June 4, 2008 at 7:00 PM - Regular Meeting

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) grant provides funds to supplement programs developed to assist students with disabilities.  The goals of the grant are to increase student achievement, improve effective instruction, and provide equality of educational opportunity.  Included in the grant are salaries for teacher aides and related services staff.  Section 619 of IDEA provides funding for students from age 3 years to 5 years.

The 2009 Teacher of the Year for the Bristol Public Schools will be announced at the June 2007 Board of Education meeting. The Bristol Teacher of the Year Committee consisted of Amy Coan, BOE Commissioner, Margaret Bonola, BOE Commissioner, Dot Raviele, 2003 Teacher of the Year, Dennis Bieu, Elementary Principal, Theresa DeBrito, Middle School Assistant Principal, Dennis Siegmann, Middle School Principal, Angela Schabel, Supervisor, Carly Fortin, Supervisor, Tom Moylan, 2006 Teacher of the Year, Sandra Adams, 2007 Teacher of the Year, Lori Eschner, 2008 Teacher of the Year, Denise Carabetta, Director.

Teachers trained to serve as BEST mentors/cooperating teachers provide assistance to student teachers and first year beginning teachers in the district in areas such as lesson design and classroom management, and provide feedback and support in the areas of instructional planning and student assessment. Cooperating teachers are those teachers who are trained to work with student teachers; each semester, we receive numerous requests from Connecticut universities and colleges to place student teachers. We need to increase the number of cooperating teachers in the district in order to meet the need of student teachers. BEST [Beginning Educator Support and Training Program] mentors must be assigned to first-year teachers to provide mentoring and support to newly certified teachers; this program is required by the State Department of Education. With the number of newly hired teachers increasing, we need to have a sufficient pool of mentors. The following teachers have applied for this training:

The social studies curriculum was revised and approved in April 2007.  With the revisions, several new elective courses were added, including Geography and Culture of Latin America and Africa, Geography and Culture of Asia and the Middle East, and Psychology II.  In order to fully implement the curriculum of these courses, we need to have textbooks for the course.  Advanced Placement World History is also a new course added to the Social Studies program and also requires the use of a textbook recommended by the College Board.  Civics was only revised in the last curriculum adoption, but because the textbooks we currently use are almost fifteen years old, we need to purchase a more recent textbook in order to provide our students with the most up-to-date information about our government system and politics.

The committees of social studies teachers is recommending for approval the following textbooks:

• Geography and Culture of Latin America and Africa:  World Geography and Cultures,  published by Glencoe McGraw-Hill
• Geography and Culture of Asia and the Middle East:  World Geography and Cultures, published by Glencoe McGraw-Hill
• Psychology I and II:  Invitation to Psychology, published by Pearson Prentice Hall
• Advanced Placement World History:  The World:  A History, published by Pearson Prentice Hall

The social studies curriculum was revised and approved in April 2007.  With the revisions, several new elective courses were added, including Global Issues.  In order to fully implement the curriculum of this course, we need to have textbooks for the course.  Two courses, Sociology and Economics, need updated textbooks since the books currently used for those courses are over ten years old.

The committees of social studies teachers is recommending for approval the following textbooks:

• Sociology:  Sociology and You, published by Glencoe McGraw-Hill
• Economics:  Economics:  Principles in Action, published by Pearson Prentice Hall
• Global Issues:  Annual Editions:  Global Issues 08/09, published by McGraw Hill Higher Education Division

 Please read the attached documents for details regarding the selection process, including other books considered and information regarding the alignment of the textbook with our curricula.

The social studies curriculum for middle school courses was revised and approved in July 2006.  The textbooks currently used for U.S. history, grade 8, are ten years old, last purchased in 1998.  The books were currently have are worn and dated, even though the content of early of early American history hasn’t changed.  Textbooks have improved considerably in the past ten years in terms of the variety of ways in which students can access information, including on-line, the variety of ways in which current research on instructional pedagogy is used to present the information, and the number of partnerships publishing companies have developed with other information sources such as National Geographic and Time Magazine.  Student learning will only be supported by the purchase of a more recent textbook.  Additionally, since the grade 8 U.S. history curriculum covers up to Reconstruction, we will be able to purchase a textbook that only provides the content necessary, cutting the length (and weight) of our current textbook in half.

 The committees of social studies teachers is recommending for approval the following textbook:

The American Journey. The Early Years, published by Glencoe McGraw Hill

Please read the attached documents for details regarding the selection process, including other books considered and information regarding the alignment of the textbook with our curricula.