OCTM Board Meeting
Oregon Department of Education
Salem, Oregon
OCTM Members Present: Giny Christensen, Winnie Miller, Chuck Peterson, Ross Eells, Jim Specht, Phil Bartsch, Ralph Schubothe, Mary Bailey, Stephanie Legard, Jackie Cooke, Cathy Bernhard, Jill Sumerlin, Leslie Graham, Marge Burak, Betsy Shane, Diane Kinney, Nancy Swarat, Kristin Lavy, Inge Perham, Tari Querin, Deanna Reisman, Lynn Bonser, Marla Baber, Janet Echanis, Ann McMahon, Cheri Clausen, Molly Smith, Nancy Rogers, DJ Muller, Brent Freeman, Cathy Brown, Mike Gould, Patty Sandoz. Martha VanCleave arrived after lunch.
Call to Order: 9:10 Giny Christensen
• Welcome and Introductions
- We went around the rectangle (square? parallelogram?) introducing ourselves.
• Outgoing Board Members
- Giny presented gifts and thank you's to outgoing and incoming Board members.
~ Brent Freeman, NCTM Representative
~ Patty Sandoz, Recording Secretary
~ Winnie Miller, President
- Ann McMahon presented gifts to outgoing, long-term Board members:
• Jim Specht, Historian, received a clock with the inscription:
"The members of OCTM would like to thank Jim Specht for all the time he has given over the years to our organization. Your vision has touched the lives of many students and educators in Oregon. With a spirit of humility and dignity, you have filled many roles as teacher, mentor, and conference presenter and author."
• Chuck Peterson, Treasurer, received a clock with the inscription:
"The members of OCTM would like to thank Chuck Peterson for all the time he has given over the years to our organization. We especially want to acknowledge his dedication as Treasurer from 1988-2005, where he has served with honesty and integrity."
(He actually became Treasurer in 1987.)
• Giny Christensen, President, received a plaque that included the new logo with the inscription:
"The members of the Oregon Council of Teachers of Mathematics would like to express their appreciation for all the time she has given over the years to our organization. We especially want to acknowledge her position as President, where she has represented us with dignity and honor. 2005"
• Approval of Minutes
- There was one correction for the January 8, 2005 minutes and that is that Jackie Cooke is the sole Webmaster, not Cathy Bernhard and Jackie Cooke. This correction will be made to the minutes.
- A motion to accept the minutes of the January 8, 2005 minutes as corrected was made by Molly Smith, with a second by Ralph Schubothe. The motion passed.
• Area Rep Reports
- Because we have much to discuss on our agenda, we will forego the oral reports. Please hand in your written reports to be included in the minutes.
• Professional Development Units
- Each Board member earned and received a Professional Development Unit (PDU) certificate.
• Sign-in Sheet
- A sign-in sheet was passed around for attendance. Please make note of any changes to addresses.
• Proposed Additions to Agenda
- New Business--Webmaster
- New Business--licensing inquiries
- New Business--three year budget cycle; non-profit advisory to do streamlining of our productivity; what conferences are eligible for scholarships.
- Noon meeting: For Presidential and other awards, Ann McMahon needs to meet with 7-8 people.
- Noon meeting: For Scholarship committee, Nancy Rogers needs a couple volunteers.
Discussion Items
• Retooling Meeting Mike Gould
- The Retooling meeting after the Board meeting today is only for those on the education committee.
- Retoolers have identified a need for a Network Manager because Phil Bartsch should not have this job dumped on him. Should this be part of OCTM Board meeting?
- We saw a role for somebody who was the matchmaker between the needs and places and who had areas of expertise. Also, we need someone who was up on technology and the latest information such as using V-Tel. There needs to be a contact person to be the disperser of information. As a profession in the state of Oregon, we are at a tipping point. If we don't get something going, we are going to die. Rather than passing requests around by word of mouth, we're trying to centralize this.
- Lynn Bonser has volunteered to do this if there is another person who would be willing to work with her on this.
- Could the Vice President take this on?
- Could Lynn Bonser, Giny Christensen and Molly Smith (who is the new Vice President), representing three corners of the state, make this work?
- It was decided the Vice President could be the named point of contact but she/he would work with the other two individuals. If this goes forward, then the Procedures Manual will need to be rewritten when this becomes clarified.
• Leadership Conference Giny Christensen
- Winnie Miller and Giny Christensen will attend the Leadership meeting in June in Denver
Old Business
• Elections
- The constitutional amendment passed. Article X, Section 2, now reads as follows:
"The annual budget for the next year shall be submitted for approval to the Executive Board at its first meeting of the new fiscal year."
- Molly Smith was elected Vice President.
- Patty Sandoz was re-elected Recording Secretary.
- Only 35 ballots were received. The topic of very low voter turnout has been proposed as an August agenda item.
- The reminders on the listserv were very nice and appreciated.
- It was suggested that maybe we could have an election that would coincide more with Oregon Math Leaders (OML). The problem is that OML is by invitation only.
