school program, students will be able to meet all the requirements of graduation.

(If consistent: ESLRs addressed: using lower case a)

ESLRs Addressed: Effective Communicators, Effective Citizens, Technologically Skilled Individuals, Historically-Aware Learners(?), Mathematical Thinkers, Scientific Thinkers, Lifelong Learners

Findings

Connecting Waters Charter School students must meet the state requirements for graduation as detailed on the school‚s website. „Students and parents together with their education specialist determine long-term goals and fashion a plan, which allows the student to meet those goals. All parties at the beginning of each school year agree upon a curricular plan. This yearly plan may be changed at any time with parent and student approval provided the consequences of the change is understood. The education specialist will provide such information.‰ -Charter Graduation Requirements Handbook (http://www.ieminc.org/genericforms/gradreqhdbk.pdf, page 6). In addition to earning the minimum of 210 Carnegie units by the textbook and activity process, there is an alternative charter school option of earning course credit by demonstration in the areas of communication, life skills, history/geography, government/politics, mathematics, science, foreign language, and visual and performing arts, as documented in the website handbook. All course information is available on the website; education specialists act as guidance counselors using this and other information, reviewing student goals regularly. Recommended A-G texts are listed for college prep students, as is general education and community college information.

Because we are a "parent choice" school, the responsibility for evaluating the various curricular choices for alignment with the state standards resides with parents tesamed with ESs. CWCS is seriously engaged in developing ways to assist parents in this process without limiting parent choice. As part of the process, we have done the following: encouraged the use of Edusoft benchmark tests; continued listing curriculum suggestions; continued sharing information at monthly and special meetings; demonstrated how to use the tables of contents, scope and sequence listings, indexes of text books, and the state resources at

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/ <http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/> (new address).

CWCS has begun testing all sophomores in the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE). These students are provided with the CDE study guides. Students from 8th grade up are encouraged to take the writing and math classes offered by the school, practice with the benchmark tests (see A1), or enlist the services of tutors to prepare them to take and pass the test.

(delete The) 2003-2004 was the first year that the state established the Algebra I credit as a graduation requirement. To help students be successful, education specialists are encouraging parents of high school students to enroll their students in tutoring and algebra classes, and offering AESS (Additional Education Specialist Services) as necessary.

CWCS is an option for students who have not been successful in other educational settings. Often these students come to us lacking important foundational knowledge and skills. This presents a challenge and an opportunity: as education specialists discover these learning shortfalls, they are able to recommend and obtain assistance for the students from numerous resources and for different learning styles (as budget constraints permit). The learning pace of such a student may not be enough to complete all the requirements in four years; fortunately, if students are motivated and stay with the program, they will graduate.

Please (someone) provide available graduate data: how many have gone on to university, graduated in January or June for the last two years.

One of the graduation requirements at CWCS is the completion of 10 units or the equivalent in technology. (period) We are convinced that the computer age is one for which our students must be prepared (no comma) and have chosen "Technologically Skilled Individuals" as one of our ESLRs. All families are encouraged to integrate computer technology into their curriculum; if requested, we may provide computers and on-line service. Students, parents, and ESs can access all current information regarding university requirements, tests, scholarships and other high school related announcements through links provided by our website and also by the parent list serve. (If no computer or on-line service is available to the family, the ES provides hardcopy information.

Areas of Strength:

? ESs act as personal (reduce to standard print in our copy) counselors, reviewing student goals/progress.

? During frequent ES/student meetings, graduation requirements are discussed; (semi-colon) educational plan is reviewed.

? The CWCS website stives to be a complete source of current information.

? One-on-one and small group instruction is available

? A variety of resources is available including vendors, classes, tutoring, videos, CD Rom and other computer learning

Growth Areas:

? Finding more ways to engage language minority parents in the process (this needs to be included in the finding text)

? Evaluating all high school materials for alignment with the standards (this needs to be included in the finding text)

? Providing more test-prep classes in all areas

Bullets in the above and below areas in our copy need to be fixed

Evidence:

? Learning records

? Student portfolios and work samples

? CWCS website

? CWCS learning centers and class schedules

? Student questionnaires

? Report cards and transcripts

? ES and parent handbooks

? ESLRs

? Graduation requirements

4. To achieve the academic standards and the expected schoolwide learning results, all students are involved in challenging learning experiences.

All teachers use a variety of strategies and resources, including technology and experiences beyond the textbook and the classroom that actively engage students,

emphasize higher order thinking skills and help them succeed at high levels.

(If consistent: ESLRs addressed--lower case a)

ESLRs Addressed: Effective Communicators, Effective Citizens, Technologically Skilled Individuals, Historically-Aware Learners(?) , Mathematical Thinkers, Scientific Thinkers, Lifelong Learners.

Findings

The CWCS Charter states that „[s]tudents will recognize and use their strongest skills and abilities and improve in areas where they are weak. CWC will operate on the understanding that all students have different learning styles, abilities and background experiences. As important as Œwhat‚ students learn is Œhow‚ they learn. The former may be viewed as the end goal of education while the latter is the road leading to it. CWC will support learning and assessment modalities based on current research that identifies best practices regarding how students learn.‰ (see appendix) (should this and other long quotes be italicized or indented?)

