March 28, 2007 ACE Board Meeting
9:00 A. M. @ Billings Hotel and Convention Center

Present were ACE board members Al Sipes, Dave Huether, Tim Dolphay,Mark Brajcich, Andy Begger, and Josh Middleton. Jerry Scott and Gail Richards were also present
Guests present were Bob Barnes, Jennifer Hickok, , Liz Cunningham, Marlene Deis, Bill Schlepp, Joe Ingalls, Brenda Koch, John Ballard, Jim Staab, Luke Enemy Hunter, Stephanie Long, along with Ryan Conrad, Mary Potter and Dave Myers (from Nova Net).

1. Al Sipes called the meeting to order at 9:05 A.M. and had those present introduced themselves.

2. Dave Huether moved to approve the February 28, 2007 minutes. Tim Dolphay seconded the motion, which passed 6-0.

3. After review, Andy Begger moved to approve the financial report as given. Mark Brajcich seconded the motion that passed 6-0.

4. Information on the April 23 – 24 OPI Assessment Conference was presented to the group. At this time no one indicated that they were planning to attend. For those interested, more information on the conference can be found on the OPI web site.

5. Jerry reported that Eric Jensen would be doing a workshop on the “seven discoveries from brain research that could revolutionize education” presentation in Great Falls on April 5. He said that ACE has 5 spaces open if anyone wished to go. Those wishing to attend can find information and registration on the Golden Triangle Curriculum Consortium’s web site.

6. Gail and Jerry reviewed the March 15 Art and Music curriculum workday. Thirty-six people attended from 14 different member schools. Jerry said a team worked on devising a separate drama curriculum because the group noticed that ACE did not have one. Gail stated that she would type the revisions and send them to those who attended for editing. She will then put all of the curriculum revisions on a disk which will be passed out to all member schools in August. At her request, the board directed Gail to schedule a half-day for the science review team to complete their work based on the new state standards. Mark Brajcich questioned as to what schools should do to address science offerings based on the questions on the CRT exam. It was mentioned that Physical Science is not considered a lab course by the university system. It was felt that if the state would move the CRT to the 11th grade then students might be able succeed on the science portion of the CRT. Most students now take earth science in the 9th grade and biology in the 10th grade, which does not give them exposure to chemistry or physics. ACE will always need to change its curriculum standards as the state changes its requirements. Jim Staab said the state should mirror the federal recommendations, which usually requires earth science in the 8th grade and physical science in the 9th grade. Mark said Red Lodge might offer physical science as an elective.

7. The following report was given on the March 5, 2007 PIR day:
   
   512 names from 33 schools and special education coops attended the PIR day. A copy of all evaluation summaries for all of the sessions was passed out. The average rating for all evaluations was a 4.3 out of 5 with 5 being a superior. As agreed by the board, a billing for the registration fee of $15 per person will be sent to the schools and cooperatives. This should bring in about $7,780. A billing from Laurel for the lunches and extra help has not been received at this time. So far ACE has paid $5,696.29 for speaker fees, materials and mileage. Wayne Calender’s fee will be $1,200 plus expenses.
   
   Bea McGarvey will present at the September 10 PIR day. The Billings Hotel and Convention Center has been reserved. The board was asked if Jerry should contract with Bea to present a follow-up workshop for the March 3 PIR day in order to have consistency and review how schools were using the materials. The group felt continuity would be a good idea. After further discussion Josh Middleton moved to contract with Bea McGarvey to do a follow-up workshop on March 3, 2008. Andy Begger seconded the motion which carried 6 – 0. Jerry will work out the details for the March 3 workshop. He will also post information on workshops on the ACE web site.

8. The Wee Can Write workshop will be held on April 5 – 6 in Portland. Kathy Barnes and Jeri Heard from Laurel, Molly Moore from Shepherd, and Kay Faust from Columbus were selected to attend. Jerry has made all arrangements for registration, travel, and hotel for the group. Jerry stated that he would like to have these four teachers meet with the present ACE 6 trait team when they get back.

9. Seven people plus Jerry attended the ASCD Annual National Conference in Anaheim, California. Jerry reported that the group felt the trip was one of the best conference that they had ever attended. Marlene Deis gave an oral report on the conference and the sessions she attended. Marlene felt that the opportunity for teachers and administrators to attend such a conference was a benefit that should be continued. On another note, she said that Jerry was a wonderful tour guide making all of the arrangements for the conference including one day for the group to travel to the beach and see some sites. Heather Jarrett from Absaorkee won a computerized baby valued at over $1,000 and Jerry received a portable DVD player from the conventions. Jerry said that he had received thank you notes and summaries from those attending. In order to make sure Liz Cunninghame and Ryan Conrad would have enough time; Jerry said he would compile those for the next board meeting.

