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Madison Metropolitan School District
Madison, Wisconsin
 
Art Rainwater, Superintendent
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Minutes for Special Meeting - Open Session
April 16, 2007		   University Club
803 State Street – Banquet Room
Madison, Wisconsin

Special Meeting of the Board of Education began at 12:06 p.m.

MEMBERS PRESENT:                    Carol Carstensen, Lucy Mathiak, Arlene Silveira,

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT: None

MEMBERS ABSENT:                      Lawrie Kobza, Ruth Robarts, Shwaw Vang, Johnny Winston, Jr.

MMSD STAFF PRESENT:               Art Rainwater, Brian Sniff, Lisa Wachtel, Ann Wilson-Recording Secretary

Proposed TASK FORCE MEMBERS Present:        Martha Alibali, David Griffeath, Eric Knuth, Jim Lewis, Mitchell Nathan, Merle Price, Norman Webb, Ken Zeichner

UW STAFF PRESENT:                   Patrick Farrell, Adam Gamoran, Sarah Mason, Terry Millar, Gary Sandefur, Chris Thorn, Julie Underwood, Paula White

OTHERS PRESENT:                      Board of Education Member-elect Maya Cole

1.         Introduction of Oversight Committee for Proposed Math Task Force

            Members of the Oversight Committee were introduced and shared their support and commitment to the work of the proposed task force and to the National Science Foundation study of the task force.  Patrick Farrell, Provost and Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs at UW-Madison, hosted the luncheon and introduced the other co-Principal Investigators who will comprise the Oversight Committee:  Gary Sandefur (Dean of the College of Letters and Science at UW-Madison, Julie Underwood (Dean of the School of Education at UW-Madison), and Art Rainwater (Superintendent of the Madison Metropolitan School District and chair of the Minority Student Achievement Network).  The Principal Investigator is Adam Gamoran (Director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research).

2.         Proposal Requesting Funding from the National Science Foundation

            Adam Gamoran stated that the development of a proposal for funding from the National Science Foundation could happen because of a partnership between the district and the university that has been ongoing for some time.  He indicated the case study would continue after the work of the Task Force is completed and that the university is committed to supporting the work of the Task Force.

            COMMENTS/DISCUSSION:

· Capacity of the district to implement findings.  Can be realized through reallocation of resources, refocusing current resources, seeking grants.  Partnerships between university and school district are helpful in seeking funding together as a community.

· Regardless of findings, middle school mathematics teacher knowledge must be a focus, changing staff policies, Math Masters program.

· School culture, leadership roles - issues of leadership that foster improvement - site leadership, embedded staff development.

· Social network surveys may be possible.

· Different approaches that might be used to survey, including survey center. 

· Would be interesting to see differences among middle schools.

· Long history of partnerships - science.

3.         Adjournment

            The meeting ended at 1:05 p.m.

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Previous: 2007-04-16a || Special Meeting - Open Session || Next: 2007-04-16c