- Could the mailing of election ballots be combined with the mailing for OML? The problem with this idea is that the OML mailing goes out to non-members.
- This would require a change to the constitution of Article VIII, Section 1.
- Another point was made: We have excellent people in the offices so should we be worried?
- Let's see what a perforation creating a postcard in The Oregon Mathematics Teacher (TOMT) would cost? Cathy Bernhard will talk with the printers about what this would cost.
New Business
• Scholarship Revitalization Nancy Rogers
- In the past, we didn't have very many applicants so this year we did more advertising for this. Now we have lots of applicants!
- Who?
- Everybody who applied was a member of OCTM but not everyone was a teacher.
- Three on the Scholarship Committee were leery of giving money to non-teachers. Should it be a requirement to be a teacher? Should non-teachers be given scholarship money?
~ Some people would rather not support independents who are trying to improve their own expertise to make more money. However, these people are OCTM members. This is the dilemma.
~ It says in the scholarship information that priority will be given to classroom teachers.
~ In the past, we've done partial funding. So, couldn't we prioritize, favoring the classroom teacher, but still honor the independent with some partial funding?
~ A lot depends on what the person wrote in their application about how this would benefit or how they would share the information gleaned from the conference.
- Amounts?
~ Scholarship will not pay for membership in NCTM but will pay for registration.
~ People are encouraged to share a room.
~ If a person says, "I can't go unless I get all the money to go to the conference." maybe that's a message too.
- Conferences?
- Should we add more conferences, and if so, what conferences?
~ Traditionally, the fall conference and NCTM conference and summer school have been funded with scholarship monies.
~ Why don't we do other conferences? However, we only have so much money.
~ We looked up what previous policies, if any, have been established.
~ We have two different types of people who might apply. Those that are young can get a lot out of Northwest and NCTM. Those that are more seasoned, choose conferences based on different considerations. The seasoned teachers might want to select from a broader range of conferences.
- The decision was to keep the conference opportunities as they are currently listed. Maintain the status quo.
- People want to use the scholarship monies dedicated to summer school to be expanded to include other college terms. Should we?
~ It shouldn't matter if class is taken during summer or some other term. The Board agreed to this re-interpretation.
- If we only have three board meetings per year, Nancy wishes to have a November meeting, rather than January, so that information about monies goes out to people in a more timely manner.
– How much?
- How much money should be allocated? Should this be a Board decision or should it be left to the scholarship committee to determine?
~ There was a verbal agreement to keep this a committee decision. For example, the Scholarship committee has a certain amount to disperse. It's up to the committee to decide how much is given to the applicants who are selected.
- It was restated that the committee has the flexibility to make these decisions.
• Writers' Retreat Cathy Bernhard
- Last year, funding from an Oregon Collaborative for the Excellence in the Preparation of Teachers (OCEPT) grant provided an opportunity for 8 teachers, who also attended OML and were early career and veteran teachers, to remain on campus at Linfield College to participate in the first OML Writers' Retreat. The purpose was to enable those who wanted to submit articles to The Oregon Mathematics Teacher to "polish" them with the help of a writing coach. The articles were based on the swap session of OML or on successful classroom activities that would be useful for other Oregon teachers. The OCTM Board has agreed to provide funding for a second OML Writers' Retreat August 10, 2005. Each participant will receive reimbursement of registration for OML, a $25 meal allowance, housing at Linfield College for one night, breakfast and lunch on August 10 and a $175 stipend for the completed article.
- Only four applications have been received currently. The retreat has again been financed through previously received OCEPT funds. These articles will then be used in TOMT. This is separate from the OCEPT Writers' Retreat which was cancelled this year for lack of interest.
- Cathy Bernhard will contact Marj Enneking again because Chuck has still not received the promised OCEPT monies.
- Currently, the people who receive the OML invitations are the only ones to receive the invitation to this Writers' Retreat because of the way the mailing was handled this year.
• COSA Table Giny Christensen
- A table at the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators (COSA) costs $600. This fee allows a person or organization to sit at table with information. And that fee was at the cheap end. COSA apparently treats this as a vendor.
~ The way around this would be to stand up to dispense the information or to bring your own card table! ;-)
Break: 10:55 to 11:05
After break, Board members added Northwest Math Conference information to the membership renewals that had previously been stuffed for us by Pacific University.
• Oregon Math Leaders Leslie Graham
- The three organizers (Leslie Graham, Marge Burak, and Jill Sumerlin) are looking for facilitators for OML. A sign up sheet went around.
- The three organizers are also looking for facilitators to do Bridge sessions. A sign up sheet went around.
- If you are going to present at the Northwest Math Conference and would like to try out your activity at OML, you can have about 45 minutes to do so. A sign up sheet went around for this also.
• Retooling Mike Gould
~ For those who haven't had the opportunity to go to the dark side, you can try the new dark chocolate M&Ms!
~ Phil asked if we knew that in Australia they are called W&Ws?
- Our revised vision statement was read.
- Our timeline:
~ A training session is scheduled for June 4. A timeline will be made.
