Governors Task Force to Engage
March 1, 2007
• Welcome and Outcomes for the Day
• Think/Pair/Share- Reviewing Our Work
• Individual Reflection
• Small Group Reflection
• Large Group Reflection
• Presenting Our Work
• Transition
• 11:45 Move to the room without windows
The task will be to:
• Create by June 30, 2007 a collaborative plan
identifying strategies to engage
• Review state and national research and data on
challenges and solutions
• Develop by December 2006 statewide policy and
legislation that ensures any student experiencing disruption in their
educational program and/or receiving instruction in non-traditional settings
are awarded credits or competency of standards that meet
• Report findings to the Governor and Commissioners
The recommendations of the Governor's Task Force to
Engage Maine’s Youth are designed to address the problems of
Scope
of Work:
Keeping
• To celebrate the depth and breadth of the work we have
completed
• To identify strengths, missing components, and next
steps
Pam Flood:
Our thoughts were to review the work we have done. We
have done a lot in the past eight months. Susan went back through the minutes
and pulled out the learning and all that we did. We want to take time to review
this in groups.
The other thing is we want to bring this group to
closure so we can meet with the other group. We want to move to a common
understanding of what we have done.
Carol identified this quote from Winnie-The-Pooh:
"Here is Edward Bear, coming down the stairs now, bump, bump, bump on the
back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only
way of coming down stairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another
way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think about it." We
thought that was appropriate for us. We have been bumping down the stairs. We
will hopefully have a few minutes to stop bumping and start fine-tuning.
The other thing as we reflect is, are there pieces
missing? We will look at the strengths of what we have done.
Carol Carriuolo:
We thought we would condense our morning work and meet
in an hour or so and develop a backward plan, it would give people a chance to
look at what Susan has done.
Pam Flood:
You have our reflection sheet; we wanted to give you
some time to look at.
Carol Carriuolo:
Let's have Susan review it.
Pam Flood:
While Susan is talking, please jot down questions you
may have. Then we will review it and reflect. Please look at what stands out,
what is missing, does it reach our target population and our scope of work. If
you have questions please write them down.
Susan Lieberman:
I know a few more people will join us, one broke her
wrist and needs more time to get here.
This document is a celebration of the work you have
done. It reflects your findings and ideas. It will frame what we are doing.
There are missing elements, some relate to career and are relational. I have
some findings from another group that is working on that. If we say some of the
same things, that is okay, we will give credit where it is due. I think working
together strengthens what we are doing.
Pam Flood:
Let's look at this piece and focus on that if we need
to.
Susan Lieberman:
The first page is general; I won't read it to you. It is
the Scope and what we are trying to do.
Participant: I must
leave but I will come back.
Susan Lieberman:
We have listed different risk and protective factors;
the data is from the data group. Thank you for having that.
I looked at system challenges, I think we listed them at
the September meeting. We started looking at findings and challenges, we looked
at the limited capacities, at the findings of that. A couple people helped me
with that, they are not here now.
The proposed idea was to increase the ability to track
and analyze. It is hard to answer the question and develop when you don't have
data and statistics.
In the second part there is a typo- it should say,
“develop common indicators”, not “short-term.” That is Number 2 on page 4.
The third part (page 5) is people talked about existing
statutes but the limiting accountability on them. There is no data on the
efficacy. The ones mentioned are what came up, they are not the only ones out
there.
We talked about the inequitable opportunities; the youth
spoke to that. Our idea was to enhance those. I want to note that I spoke to
people involved in career and technical schools and there are no centralized
lists of those who are waiting. They were very open to that, they went out to
start collecting data. Your questions were the catalyst to start that. I think
it reflects the work you are doing. You take credit. They will send information
and I will share it with you. The feedback has been interesting.
The next piece (Part V, page 6) is children experiencing
disruption, we want to make sure the pieces of the legislation are
incorporated. We need to note there are statutes to support kids, we need to
make sure it is followed.
We found inconsistent utilization of team approaches,
how can we make sure it is more consistent?
