Orange County NC Website
25 <br /> 1 Rani Dasi said the goal is to better individualize instruction. She said they have instituted <br /> 2 universal screeners and the audit will also help. She said that the number is actaully 22%. <br /> 3 Dr. Rodney Trice said the data has fluctuated, but not drastically. He said they are excited <br /> 4 about the opportunties for student progress monitoring. He said they are also excited to deliver <br /> 5 instruction and materials to where the students need benefit. <br /> 6 Chair Bedford asked if there is hope that the current deficent data could be tracked, or <br /> 7 does that not exist yet. <br /> 8 Dr. Rodney Trice said they still work with SAS. He said there is emerging technology <br /> 9 looking at where students are in real time. He said that elementary schools typically do a pretty <br /> 10 good job of that. He said he can't say they've had it as a district before. <br /> 11 Vice-Chair McKee said that his concern is if the student in third grade is a grade behind, <br /> 12 then the growth has to exceed over a year at a time. He said then that person is then <br /> 13 disadvantaged for the rest of their lives. He asked about the number of tutors in the district. <br /> 14 Rani Dasi said the earlier they can close gaps the better. <br /> 15 Dr. Hamlett said at the elementary level there are intervention enrichment blocks <br /> 16 happening during the day. She said that at the secondary level they also have brought in tutors. <br /> 17 She said they are making sure they get an academic return on their investment as a new approach <br /> 18 and to show where resources need to be allocated. <br /> 19 Vice-Chair McKee said he is very supportive of the preschool. He asked how the students <br /> 20 were picked. He said he would like to hear how it is working. <br /> 21 Riza Jenkins said most of the slots are need-based/NC Pre-K funded. <br /> 22 Vice-Chair McKee said it would be need-based. <br /> 23 Riza Jenkins said yes and that information is given out at the health department and other <br /> 24 various ways. <br /> 25 Commissioner Fowler said a few years back there was a waitlist for the Pre-K program <br /> 26 and asked if that's still true. <br /> 27 Dr. Rodney Trice said for the tuition-paying students there is a waitlist. <br /> 28 Commissioner Richards said it is her understanding there are openings in Chapel Hill and <br /> 29 a waitlist in Northern Orange. <br /> 30 Sarah Smylie said that's what they heard at the Family Success Alliance meeting. <br /> 31 Commissioner Richards said it is a transportation issue as well. <br /> 32 Rani Dasi said she is surprised there are vacancies and will look into it. <br /> 33 Bonnie Hammersley said that in PreK there are 96 current vacancies. <br /> 34 Chair Bedford said that is because that includes school and community based facilites for <br /> 35 that total number. <br /> 36 Commissioner Richards said that about 1/3 of students in CHCCS are considered gifited <br /> 37 and asked what that means as far as academic support. <br /> 38 Rani Dasi said they are above the cap for funding from the state so they do programming <br /> 39 for students at each school.. <br /> 40 Commissioner Richards asked if there is proportional funding for those students vs. those <br /> 41 who are at 22% proficiency. <br /> 42 Jillian LaSerna said they are monitoring all students to make sure they're growing as well. <br /> 43 She said that techniques teachers are trained on should also be good for every student. She said <br /> 44 there should be practices that are happening across the board. <br /> 45 Commissioner Richards said she said she understands but how will they measure growth <br /> 46 and how will it be visible to the community. <br /> 47 Dr. Hamlett said rather than looking at gaps between groups, they are looking at a different <br /> 48 type of gap. She said they are looking at the gap deficeincy in the group themselves from <br /> 49 proficiency. <br /> 50 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked for racial diversity of gifted students. <br />