~ We are working on a network committee.
~ Another training session is scheduled for August 6 prior to the start of OML.
- We will try to build a budget.
- We want to work with schools and regions putting on long-term workshops. The one shot workshop might lead to more long-term opportunities.
- We will continue the notion of consulting with schools.
- We need to develop skills so that we develop leadership capacity.
~ In fact, what is the average age of the Board members? The guess is that the Board's average age is around 50.
- An article will be written for TOMT about all of this.
- Since having a table at COSA was prohibitive, could Retoolers present at COSA? Yes, however, Retoolers aren't quite ready for this yet.
- The good news in Oregon is that we are ahead of the curve compared to other states.
• Area Awards Giny Christensen
- A list of awardees was given to each board member to put in their notebooks. The 2004-2005 Area Award winners are:
Area 1 Mat McCoy
Area 2 Cheryl Rectanus
Area 3 Perry Beeler
Area 3 Veronica Jones
Area 4 Shannon St. Lawrence
Area 4 Bev Pratt
Area 5 Carmen Martin
Area 5 Cherie Haynes
Area 6 Bill Kentta
Area 6 Debbie Laney
Area 7 Larry Filosi
Area 9 Sue Gregory
Area 10 Tina Joyce
Area 10 Steve Wyborney
Area 12 Trudi Mitchell
• January 10, 2005 Meeting with ODE about MPS Giny Christensen
- The purpose of the meeting was to discuss Oregon Department of Education's (ODE) recommendation to suspend or eliminate Math Problem Solving (MPS) as a statewide assessment tool. The Southern Oregon Math Cadre had written a position paper urging ODE folks to reconsider their decision. Representatives from the Cadre requested a meeting
- There were about 20 people (some curriculum people, administrators, and teachers) at this meeting along with the Oregon Department of Education people.
• Webmaster Information Cathy Bernhard and Jackie Cooke
- What started as a manageable job has grown into a monster, especially when the website goes down.
- Joe Spooner and Jackie Cooke are the Webmasters. We should look at what's involved with the job and what it's worth. Cathy doesn't think the Webmasters are being fairly compensated for the job.
- Webmaster's job:
~ Each Webmaster receives $1000 per year.
~ In a regular year, every time there's a Board meeting, all pages on the Web are updated which includes Area Rep changes, mission statement changes, etc.
~ There's an electronic arm of the TOMT with Internet Bookmarks and selected articles that showcase what TOMT can offer.
~ With each change to the webpage, every link on there is checked to make sure it's up and running.
~ There are between 75 and 100 pages on the web.
- Jackie is contemplating the term Webmaster because she thinks right now it's mastering her!
- Jackie had to take in an external drive when the webpage went down.
- Jackie and Joe are going through systematizing the web for continuity (of color, of design, etc.)
- Jackie would like to see that they divide up the responsibilities.
- The actual writing should be done by other folks such as the Northwest Conference Chairperson writing an article about the upcoming conference that could be posted.
- Currently, the entire job is way too immense for the two of them. They would rather become the managers of the webpage rather than the creators.
- TOMT editors receive $2100 each. The Webmaster job should more closely match the TOMT editorship.
- This topic was then opened to Board discussion.
The Board meeting was interrupted by a visitor: Don Fineran! For 17.5 years, Don held the position of Math Specialist with the Oregon Department of Education! We all thank him for the wonderful job that he did.
Don told some stories about Chuck Peterson. The State Department sent Don to Pine Eagle where he soon realized that the young Chuck was a very special teacher who was already using calculators, hands-on materials, and problem solving. He was doing math workshops for the Oregon Small Schools Association. This led to an OML invitation to teach workshops which led to teaching workshops at many different conferences. Chuck even organized a pack trip for some math folks. He has a great smile and that smile was never better than the time Chuck introduced Don to his daughter, Molly. Chuck's wife Marilyn has served on the Teachers Standards and Practices Commission. Can you even estimate the miles that this family has driven to serve education? Stealing Chuck Peterson from the Oregon Small Schools Association was a very good steal!
Two more visitors entered! Myrtle and Sage (Jerri Wickert and Shirley Payne) joined us to talk about ol' Silver Top. A copy of the skit is included in the OCTM Minutes notebook.
Lunch 11:55
Convened 12:55
• Licensing Inquiries Phil Bartsch
- EBSCO Publishing contacted Phil with many letters. A copy of the January 14, 2004, letter is included in the January 31, 2004 Board Minutes. Whatever they were asking for is not something that OCTM does.
• Northwest Math Conference Update Phil Bartsch
- In previous years, Joanne Wilkie came in six months prior to each Northwest to give the gloom and doom report about registration and financing. If people didn't get their rears in gear, we would financially lose our shirts.
- This report by Phil is the closest he'll come to a Wilkie Gloom and Doom. It's getting more and more difficult for people to get loose from their classrooms to attend a conference. Attendance has been down at the recent NCTM conferences. The recent Annual Meeting in Anaheim is an example.