The last piece is the inconsistent and inequitable
access to services of those ages 15-24; there are gaps in that there are not
many homes that can house kids at that age. Another example is mental health
services.
This is what we have, any questions?
Pam Flood:
We will take 10 minutes and look at three things, then
we will come back. We are looking at what is there, what is missing, and is it
in alignment. You are welcome to stay here or go out there.
Participant: I
would like to congratulate Susan on this piece of work. It is great.
Susan Lieberman:
It is your work. I knew I could get great ideas from
you!
Pam Flood:
It is 9:56, so at 10:05 we will check in.
Susan Lieberman:
We are looking at the yellow sheet. This is your chance
to take out the red pen and think about what is missing and whether the intent
is there.
(Group
members review draft of subcommittee findings and reconvene at 10:05.)
Susan Lieberman:
What is the best way to look at it?
Carol Carriuolo:
What stood out?
Participant: The data piece, we are not experts so we need
to know how to compile and analyze it. There is still so much out there that we
don't know about. We need a person or group appointed by the state that would
do the research. There may be answers that are out there but we don't know it.
Carol Carriuolo:
So that is also what is missing for you. I am hearing
that in the report we need to identify that there is more data out there.
Someone else?
Participant: I
would add that I would like to see it broader, a bigger picture of what is out
there. I know it is not possible before a report, but I know there is work
being done.
Participant: I was thinking the report needs to be prepared
using the data we have. There is data we can tease out of this and use and make
recommendations using them.
Susan Lieberman:
We will use that. I am noting that.
Carol Carriuolo:
What else? I feel that what stands out and what is
missing is coming together.
Participant: Relationships
are key. You were speaking of school, what is there.
Participant: That is one of mine
also. I would like to add school environment to that list. I am on page 1. I
had additional things, such as a sense of belonging so they don't get missed. I
added that to that list.
Participant: One of our issues is knowing the document.
There is no credit for learning outside of school. I mean life experience, that
we don't get credit for.
Participant: No talk about the community experience of
kids.
Susan Lieberman:
Do you mean like credit?
Participant: Experience in general, whether you work with
non-profits, or in the community.
Participant: What is missing...looking back at fundamental
questions, I don't feel we have answered the question of who these youth are.
The ones who become disengaged, people feel they are in the vocational group
but it falls across all youth. We have not addressed that.
Susan Lieberman:
This is great.
Participant: I looked at the PowerPoint, I noticed that
poor families move 50-100% more than non-poor. It is a systemic problem and it
is huge.
Susan Lieberman:
Let's put that in risk factors. We have high mobility
but not necessarily poverty.
Participant: The big thing for me was the co-op learning,
what is outside of school and would be applicable to getting a credit. It is
sort of in voc but not really. I think it would be a big thing to introduce it
in the last two years of high school.
Pam Flood:
We had a few people join us, are you comfortable there?
Participant: I have
a question about what you are discussing.
Participant: I think numbers are important and I don't know
how we can get that. How can we fund that?
Susan Lieberman:
We don't need to do that, some things are happening and
we make our suggestions to existing groups and tell them that we think they
need to bring together data and share it.
Participant: There is also the value of all our time. We
meet every month. If you add that up, that time, if we took that money and put
it towards people who do that, there is a balance there.
Susan Lieberman:
That is the role of the task force, to make those
recommendations. That is professional development. We don't have that down.
Participant: Our DARE program is second or third grade, we
should develop that.
Participant: Mine was professional development also, I
don't like the term "mainstream" and would suggest Special Education
also. It is wordsmithing. This is page 6, Part H, at the top.
Carol Carriuolo:
We will do some wordsmithing but not now. We want
conceptually what is missing and what stood out. Then we need to talk about
what it will look like.
Participant: My point is Special Education teachers need
development in that area also.
Participant: All teachers. All personnel, as some are not
teachers.
Participant: I had a situation where the principal told me
he was not down with IDEA. He said that!
Participant: Do we have a definition of engagement? We need
to craft one if we don't. I am sure there is one, it should be there.
