December 17, 2008 ACE Board Meeting
9:00 A. M. @ Pollard Hotel in Red Lodge

Present were ACE board members Al Sipes, Josh Middleton, Stephanie Long, Les Cabot, and Andy Begger.

Guest present were Dan Nelson, Luke Enemy Hunter, Sharon Stands, Jim Staab, and Andrea Fisher. Gail Richardson and Jerry Scott were also present.

1. Al Sipes called the meeting to order at 9:05 A.M. and had all present introduce him or herself.

2. Stephanie Long moved to approve the November 19, 2008 minutes. Josh Middleton seconded the motion which passed 5 – 0.

3. The financial report and an updated 2008 – 2009 ACE member list were reviewed.

4. Two articles from Alan November Learning was distributed: “Teaching Zach to Think” and “Student as a Contributor: The Digital Learning Farm.”

5. The contract for Ryegate to join ACE was received and signed by Al Sipes and Jerry Scott. An orientation date will be set up and ACE materials delivered at that time.

6. Wanda Belmont, superintendent of Northern Cheyenne school (Busby), left a message saying they no longer wanted to be a member of ACE because of fiscal problems. Their original contract was reviewed and the board decided to accept their resignation.

7. The group continued discussion of MAP Testing. Jerry said there would be a face-to-face meeting with representatives during the January 29 – 30 Assessment Training in Billings. He will let ACE member schools know the place and time. Continued concerns include cost and training and the question of any advantage for ACE to become a collection agent for them. Both Dan Nelson and Chad Johnson indicated their schools may be interested in MAP testing. Jerry will find out which ACE schools are already using the testing. Jim Staab stated that continued training is key to helping school understand and use MAP testing. This is especially true because not all schools are ever at the same point. Jim said the second round of training is powerful. The board felt that ACE should propose its own contract for MAP testing. Al Sipes will help Jerry draw up a proposal.

8. Jerry proposed a survey in order to obtain information on sectionals for the March 2 ACE PIR Day. A copy of Jane Pollock’s book “Improving Student Learning One Teacher At A Time” was given to all of the ACE board members. Jane will do the main presentation for K – 6 in the morning and 7 – 12 in the afternoon. Discussion on sectionals centered around needed professional development VS popular topics that do not apply to the curriculum or classroom. The board indicated that those attending should only be given a choice of sectional that would apply to the ACE curriculum, assessment, and applications to the classroom. Andrea Fisher stated that teachers still want something that they can use in their classrooms. Some of the topics brought up included RTI, Inquiry Based Learning, DIBLES, a presentation of the use of the ACE web site by Deani, Differentiated Instruction, and the use of Montana Standards. Jim Staab discussed the importance of the design and purpose of a survey. Jerry will continue to work on some type of survey in order to find out whom and how many will be attending the PIR day and the sectionals offered. The board also felt that active members should have a say in the survey. An estimate of the cost of the PIR day was passed out.
   
   An initial contract for facility use from Faith Chapel was received and completed by Jerry for the September 14, 2009 PIR day with Harry Wong. The cost and further information has not been received as of this time. The group felt the Faith Chapel facility would serve ACE well for this day.

9. Gail Richardson reviewed her work on curriculum reviews, Indian Education for All, and the OPI Writing Focus Team.
   
   Indian Education For All: Gail said she is struggling to get ideas for book purchases in order to close out the grant funds. The Northern Cheyenne indicated they would donate their book to the ACE schools. Gail will donate $150 to them to help with shipping, etc. There still are some copies of the books from the 2006 grant that were passed out when schools requested in-service presentations. She will gather the books and distribute them to schools that have not received the books. Most of the books are for teacher reference and not classroom work. Both Harlowton and Blue Creek indicated that they would like a set. Gail said she was continuing to work with Deani on getting all of the ACE Indian Education for All material on the web site.
   
   Curriculum Reviews: The January 10 review was on library and media literacy. Gail said the state is revising the library standards so the group focused on media literacy. She said the group did a super job and worked well together. Gail reported that there was a small number who showed up to do the technology review and she had a difficult time getting the group to focus on a product that would apply to and be useful for each grade level. Some of those present insisted on doing one middle school curriculum and learning skills that became quite large and not user friendly. Gail said she finally just gave up trying to direct the group and accepted the work they did but took it to some other technology folks who agreed it was not useable. Gail will work with those teachers and refine and separate the work into a usable format.
   
   OPI Writing Focus Team: Gail said the meeting with the group that did work for the OPI writing focus team in Helena was enjoyable and productive. They worked on the direction for the teams that will gather to do the writing standards review. Gail said the directions given would be across curriculum and deal with critical thinking. The writing teams will gather later in the school year and Gail encouraged those present to send representatives to be on those teams.

10. Jim Staab said he would be happy to help with an ACE board retreat and was present at this meeting in order to get some direction for that day. The board set the date for Tuesday, January 27 in the old Laurel Middle School. A list of topics discussed at the January 24, 2007 board retreat was passed out to those present. Some of the topics discussed for the January 27, 2009 board retreat included: focus, understanding curriculum, curriculum VS standards, process driven VS product driven, how ACE can help members in a continuing manner, how to turn ideas into action, and how to set up sharing of resources and trainers among member schools. Josh felt the retreat would help define who ACE is. Jim said it will be important to come up with a specific process that includes steps and time-lines. Al felt the day should be designed for the ACE board members but was not opposed to inviting active ACE member schools to send representatives if they choose to. Dan felt it would be good to include others that are active and not just the board. Les agreed that this should be the process for this first meeting. Other meetings, especially for superintendents and principals, could be held at a later date. Jim emphasized that whenever staff create standards and curriculum, then they accept ownership and the product is used. Andy visited about his meeting with the state on the technology standard reviews. He said the final product was different than the standards presented at the first meeting.

11. Jerry was given permission to purchase a set of DVDs for the ACE library from the Douglas Reeves Leadership and Learning Center on effective grading practices.

12. Next Ace board meeting was set for January 28, 2009 at 9 AM at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center. The meeting was adjourned at 10:35.