- We need to get the word out: through word of mouth, electronic, etc. Please help market the NW Math Conference.
- We need presiders, hosts at the table, etc.
- Online registration was made available April 1, 2005 so please register and register often!
- The light rail is very close to the hotel site so it will be easy to make a trip downtown.
- John Van de Walle will be the keynote speaker on Saturday morning. Ed Burger will be Thursday night's keynote speaker.
- Math-a-Rama will be done, similar to what was done at the San Antonio NCTM conference.
- Phil no longer sees a need for a workshop coordinator. This is an appointed position but this can transition to being part of the networking for Retooling.
~ So, for Retooling, it will be the three women and Phil or Beauties and the Beast (Lynn Bonser, Molly Smith, Giny Christensen, and Phil Bartsch)!
• Webmaster Issue, continued Giny Christensen
-This will be tabled till the Treasurer's Report or until the August Board meeting.
• Three Year Budget Cycle Mike Gould
- Money coming in from the Northwest Math Conference is on a three year cycle. Could we look at a budget on a three year cycle?
- Chuck suggested waiting till he gives his last Treasurer's Report.
• An Advisory Audit Mike Gould
- Mike has suggested that we should think about having a non-profit advisory look at streamlining OCTM's efforts.
~ Quotes: I think we're the best in the state. I think we're the best in the country. I think we're the best in the world!!!
- Cathy Brown has a former student who does this sort of work.
- Through this process, could we find the "golden answer" to how to build our membership?
Board Member Reports
• President Giny Christensen
- Giny shared a letter from Daniel Raguse of The Math Learning Center. (A copy of this letter is included in the OCTM Minutes notebook.) Giny also received a letter from someone associated with OEA. The OEA letter is concerned about the cancellation of MPS. OEA will continue to support the re-instatement of this tool. (A copy of this letter is included in the OCTM Minutes notebook.)
- A recent Oregonian article referred to Math Problem Solving as "page-long math."
- Ginger has said there was money to help us with OML. A letter needed to be written from OCTM which Giny did write. ODE will give $5000. This must be spent before June 30.
- There were 15 recipients for the Area Rep Awards.
- Ginger Redlinger was at a funeral. She will send her report on Monday, April 25. Ginger is currently doing two jobs--math curriculum and industrial and engineering.
• Vice President Trudy Mitchell
- Trudy could not attend as she promised to help her husband chaperone this weekend.
- From an email to Giny, Trudy writes:
"I only received 35 ballots--but it is a representative number and since we don't have a rule about supermajority, I think it is adequate. I highly recommend that we follow the same procedure of posting the election information in a pullout, self-addressed postcard for mailing. I think that some people were reluctant to pull out the page. Others copied it. I know of a few people who were waiting for the "real" ballot to arrive in the mail. It will take a year or two for the culture of elections to change. The other choice would be to vote electronically."
• President-Elect Winnie Miller
- Winnie received a call from Elaine Cole, coordinator of both OCEPT I and OCEPT II, wondering what our budget needs are. But all OCEPT I monies have to be spent first. Marj Enneking is head of OCEPT I and Camille Wainwright is head of OCEPT II (though she's currently on sabbatical). The monies must meet the goals of the grant.
- Could this money be used to send Retoolers to things like Teachers Development Group workshops? Could early-career teachers be sent to Northwest? Refining this idea further--could the monies fund a team of teachers (early career with a veteran)? Also, OML registration could be paid for early-career teachers.
- Possible Board meeting dates for 2005-06:
~ October 22, 2005. Discussion took place about having the Board meeting on the Sunday following Northwest or the Saturday afternoon after the Conference concludes. However, people would be very tired. There is precedence for this from our history.
~ October 15, 2005. This is being proposed as a short dinner meeting since the August board meeting would have taken place only two months previous. This would save some dollars. In the past, though, these people were very worn out.
~ January 28, 2006.
~ May 6, 2006.
^ Winnie could arrange a bonding golf activity if it's held in central Oregon.
~ For next year's OML the date may change based on the ten school districts involved in a big three-year grant.
- Chuck suggested that we table this till he gives his report.
- Jackie Cooke sent an email about Salishan if we want to have a winter conference. No, OML can't be moved to winter! Could this be an OCEPT-funded event for early career teachers? Kristin Lavy would be willing to chair that. Diane Kinney may help.
- "Sometimes you don't know a good teacher until ten years after you left the class."
~ Jim Specht read the letter that he wrote to Tiersa Powell. This letter will be the basis for Winnie's first editorial!
-Winnie gave Giny three money golf balls because they need to get together to golf and talk.
-Winnie is giving Chuck 18 holes of golf at Skamania!
• Treasurer's Report Chuck Peterson
- Chuck received money from Don Fineran today for $79 as Don is 79.
- Chuck would like to leave OCTM with a long term financial picture--to protect the nest for the long term. If OCTM has to rely on only our OCTM-generated income, we will exhaust the income in quickly.
"This is the Treasurer's report as of March 31, 2005.