Pam Flood:
We had it in earlier work.
Participant: A lot of discussion related to that.
Susan Lieberman:
We have it, it will be in the final document.
Participant: I updated all the DOC figures so I can give
those to you. I did not put in figures about re-entry and the outcomes but I
can. I can send it. There is more data than what you may want.
Carol Carriuolo:
So that is a piece that is missing, or is not current.
Participant: The other thing, on page 5, under proposed
ideas, Number 3, it talks about accountability. Maybe I missed it but I would
like to see something added. We need adequate and sustained funding also. We
are out there, trying to get resources, spending a lot of energy in the
fund-raising aspect and they never get rolled into state funding.
Participant: Are we doing one point each time? (Yes) I think the SATs need to be in
there. (Page 5, III.3.A.)
Participant: We want
to make sure we say it is not an exhaustive list.
Participant: Under Proposed Ideas, page 5, add ELOs, summer
learning, and after school program. Please add that to the list.
Participant: Is there a verb that goes with that?
Participant: Expand, maybe. Something to make it broader.
Participant: Over the past few weeks I have been talking
about voc schools, one that has a lot of sending schools. I have noticed that
when there are more students than room they pick the ones with the higher
grades. The kids who don't do well in a traditional setting are missing out on
that opportunity. It feels that they are blocked out from that opportunity in
which they might do well.
Susan Lieberman:
It is also to make it available and accessible to all
students. (Page 6) That is part of what we are finding now with the waiting
lists. That led to the question that led to the DOE starting to collect this
information.
Pam Flood:
I think also it will lead to schools looking at how
successful students are.
Participant: The document I have is from Maine Jobs
Council, their mission was a bit different from ours, but they had a piece
about identifying programs that are working. A lot of things are there and we
can add in the pieces that are not there. They had a list of organizations (reading) so they had some that already
exist that we could expand. I am sure there are many more we don't know.
Pam Flood:
So it could be two-fold, to identify and add to them.
Participant: So we are not re-inventing the wheel.
Susan Lieberman:
Page 6, part E, although we don't list specific ones, we
noted that it needs to be increased.
Participant: So you might say availability and funding.
Participant: I think it is a coordination piece, it is
multi-level.
Participant: I heard statistics that 70% of kids in high
school are not being challenged, which leads to dropouts.
Pam Flood:
There is the educational piece, when we look at that we
maybe bullet that.
Participant: From the data, we are talking about kids that
are disengaged and out, but there are ones disengaged and in school.
Pam Flood:
We do have kids at risk, those kids.
Participant: Voc schools and normal schools should have
more communication and voc schools should do some of the academic stuff.
Susan Lieberman:
That is such a key piece that is often lost.
Participant: You may be in drafting all day, think of the
math that you do.
Susan Lieberman:
It goes into Section 4.
Participant: We keep going around, but the whole state is
not integrated. Also community resources are not integrated. It keeps coming
back to school and community. All these different resources, everyone should
know about them. So many students who are going to drop out don't know about
anything else. We keep talking about having people care. We need to come back
to some type of service in the schools that they know about.
Susan Lieberman:
We talked about 211, but you mean more community-based.
I tried to capture that in Part 6. I am not sure of the best way to do it.
Models exist, (listing names) there
are different examples but we need to look at another piece to see how it can
be done more effectively. There are models, how can we do it better?
Participant: I agree. I would like a handbook. I did not
know that I have the right to ask for certain things from the schools and most
people don't know either.
Susan Lieberman:
We have that in part 3, does it capture what you are
saying? It is page 5, Proposed Ideas, under the list.
Participant: Yes. I wish we could include a pamphlet to the
schools to give to the students.
Participant: It has to be more than just on the website.
Participant: I think the expansion of 211...if you put it
in writing, a quarter of the people in
Pam Flood:
We do have thorough training materials and information.
If your comments are captured here, please email the others.
Participant: I know there is something here about liaisons.
Participant: If the Maine Association of Broadcasters could
do some PSAs about getting involved in education, that would help.
Pam Flood:
We can expand on those ideas later.
