Minutes of the Social Studies Program Network Meeting
March 29, 1999
Present: Cinda Lisanto-North Rose Wolcott, Monica Bell-Bloomfield,
Susan Vorce-Gorham Middlesex, Marie Johnson-Romulus, Larry
Gambee-Romulus, Barbara Quinn-Romulus
The sessions for elementary correcting will take place in Buffalo in May.
The constructed response questions have been dropped from the Commencement level exam but not from the lower level exams.
Update on the Consortium: They have worked on “off year assessments” for fifth and seventh grade, namely those grades not taking a state test. They derived their own test that looks like the state test with multiple choice, DBQ’s and essay. They are working on having the multiple choice marked by the scantron. Over the summer a rubric for the essay question will be formulated. Some will be using it as a final and it is not known if it will be shared with other districts.
Lack of attendance by other school districts and how to address the problem was discussed. It was felt that since the Consortium and Program Networks are similar, people do not want to attend two meetings. The idea of the networks is good as it brings subject areas together to talk but no guidelines or structure was set up at the beginning. Many of the groups floundered and thereby the members did not know where the group was going and in turn dropped out.
We discussed different ways to set up the meetings. The meetings in the afternoon from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. are difficult as it is at the end of a teaching day and also a distance from most of the schools. Some suggestions from the group to have better attendance were: to meet for a half day four times a year, a summer workshop, or using part of a conference day.
The next scheduled meeting is May 24, 1999.
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