I would like to do this last Treasurer's report a little bit differently than I have in the past and would like to start with OCTM assets as shown on the bottom of the financial report. Let's look at OCTM's financial situation with a twist. OCTM has a balance on hand of $283,145.14 which does not include the $50,796.50 scholarship fund nor the CD of $62,231.15. If you add these three figures together, OCTM's total assets are $393,172.79, a very impressive figure. When people ask me if OCTM can "afford" something, the answer is pretty obvious. If we wanted to spend $40,000 to help Alaska develop a publication as popular as "TOMT", we have the assets. If we want to send OCTM's executive board to Washington, D.C. at a cost of $25,000 to lobby for stronger financial help to support math education, we could do it. Pick any worthwhile mathematical cause with a financial cost to it and OCTM has the assets to assist that cause. You might liken the $396,172.79 to our "Social Security Fund". If we choose to help a worthwhile cause, we will not immediately plunge into bankruptcy. We may not have resources to last until the year 2042, but we will not immediately go broke. It is very comforting to have these resources.
Now let's look at money we pretty much can depend on receiving on a yearly basis. We know we will have OCTM membership revenue every year so let's plan on receiving $22,000 from that item. As long as we have our assets, we can expect to receive interest income. Add $12,000 to the money we know we will receive. (For every $10,000 we spend of assets, we lose about $600 of interest.) The Math Learning Center has given us funding every year but one since I have been Treasurer. Count on receiving $3500 from them. OEA also has been very consistent in helping OCTM. Count on $1200 from them. Plan on receiving $1000 from sales of OCTM-produced materials. And finally, the Northwest Math Conference has provided money for our budget single year we have hosted it since I have been Treasurer. Although the amounts have varied, from a low of about $17,000 to over $92,000, let's count on making $48,000 when we host the conference. This would provide about $16,000 each year for our budget. This gives us a total of $55,700 each year that we can pretty much be assured of having for our budget to spend.
Now, look at our proposed budget focusing on total expenses proposed for 2004-2005. OCTM has elected to spend $83,650 during the current fiscal year. Something is wrong with this picture. You can do the math but we will come back to this idea in a moment.
The problem with an Income Statement is that people normally look at the bottom line and basically want to know how we are doing financially. When we receive a $30,000 OCEPT grant, it hides other expenses if we don't spend the entire grant. If we only spend $10,000 of it this year, $20,000 of it makes our books look good. We can spend $20,000 in other areas and it won't show as a loss. Or gifts given to the Don Fineran scholarship fund show as income that counters expense, but is given not for OCTM costs, but for a specific purpose. OCTM should truly appreciate these other funds, but they do distort our "Income Statement" and the bottom line.
What I would like to leave OCTM leadership is a long term financial vision. Everyone should know that our "Math Security Fund" was built through the tremendous efforts of hundreds of OCTM volunteers mainly from the success of the NW Math Conference. If OCTM has to rely on their own resources and maintain current spending levels, we will exhaust our assets in less time than I have been Treasurer. With the OCTM income outlined above and our budgeted expenses, we are spending about $25,000 - $30,000 more than OCTM is producing. When someone gives us a grant like OCEPT, I love to spend that money because I know it is not touching our reserves. When Don Fineran's son's firm donates to his scholarship, I love to increase those expenditures for the same reason. It does not affect OCTM's "Math Security Fund". I enjoy receiving these other funds, as we all do, but they do not come on a very regular basis and are not meant to be spent on OCTM's regular expenses.
Yes, I am stingy when it comes to guarding our financial heritage. I am not so stingy when it is someone else's money. I would love to see the leadership of OCTM have that "protect the nest" approach to financial decisions. Look at long term, like a 10 year frame. Every time OCTM spends $600, we are spending 20 OCTM memberships. Over 10 years, this is 200 memberships. If we spend $5000 per year on a particular item, that amounts to $50,000 over a 10 year period and represents roughly 2000 OCTM memberships. We truly have to ask, "Does OCTM receive that much benefit for this particular expenditure?" The question should not be "Can OCTM afford this?" It should be "Can OCTM afford to sustain this expense?" I do not have any immediate solutions. OCTM can consider some things such as raise memberships or try to secure more grants than those mentioned, reduce the size of OCTM's executive board or any of a number of suggestions that have come up for discussion in the past. We are not in any immediate trouble. We just need prudent long range financial planning.
When I became Treasurer in 1987, at the urging of then OCTM president, Tom Stone, John Englehard handed me the books and cautioned me that OCTM lived hand to mouth from one NW Math Conference to the next. In 1987, that was about $17,000 for three years. If my figures are any close to correct, we would be depending on NW to provide us with $41,000 (the $16,000 mentioned above, plus another $25,000 to cover deficit) each year to stay even. Can we expect them to make $123,000 every three years?