Susan Lieberman:
It is hard, but we need to cover some more topics.
Participant: It seems that parts 5 and 7 are two sides to
the same coin. Should we link them? Also Number 4, a huge part of those are
issues of time. What is not there is the big idea that is right now, time is
the fixed element. We are trying to move to standards. In that type of
situation standards are fixed, time and resources are fluid. We need to throw
out the idea of fixed time and say it does not matter how long it takes, it
matters that you get to the standard, whether it takes five or 25 years. It
boils down to an issue of what should be fixed in the system.
Susan Lieberman:
I have that down, it is good. We have other parts also.
Carol Carriuolo:
How do we want to do this? We need to meld with the
other group. Why don't we capture what is here.
Pam Flood:
Let's go around and concisely share.
Participant: Page 4, Number 2, we have Kids Count and Maine
Marks that we can use. On page 7, the linkage with community and business, I
would like to add students as community problem solvers as part of their
learning. I am thinking about Fleet Bank’s Community program. NASA brings in
kindergartners.
Participant: But you get back to them taking top achievers.
Participant: On page 6, Part I, I think "student led"
is important. It is about what the kids plan, not about what we think is right
in this situation. Under 6, Proposed Ideas, page 7, I would require the
University system report back to high schools.
Susan Lieberman:
I do have that. It is there.
Pam Flood:
It is Proposed Idea 1B.
Participant: It seemed to fit there. Another one, under 8,
that seems to be the transition item.
Susan Lieberman:
Adult transitional item.
Participant: It seems, when I read the heading, that some
of the planning pieces might appear there. It is has huge concept.
Participant: Explore the length of school year and
flexibility of school year. I don't mean how long they go, I mean how long it
is open and after school opportunities.
Susan Lieberman:
We do have that; we have language about after school and
during the summer.
Pam Flood:
Others?
Participant: I would add that the youth voice be present in
all this discussion. There is a New Day For Learning that is coming out and it
is very exciting.
Pam Flood:
That is what we mean about collaborating with what is
out there.
Participant: Schools don't individualize enough to find
what is holding students back.
Participant: I want to include language that this is not
all the data that exists. This led me to believe that our target audience is
different. To me it is all young people at risk of being disengaged.
Participant: Under number 4, Finding Challenge, Part C, we
need another word under "post secondary." We need opportunities also.
Pam Flood:
We need a brief discussion on how to present this, and
then we will do a one-word whip to bring this to closure. It can be about
strength, diversity...
Susan Lieberman:
We told the other group what we are doing in an overview.
I put together a PowerPoint and I listed the findings and challenges. I
included some information just to give it context. The ideal is that we want to
give a general overview and then we can speak more about details after. It has
been interesting in that you added pieces to the details, but have not changed
the headings. It tells me we are on target. The other piece is, what questions
do we want to ask them based on what we are sharing? We have to start working
as a group.
Participant: As a potential challenge, they as a group may
want to delve into details and suggestions. I don't think we want to go there
today. I think staying broad is helpful, but we have to plan an opportunity to
give feedback.
Pam Flood:
We need to look at how we present information and we
need to look at what we want to tell them about our history and process. Maybe
we want a couple people to do this, then the rest could jump in.
Participant: I find with groups that some of it is a trust
issue. You need to say that up front.
Pam Flood:
This was a messy process. Some of that may be what we
need to say.
Participant: Once we get together, we will all be one
group? Will they take it over and work on it?
Susan Lieberman:
No, we won't start at the beginning! They will rely on
us to give this information. We may need to explain some, but we will all move
together and move forward.
Participant: We need to remind them of that.
Susan Lieberman:
When we developed this task force, we were looking for
representatives from a lot of areas. You each brought expertise that we needed
and continue to need. We broke into two groups so that we could work on
different aspects. It is a great opportunity to expand. It will hopefully
create a better group.
Pam Flood:
We can also talk about a new working agreement.
Participant: Can we do the PowerPoint and then distribute
updated information to them?