10. Ryan Conrad, Mary Potter and Dave Myers from Nova Net told the group that they were very interested in expanding their product into the consortium. They said they would be willing to do a demonstration via the web for any ACE schools that would be interested. Because most of those present will also be attending the South Central Administrator’s meeting, they will do their power point presentation at that time. Packets on Nova Net were distributed and a question and answer period followed. Al Sipes said 26 students in Columbus have been able to recover 42 credits through Nova Net. He said the courses are rigorous and allowed the students to work at their own pace seven days a week, twenty four hours a day if they so choose. The students did not have to sit in a class again to make up the loss credits. Columbus is also using Nova Net courses for electives. Columbus now has 10 ports or sites, Shepherd has 5, and Harlowton has 4. All three schools indicated that they might expand the number of ports for the next school year. Shepherd said they are also using Nova Net for their title 1 and special education students. It could also be used for summer school as well. GED classes could also be offered through Nova Net. It was reported that Billings has now switched to Nova Net. Mark Brajcich asked if Nova Net was present for exposure or to make an offer to ACE. Ryan Conrad said Nova Net would be very willing to work on special pricing for ACE, especially for training and for portals. The front-end cost is expensive but in this manner schools could share that cost. Ryan said the biggest use of Nova Net nation wide was for credit recovery. He said if enough districts were interested and around 50 total portals were used, the group would get an even better discount. Ryan said volume buying through a consortium is an advantage. Al Sipes reported that it cost Columbus $1,500 per year for their license. Andy Begger said Harlowton was also offering advanced placement classes through Nova Net. The group also discussed the possible Montana board of public education rule requiring only certified Montana teachers to do distance learning classes and how that would effect courses offered by companies such as Nova Net. This decision has been postponed for the time being because there was not a quorum present at the last board of public education meeting. Nova Net paid for the groups meeting expenses but did not make any formal proposal at this time.

11. Liz Cunningham from TEST Kids said the showcase for all of the technology grants, including ACE, would be held on April 24 – 25 at the Billings Crown Plaza. The showcase will include presentations from the master teachers on the course work they have done and how they have incorporated technology into their schools and classrooms. Everyone is invited to attend and there is no charge for the grant schools. Liz said that Michael Hall from OPI told her that title II still has one year’s worth of funding left and he would like TEST to continue the grant for another year. However, the funds are about half of what was available this past year. Liz said the grant could be used to complete the activities from the present grant. She said there would not be any further Intel training but there would be a follow up with the present master teachers. Liz reported that Northwest Labs had developed an evaluation tool for integration of technology in the classroom. Liz and 3 ACE teachers and administrators visited Shepherd and Columbus last year in order to evaluate the tool. She is working on a plan to do a September and a January training for a teacher / administrator team on how to use the evaluation tool. The team would then visit other schools and use the evaluation tool. This would not only allow them to evaluate their own technology integration, but would allow them to see its use in other schools. The team would then continue with a “teach the teacher” model. Liz also reported TEST is now the national provider for TAGLET and schools can use their old-log in passwords or call the office to register. Liz said they are also looking at a proposal to train math teachers to analyze data and develop individualized lessons that tie to Montana standards. More information will be coming out on all of the grants and training and will be posted on their web site. Because the April 25 showcase date is also the date of the ACE board meeting and the south central administrators meeting, Liz proposed that those meetings be held at the Crown Plaza in conjunction with the showcase. TEST would provide a meeting room and lunch for those who attend.

12. Jim Staab said he was not sure what ACE would like him to do, but he did pass out information and ideas for the board to consider. He reviewed standards based education and the importance of tying together everything done in a school district. This includes school policy to testing, from using data for classroom decisions to board and community relationships. Jim has been working with Al Sipes and the Columbus schools for the past 3 years and with Shepherd and Bob Barns for the past year. Al Sipes said he asked Jim to come to the meeting because he felt that the resources Jim could provide for all 40 ACE schools could be very valuable. Al said he knew some of the smaller schools could not afford to contract with Jim like Columbus and Shepherd are presently doing, but perhaps ACE could be involved to help pay for part of the services. Mark Brajcich asked if Al or Bob felt there might be a problem having Jim work with 40 schools. Al said Columbus would continue to work with Jim because he has been able to tie together the assessment piece and present it to the teachers in such a manner that they are now using the information in their classrooms. Bob said Shepherd would also continue to contract with Jim. Both said they are using title funds to help pay for Jim’s services. They both felt Jim was able to work more effectively with the principals and the teachers than they could. Marlene Dies said Jim is able to present data in a friendly format that she and her teachers could easily use in planning for individual students and classes. All three felt Jim’s work made the school improvement plan, mission statements, and policy reviews much easier. They said an outside resource such as Jim seems to hold even more credibility than they could. Jim said that his work with the ACE schools would depend on their expectations. He would be open to working a day or two per week and do as needed. He felt this would help the schools because the state is not providing much help for them at the present time. Jim said he would make sure that what ever process is in place with his work would be such that it would continue no matter who is at the school in the future. It was suggested that Jim do a presentation / workshop for ACE administrators during the August 15 training day. Stephanie Long asked if Jim could do a work session earlier that August because schools need to start now. Andy Begger moved to contract with Jim for the August 15 ACE administrator workday. Dave Huether seconded the motion which passed 6 – 0. Jim will meet with Dave Huether, Mark Brajcich and Jerry Scott in April to discuss how his work can be utilized by ACE.

13. Al Sipes set next board meeting for April 25 at the technology showcase. Time and place will be announced. The meeting was adjourned at 10:45 A.M.