2011/2012 Fall Title 1 Meeting Notes and Agenda

The 2011/2012 Fall Title 1 meeting was held on September 12, 2011.  The agenda and notes from this meeting as as follows.

Topics for discussion on agenda were as follows:

1. What is Title 1?

2. Selection Process

3. Assessments

4. Method of Instruction

5. Communication between teachers and parents

6. Parent Involvement

7. Parent-School Compact

 
The Fall Parent Meeting was held on September 12, 2011 at 4:00 in the Title 1 room at 4:00.  There were no parents in attendance but several teachers were in attendance.

The following persons attended meeting:  Mr. Hellekson, Donna Culbreath, Lori McKeever, Chad Clark, and Colleen Schumacher.

The following are notes taken at the meeting by Ms. Culbreath, our Special Education teacher.

Mrs. Schumacher provided a quick run down of requirements of Title 1.  There were no questions.

She then reviewed the selection process and reminded teachers that this will be discussed again in the spring.  Teachers can make recommendations for change at that time.  The students selection process was reviewed.  The Title teacher went of the process and described the testing instruments that are used at each grade.  She described the federal requirements for notifying the parents and for placing children that are most in need of service.  She stressed that because we are a small school all children that are in need of services can be placed.  She said it is more difficult to place middle school students and consequently their Title time is generally only 15- 20 minutes a day.  Title 1 does not remove students from class during instructional time.  If there is no study or independent work time during a class period, student cannot be removed from the class for services during that period.  Title 1 math students come to Title room immediately after their math lesson.

The assessments used for placement are reviewed every year in the spring.  Teachers are invited to meeting and also given a questionnaire about Title 1 services.  They are encouraged to make recommendations for how to improve services.  This questionnaire will be given to teachers in April 2012.

Direct instruction is used for instruction in the Title room.  This instruction must be research-based.  Mrs. Schumacher provides instructional support and remediation, as well as skill building activities.  Many students excel in Title and are then given challenging exercises.

Mrs. Schumacher communicates with parents in a variety of ways.  She maintains a website and sends home letters to parents that discuss how they can work with their child.  Many of the classroom teachers communicate with parents via email.  Emerado School has a website and sends home a weekly newsletter.  Classroom teachers also send home a newsletter.  Title 1 requites regular monitoring of progress.  Mrs. Schumacher sends home 3 progress reports a year in addition to assessment results of NWEA, STARS, DIBELS, AND NDSA.  

There were no concerns voiced by teachers in attendance.  All in attendance concurred that Emerado students benefit greatly from Title 1 program.

Parent Involvement was discussed at length.  Teachers said they try to send home a positive comment about every student weekly.  They use the phone or journal to communicate these positive comments.  In regards to encouraging parents to visit school, there are already many activities on the calendar to encourage parents to visit school, such as:  Muffins with Moms, Donuts with Dads, Read with Your Child, Lunch with you Child, November carnival, Winter and Spring Music concerts, sporting events, field trips (parents may attend), and Parent-teacher conferences.

We have several teachers that are active in the PTO organization and they are working hard to plan fun activities.

Mr. Hellekson brought up having a Grandparent program.  We are going to explore this idea.

Ms. Culbreath brought up that we need more parenting classes/education.  Presently, we sponsor Love and Logic Parent classes, but we are going to explore other avenues of parenting education.

The meeting adjourned at 5:00 pm.

Please do no hesitate to me at school if you have questions about this meeting or about Title services.  I am happy to schedule conferences throughout the year before or after school.

Colleen L. Schumacher

Title 1 teacher