Susan Lieberman:
I have not listed all the details. We can give examples
of things like actions we have taken. We want to give an overview.
Participant: I meant after today, so they get the same
opportunity to read through.
Carol Carriuolo:
I wonder if next month we should start off that way.
They would get the document beforehand, they can discuss it, and then we are
all on the same page.
Participant: It helped our group to have a conventional
format. It might be useful to hold that up and show the direction we are
heading. We are not looking for the big notebook that will sit on the shelf.
Susan Lieberman:
I think it is an important point. Another thing is to
look at how we do this by June.
Carol Carriuolo:
Our goal is a backward plan with the whole group. We
only have April and May to do that. June is finessing.
Pam Flood:
Are you comfortable with the PowerPoint? (Yes.) Do we want to do a bit about our
history and process?
Do you think it is important?
Participant: Not to me, I just want to know that people
have it.
Susan Lieberman:
What if we take two minutes?
Pam Flood:
Should we have a concise statement? Do you want to do
it, and tell them they can ask more details if they wish?
Let's do one word around. You have been working hard, it
has been hard.
Participant: Grateful.
Participant: Thank
you.
Participant: Excited.
Participant: Wonderful.
Participant: Inspiring.
Participant: Progress.
Participant: Excited.
Participant: With
power.
Participant: Hopeful.
Participant: Snowstorm!
Participant: Interesting.
Pam Flood:
Thank you so much.
(Groups
recombine at 11:08 AM.)
·
Not experts in the data
·
Probably still so much out there
·
May become a recommendation
·
Need conditional report using the data we have
·
Report will make recommendations
·
Add school environment (page 1) to risk factors
·
No credit for life experience or learning outside
of school
·
No talk about the community experience of kids
·
service, work, connections
·
Haven’t answered "Who are these youth?"
Needs to be addressed
·
The impact of the percentage of mobility or poor
families
·
Learning outside of school, co-op learning
·
Numbers are important, we don't have enough
research
·
Sense of belonging
·
Professional development is missing (Page 6)
·
Mainstream- regular education (Page 6, H)
·
Special Education needs professional development
too
·
All school personnel
·
Do we have a definition of engagement? Need one,
bring past work on this
·
Have updated Department of Corrections data
·
Is available
·
Need
·
Page 5, Number 3 add to that "need adequate
and sustained funding for demonstrated programs with results."
·
SAT, KINE, homeless liaison
·
Qualify that this isn’t an exhaustive list
·
Page 5, Number 4, add to list ELO, summer
learning, after school, more options, expand/broaden
·
Voc schools- when courses are over-enrolled
·
Kids with higher grades are chosen
·
Kids blocked out of opportunities to excel
·
Make accessible and available
·
Maine Job Council Youth Transition Commission-
They identified successful programs
·
Legislation that provides funding for exemp.
Programs and increased availability- needs coordination
·
70% of kids report not being challenged
·
This leads to disenfranchisement
·
More communication between vocational education
and regular schools
·
Opportunities for academic learning through voc
education
·
State not integrated, community resources not
integrated
·
Communities in schools model, community based
·
PR people need to know these statistics and how
to access information
·
Pamphlet for students
·
Expand 211
·
PSA- involve broadcasters
·
527- two sides of same coin
·
Link
·
Number 4- most are issues of time
·
Where are the big ideas
·
In school time is fixed
·
Throw out calendar issues,
·
Set standards, time frame open
·
Page 4, Number 2-Reports
·
Kids count, Maine Marks, build on that
·
Page 7: link
·
Students as community problem solvers
·
Page 6: on list: student-led transition plans
·
What the kid plans!!
·
Page 6: Require colleges/community colleges to
report back to high school
·
Page 8: Transition items
·
Look at whether transition pieces need to be
pulled together
·
Explore length of school year and flexibility for
allowing more opportunities year-round
·
Youth voice be present in all proposals,
"New Day for Learning"
·
Schools don't individualize enough
·
Include some language with the data noting that
we know it is not all the data that exists
·
Number 4: Finding closure
·
Needs to describe something