We have come a long way since 1987 and have much about which to be proud. We have gone from a monthly math newsletter to a nationally acclaimed publication. We sponsor outstanding math conferences and training. We are the backbone of the Oregon math community. I have worked for 9 outstanding OCTM presidents and numerous superb board members and officers. For every minute of those 18 years, I have had a proud OCTM smile on my face. It has been more than an honor serving OCTM and its many fine people. I want to especially thank both Cathy and Ginger for being our Salem guardians. I know how important it is to have a political voice and I truly appreciate what they have done for the math community. I also want to give a special thanks to each person of OCTM, the most impressive professional group I have every known. To those of OCTM who have become special friends and to those I never got the privilege of shaking their hand, or dancing with, or lip-syncing with, thank you so very much.
After 108 years, (take out the zero), it is time to pass the financial torch. Thank you all for this wonderful experience and good luck, Ross, and the future leaders of OCTM. What a special group!
Sincerely,
Chuck Peterson, OCTM Treasurer"
• Treasurer-Elect Ross Eells
- Ross said he will try to be as colorful as Chuck.
• Membership Secretary Ralph Schubothe
- Current membership is at 1395.
- NCTM's membership is also down.
- Giny went to a president's breakfast at Anaheim, her second. Membership was a huge thing on each state's list of concerns. They are looking into enticing student teachers to become NCTM members. In Montana, a student teacher is paired with a current member in an effort to maintain and grow membership.
- Is it cost effective to give the free membership to new math teachers (other than the opportunity to help new teachers)?
• NCTM Representative Brent Freeman
- The Anaheim NCTM Conference was attended.
-Trudy Mitchell has taken on the NCTM rep role with NCTM.
- Resolutions were put out for discussion and eventual vote.
- Impressions of Anaheim: The math wars are alive!
~ Harcourt just took over Saxon math.
~ California has written its own framework, independent of the NCTM standards.
- Brent encourages all of us to attend the John Van de Walle keynote at the Northwest Math Conference this October. Van de Walle has recommended abolishing all "right side" algorithms. He will have a new book out.
- Here's the NCTM Rep's official report:
1. Trudy Mitchell was recently named as the NCTM Western Region #2 Representative to the NCTM Board.
2. On behalf of OCTM, I attended and participated in the NCTM Western States Delegate Caucus and NCTM Delegate Assembly at Anaheim on April 6th and 7th. Two resolutions were proposed and passed. They will now be put before the NCTM Board of Directors for consideration. They are:
a. Student members of NCTM be given free registration to NCTM national and regional conferences. Also, non-NCTM students be allowed to attend the same conferences at a rate of $25 for the full conference, or $10 for a single day.
b. Reinstate a policy whereby resolutions can be adopted at a regional caucus and put before the entire assembly at the Delegate Assembly. Currently, all resolutions must be submitted by a November 1 deadline.
3. Attendance was substantially down at this year's NCTM Conference in Anaheim. Nonetheless, there were many outstanding and thought-provoking presentations as we move through "math wars"across the country.
• Grant Coordinator Lois Costine
- Lois was not in attendance.
• ODE Assessment Cathy Brown
1. During the pre-NCTM session that I attended, ASSM (Association of State Supervisors of Mathematics), two speakers Jim Hiebert and Iris Weiss gave presentations that made the same comments. I was caught by how simple the ideas for improving student understanding of mathematics! Each speaker talked about their research / observation of hundreds of mathematics teachers. What they both found as components of “effective teaching” was the clear identification of the “big concepts” to be worked with during the lesson and then at the end of the session the “tying up of the package” – we’ve been working on the concept . . . and have done . . . to reach the conclusion of . . . .
2. Under the concept of “focused efforts at ODE”, one area that has expanded is that of using the Juried Assessment process to have students demonstrate their proficiency at reading and writing in their native language. This demonstration can now count for both AYP and the Report Card.
3. This school year is the first time students in grades 4, 6, & 7 are required to participate in state testing in Reading/Literature and Mathematics. The standards for those grade levels are currently “proposed” and will be finalized this summer after working with the results of the testing.
4. Since the completion of work samples is still a requirement for meeting the performance standards, the MPS support part of the web page is being improved. Very soon, you’ll find each of the grade levels 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and CIM. Beside each will be the three major strands used in problem solving (Statistics and Probability, Algebraic Relationships, and Geometry). The next column has the name of the related tasks – when you click on the name you see the actual task. The next three columns are for the student work exemplars and the accompanying scores and commentaries. For each task there will be three pieces of student work: a high, medium, and low paper. All of that should be available within a couple of weeks at the latest.
5. Item Writing: A different format is being used this year for mathematics. Five of the ESDs (Southern, High Desert, Multnomah, Douglas, and Umatilla/Morrow) are hosting sessions. I’ve met with the facilitators and provided all of the copy masters for the event in a “Train the Trainers” model. The item writers are expected to create multiple choice items. In addition, some of the writers are creating the first attempts at problem solving items in a multiple-choice format. The intention is to get lots of approaches to MPS as MKS before making any decision as to what the items might finally look like.
6. Lastly, I have been asked (and agreed) to serve on the mathematics item development work group for NAEP.
• Historian Jim Specht
- The last history article by Jim was turned in for publication.
