March 31, 2010 ACE Board Meeting
9:00 A. M. @ Billings Hotel and Convention Center

Present were ACE board members Brenda Koch, Andy Begger, Jennifer Hickok, Josh Middleton and Mark Brajcich.
Guest present were Terry Grant, Dwight Lewis, and Deb Pool. Gail Richardson and Jerry Scott were also present.

1. The meeting was called to order at 9:10 A.M. with introductions being made.

2. Andy Begger moved to approve the February 24, 2010 minutes, Jennifer Hickok seconded the motion which passed 5 - 0.

3. The financial report was reviewed and is on file at the ACE office at the Joliet schools.

4. A letter from the teachers’ Retirement System Letter to ACE chairman Al Sipes was presented to the board. The letter inquires about the director position and why it has not always been a part of TRS. Jerry said that when ACE was established the first director, John Voorhis, was an independent contractor who was already receiving TRS benefits. Jerry reviewed his present situation with TRS and responded to questions. After discussion Mark Brajcich moved for ACE to hire Jeff Weldon’s help to draft a response to the TRS letters and to pay for Jeff’s services to help Jerry with the TRS situation if needed. Josh Middleton seconded the motion which carried 5 - 0.

5. A financial report on the March 1, 2010 ACE PIR Day was reviewed. Jerry reported that some billing still need to go out. 438 attendees signed in at the sessions. Jennifer Hickok felt that there were some schools that did not sign in and she will work with Jerry to obtain names. A final report including summaries of the evaluations will be presented at the April meeting.

6. Faith Chapel has been confirmed as the site for the September 13, 2010 ACE PIR Day. Jerry will continue to work with Andrea Fisher to finalize the day. Maxine Mougeot will coordinate the schedule for bus driver training that day and a separate area at Faith Chapel will be used for that training. The board felt that information on how many will be attending from ACE member schools should be obtained before consideration of inviting non-ACE members.

7. Gail and Jerry reported that 6 ACE member, including themselves, attended the ASCD Conference in San Antonio, TX on March 4 - 10. Both felt that the convention was one of the better ones they had attended because of the quality and diversity of the workshops offered. A summary of workshops attended by the 6 will be included in next month’s agenda as well as posted on the ACE web site.

8. On March 18 Gail and Jerry visited 4 member schools and gave a two-hour new member workshop and material presentation at Judith Gap. The first school visited was Park City where Jared Delaney felt the ACE principal workshop was very helpful to him. He would like to see one more meeting held before the end of the school year. Some of the topics Jared would like to cover at the meeting included how schools handle their end of year and next year plans. He indicated he would like to apply to attend the ASCD conference next year.
   
   At the Reed Point visit Dwain Haggard reviewed his school emergency plans and drills. Dwain said he was going to present at the MASS conference and would be willing to do similar presents at other schools. Dwain felt the ACE PIR days were very good, especially when they bring national speakers such as Harry Wong.
   
   Big Timber was the next stop where Al Buerkle visited about dyslexia workshops, how his staff uses the ACE on line curriculum to help develop their own, and school assessments being done at Big Timber. Al would like to find an on line assessment that provides a growth model. He is thinking about MAP testing and asked if ACE was planning to set up any new MAP training. Al also felt the ACE PIR days were good and has scheduled the September one into their calendar.
   
   The Judith Gap training was well received and the ACE ten-sigma books were being checked out as Gail and Jerry were leaving. The staff felt that the books and web site would be very useful to them.
   
   The final stop was to visit with Andy Begger at Harlowton. Andy felt his staff benefited from being ACE members and he will continue to support any activities ACE has to offer. He reported that he has already ordered Jay McTighe books for his staff to do a study before the September PIR day with Jay.

9. Gail Richardson reported that ACE curriculum reviews would continue to be put on hold until OPI completes their reviews. She has asked ACE schools to send the list of textbooks they are using so she can be put them on the ACE web textbook survey site. Gail also offered to do an ACE web site review at Reed Point schools and any other ACE member schools that would like her to do the same.

10. Deb Pool, the OIP gifted and talented instructional coordinator passed out information, gave a short overview, and responded to questions. Deb asked if the group knew how to determine who is an advanced learner? She reviewed her position with OPI and said that she is very willing to visit schools and organizations. She said that curriculum reviews should include taking a look at the advanced learner as well as those who are not up to grade level. Deb reported that the state is looking at the national core curriculum with the goal to make sure it fits Montana’s needs. Deb referred to one of the handouts, Response to Intervention and the Gifted and Talented (she will send schools copies if they wish or one can find it on the OPI web site) pointing out sections on how to identify and develop programs for the advanced learner. Professional development is an important link in the process and she plans to have a number of regional workshops this spring (at the AGET conference and with Region III CSPD) as well as throughout the next school year. Deb emphasized the three questions schools need to ask when dealing with the gifted and talented student: 1. How do you find out who the students are? 2. What do you do with them? (What curriculum do you use?) 3. How do you manage them? Andy Begger asked if title I money could be used because usually there is not enough money in the school budgets to even identify the gifted and talented students. Brenda Koch said that she and Stephanie Smith have developed an assessment piece that she would be very willing to share.

11. Jerry Scott asked the board if they would like him to develop ACE summer and/or MEA day’s workshops for the next school year. The board said they would like to have an early fall six-trait workshop such as the once offered this school year. They would like to visit more about ACE workshops at the April board meeting. Josh Middleton reminded the board about the June 22 - 24 ASCD conference in Orlando stating that there would be four different sessions offered at the same time: Heidi Jacobs will present on Curriculum Mapping, Robert Marzano on What Works in Schools, Carol Tomlinson on Differentiating Instruction, and Grand Wiggins and Jay McTighe on Understanding by Design. Josh said that because ACE only sent 6 people to the San Antonio ASCD conference this year, and because ACE budgets for up to 10 to attend, he would move to offer ACE scholarships to pay for half of the registration, travel and room for up to 4 people to attend the June 22 - 24 ASCD conference in Orlando, FL. Jennifer Hickok seconded the motion which passed 5 - 0. Jerry will get information and application forms out to members as soon as possible.

12. Jerry reported that he was able to attend the last part of the March 10 SMART board meeting at MSU-Billings. He felt that SMART was trying to become a regional professional development organization working with CSPD region III, MSU-Billings, and other regional organizations and schools. Jerry felt this would be a good because, as a SMART board member, he always emphasized the importance of offering any training to all of the regional schools and not just those who qualify for state and federal grants. A draft on a June 7 - 10 SMART workshop was passed around for review.
    


13. Jerry asked if the next ACE board meeting could be at 9:00 A.M on April 21st at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center because he will be attending the MACSS conference is on April 28. The board did not see any problem with moving the date up one week. The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 A.M.