Connecting Waters Charter School, serving as it does as a parent choice school, depends on a collaborative parent/education specialist relationship for the success of its students. On a continuum of involvement, the parent may choose to plan and teach all the coursework to the child or may simply determine attendance and check to be sure assignments are ready to be shown to the education specialist once a month. High school students often come to us on their own, and, if they are motivated to take direction in our independent study program, schedule their work, and make progress toward achieving the ESLRs on their own, this program works well for them.

The education specialist is the first „resource‰ for the family, helping students (and parents) recognize and use their strongest skills and abilities and improve in areas where they are weak, recommending curriculum, evaluating the „how‰ of the educational program, demonstrating the use of materials which may be unfamiliar to the parent (remove comma) such as lesson-planning and teacher guides, listing ideas. The ES shows parents how to acquire catalogs, how to access on-line catalogs, how to search for learning options depending on the level, the interest, the learning style of the student. According to the Charter, „students who attend CWC will be educated through individually designed curricula, which may include, but are not limited to, home-based learning programs, cooperative school programs and classes, apprenticeships, on-the-job training, community-based educational programs, group seminars, distance learning via current technology, and supplemental learning projects.‰

With many choices, encouraged and guided by the ES, informed with a clearer understanding of the requirements of state standards and the need for students to achieve the ESLRs, all parents and children in CWCS may be involved in challenging learning experiences. Each semester students enroll in site-based and district-based classes in many subjects including math, science, music, writing, art, computers. Students visit museums, take art classes, attend plays and concerts, attend science workshops, listen to story times in libraries, visit zoos, play sports with community or school (remove the bold type) district teams, perform in bands, perform in puppetry, dance or drama productions, take classes through local colleges and parks and recreation programs, in addition to doing volunteer and work-related learning as listed earlier. Activities are reported visually, orally, and in writing for ESs to document in the learning record. Learning may not be limited to the traditional school year as students pursue their interests doing summer fair projects, baking, performing, and participating in community events (although the learning record reflects only what students accomplish during the school enrollment period).

(On our copy, the space was missing between paragraphs)

Again, from the Charter, „Each minor student and at least one parent, and each adult student, with the assistance of CWC education specialists and advisors, shall design, consistent with CWC student standards and policies, appropriate curricula based upon the student's educational needs and objectives, and shall sign one or more contract(s) with CWC that clearly describes the student's individual educational goals and curriculum for each school year the student is enrolled with CWC. All curricula shall describe the student's course(s) of study, the chosen method(s) of ascertaining competence in designated course(s) of study, and if applicable, the credit(s) the student will receive upon successfully demonstrating competence and completing the course of study.‰ The coursework at CWCS is restricted by three things, parent choice, the budget, and the discretion of the school. The school has the final say if a ruling must be made on the purchase of items, the pursuit of educational objectives, and/or disagreements in evaluation of student work. ESs and support staff are in the process of educating parents to seriously consider the consequences to the school if testing and state standards guidelines are not followed.

Parents and students who do not have transportation are not able to participate in on-site classes or career exploration and volunteer experiences as readily as those with family cars. Nevertheless, all families are able to appropriate for home study education all that classroom schools have available from texts and workbooks to videos and CD Rom science labs. Standards-based textbooks require students to respond in writing to recall and critical thinking questions. Excellent English textbooks help students develop writing skills. Study skills workbooks guide students in how to organize information and generate their own questions. For those who are unable to use community- and school site-based learning opportunities for whatever reason, the ES becomes the agent by which higher order thinking and problem-solving skills are generated/checked. The AESS (Additional Education Specialist Services) plan is an excellent option for a family with limited resources because the ES helps the student plan and check the work, and spends time with the student in a one-on-one teaching/learning relationship. (provide # of students on AESS from 03; 04; 05)

Recently a group of parents and ESs generated a list of workbooks and texts for K through 12 from state-adopted, traditional nonsectarian home-school, high interest, and challenge curricula which ESs may recommend as a starting point for those new to the school or looking for ideas. ESs are in the process of developing and demonstrating to parents how to use math and English rubrics as a tool to check the level of work samples.

Areas of Strength: (change these and others into sentences or phrases)

? One-on-one instruction/learning

? Individualized learning plans

? Parent involvement

? Entire community as the campus. (remove period)

? Keyboarding /Computer coursework is (remove is) required for graduation. (remove period)

? Site-based and district-offered courses

? Parent-requested field trips

? Flexible scheduling

? ESs meeting families in their homes or in other convenient locations at regular intervals. (remove period)

Growth Areas:

? Involve more families in site-based classes as desired

? Provide more small group class opportunities in all counties.

? ES and parent training in use of rubrics (check bullets)

? More training for ESs and parents on state standards and standardized testing.

? Aim for 100% participation in STAR testing

Evidence:

? Learning records

? Student portfolios and work samples

? Rubrics

? CWCS website

? Purchase orders

? Parent surveys

? ES surveys

? Student surveys