- The files have been cleaned out.
- The focus of his articles has moved away from events to people.
- It has been humbling and rewarding to learn about the people who filled these chairs before us.
- Jim will miss the association with the Board members.
• TOMT Jackie Cooke and Cathy Bernhard
- The last issue of TOMT was mailed last week.
- They are still looking for a Historian but Winnie has some leads.
- The deadline for article submission is July 1 for the September issue. Back up two months from the issue date for any other issue.
- SWAP for Oregon Math Leaders will again happen.
• Oregon Math Leaders Leslie Graham
- Jackie Nissen talked about having a used book sale at registration this year.
- Everything is set for the awards part of OML.
- Keynote speaker will be Elaine Johnson who does brain research. This will take place on Tuesday of the conference.
- Area meetings will take place and will include evaluations.
- Currently, there are 26 people registered.
• Publicity Ann McMahon
- Update on the revised logo. The cost for this revision was only $25.
- Ann thanked those who helped at lunch today.
- A request was made to Area Reps to email Lois Costine to talk to all high schools in each area to see if they got the awards and who at those schools received them.
- Ginger is requesting that OCTM's Publicity and Awards arrange to have the applications for the Presidential nominees be evaluated. This includes reading, watching video, and scoring. The applications need to be scored by June 3. Cathy Brown has agreed to ask a group who will be meeting May 5 and 6 to do this.
- Northwest Science Expo received funding from OCTM for the purchase of awards.
- A request was made to get these notifications of math awards for high school students out earlier in the school year.
• Webmaster Jackie Cooke
- Jackie and Joe Spooner are scheduled to work on the webpage on Monday.
• Mailing Clerk Lynn Bonser
- Lynn reported that she mailed some stuff!
Meeting adjourned 2:55 p.m.
Thank you to Cathy Brown for hosting our Board meeting today!
Respectfully submitted,
Patty Sandoz
Recording Secretary
Area Representative Reports
• Area 1A and B Jill Sumerlin and Lynn Bonser
Jill did a workshop for Astoria School District that was more in the format of the consultation model we are trying to build. They had a list of concerns and we explored the concerns and they generated a list of further things to do that they will do with Lynn who is their regular TOSA. Jill also went through one of the Annenberg lessons with the group.
A year long "Learning Algebra" series has taken place in Clatsop County. The final session will be May 9.
Lynn will be doing monthly study groups in north and south Clatsop County next year.
April 25 there will be a three hour probability and statistics workshop at Seaside High School for all Clatsop County secondary math teachers.
A two day Measurement workshop will be offered through Clatsop ESD Service Center. This will be free to Clatsop County teachers and $50 for all others.
A two day Math Institute will take place at Clatsop ESD some time in August during the week of the 22nd. Again, this will be free to Clatsop teachers and $50 fee for all others.
Lynn will offer a series in Columbia County in the fall which will only happen with a minimum pre-registration number of ten.
• Area 2 A and B Deanna Reisman and Tari Querin
March 12 we had an Expanding Your Horizons Conference for Middle School and High School girls. There were about 240 in attendance. The speakers are all women and emphasize the science and math in their jobs. This conference also has sessions for parents and adults who accompany the girls. OCTM members have supported this conference for over 20 years.
Monthly math grade level meetings continue to be a success at the elementary level with two different date options on opposite sides of the district. Teachers can be paid for these classes through the NSF grant. It also has been another opportunity to promote OCTM and NCTM.
Student membership was promoted at the University of Portland and Portland State University.
• Area 3 A and B Kathi Kennedy and Mary Bailey
Reminders were sent out to the list of Area 3 building representatives that OML invitations should be arriving any day. If representatives did not receive an invitation but were interested in attending OML, they were encouraged to let Kathi or Mary know so that they could be invited. Names of other new OML invitees were also sent to Cherie Haynes.
New teachers who received a free OCTM membership are being encouraged to continue their membership.
Hillsboro School District will be purchasing high school level textbooks for the 2005-2006 school year. Beaverton School District has adopted new materials.
• Area 4A Stephanie Legard
In McMinnville, Stephanie continues to work once a week with K-5 teachers in the District in the area of mathematics. Some of the projects have included: math problem solving, math vocabulary, managing math manipulatives, and aligning the newly adopted curriculum to the standards. The K-2 teachers enjoyed a Bridges refresher session during a second trimester, half-day inservice. McMinnville’s middle school and high school teachers have been analyzing their math courses and are considering making changes to allow more students to be in the advanced math track.
Several 4th and 5th grade advanced math students at Grandhaven Elementary School organized and facilitated a very successful Family Math Night. The theme was “What are My Chances?”- Fun with Statistics and Probability.
Exciting News: McMinnville has budgeted for a full-time TOSA, K-5 Math Improvement position for next year.
• Area 4B Nancy Anderson
AREA 4 South has been busy with adoption activities.
1. Salem is still supporting the elementary - Bridges and Investigations - with three wonderful ladies - Laura Lethe, Kathy Cheval and Kathy Bowers. They have done a marvelous job of training, providing resources, and keeping the "ball" in the air. In addition, Laura has been working on the secondary math adoption which was just approved on April 12 by the school board. Secondary adopted Connected Mathematics for the middle schools and College Prep Mathematics for the high schools.
2. Cascade School district is still in the preliminary stages for an elementary math adoption. Nancy Anderson has been working with the 48 elementary teachers on Best Practices and meeting with a smaller committee to begin the process. Next year, selected programs will be piloted with the decision to be made in the spring of 2006. Reform is in the air!!!!
3. Cheryl Klampe-VanHess is working with the secondary math teachers in Cascade to "JUMP START" their adoption from last year. The material that was chosen has been difficult for both teachers and students so Cheryl is doing mini inservices to help close that gap.
Other news
On Saturday April 2, 2005, McKay High School hosted the annual Salem-Keizer Public Schools 24-Challenge Competition. Around two hundred Salem area fourth and fifth graders competed in the tournament with at least 125 McKay students facilitating the event. It was a morning of excitement for these young mathematicians. The following schools participated this year: Auburn, Brush College, Candalaria, Chapman Hill, Englewood, Hallman, Hayesville, Lamb, Lee, Miller, Pringle, Richmond, Schirle,
Sumpter, Swegle, Weddle, Wright, and Yoshikai.
• Area 7A (Coos-Curry portion) Diane Kinney
Math/Skills day was held at Southwestern Community College April 7th. This was the Regional Math contest that allows students to qualify for the State Contest. There were 460 participants for both the skills and math competitions.
An increasing number of schools along the coast are using TESA this year and examining how to use the results to rework teaching strategies and identify areas of the curriculum that need more emphasis.
Several districts are hosting Family Math nights.
The South Coast ESD is in the process of contacting districts and organizing inservices on a new program called United Streaming. It is a digital curriculum that allows teachers to search on line, by content
standards, key words or subject, for teaching assistance in many forms. Several options offered are videos, still pictures, blackline masters, links, etc. One of the real strengths is that the information can be accessed by searching a standard.
• Area 7B Mike Gould
Paraprofessional math classes have been and will continue to be taught in Sutherlin, Myrtle Creek, and Roseburg.
Annenberg material is being used for professional development in Douglas County by several school districts. The Annenberg material is also being used in a video broadcast class from the Douglas County ESD to Southern Oregon School through the SOESD. The program will continue next year which will be the fourth year of the broadcast. . . 4 years--count them.
Roseburg High School qualified over 40 folks who will be going to Eugene for the State Math Contest in May.
CPM (College Preparatory Mathematics) will continue to bring professional development with the textbook implementation this summer and next fall. The company has been wonderful, willing to help with any questions and bring extended professional development to the school sites.
The OMLI/NSF grant is moving forward with Roseburg sending over 20 teachers and school admin. folk to the first of 3 summers of three-week institutes designed around improving math instruction.
Mike Gould presented an all day workshop in Coquille to their K-5 folks on current change in mathematics.
Douglas County ESD is hosting an OSAT Math item writing session in June. This will give Douglas County teachers an opportunity to improve their working knowledge of the standards. This is a great activity for teachers of all ages.
• Area 8A DJ Muller
Area 8 has been busy since January. The Southern Oregon Math Cadre continues to meet monthly. There was a successful Item Writing session held in conjunction with ODE and Southern Oregon ESD during Spring Break. This was hosted at Ashland Middle School and drew participants from five counties throughout the Southern Oregon region. Several participants from this writing session will be traveling to Douglas County in June for another Item Writing session.
Math-based competitions are also scheduled for area students. Pentagames will be hosted by Ashland Middle School this year on April 29. At the secondary level, the Oregon Math League will wrap up their 6 event season with the finals held at Southern Oregon University. Both competitions are successful annual events for teachers and students.
• Area 8B Damon Langley
In the absence of a state assessment for problem solving, Klamath County schools recognized the increased importance of work samples in mathematics. To strengthen consistency throughout our district, we have had a series of secondary math meetings at the district office. Sheryl Beverly, acting as a part-time TOSA through Southern Oregon ESD, was key in facilitating these meetings. Every secondary math teacher in the county schools and many from the city schools were re-trained in the use of the scoring guide. Then a collection of quality work sample problems was compiled for each grade level so that all teachers had access to the same problems. Agreement was reached that these problems would not be used for instruction purposes, but reserved strictly for work sample assessments. Twice during the course of the year, all secondary teachers were asked to assess their students' math problem solving with a designated problem from this collection and bring their class sets of papers to a “mini-scoring site.” Sheryl Beverly, acting as “scoring director”, brought the group to consensus and the papers were scored by teachers from other schools within the district. These meetings have been very well-received and secondary math teachers feel far more unified and cohesive due to the increase in communication and being able to see what students in other schools are doing with math problem solving.
Text adoption for Klamath County schools is moving ahead, with about 75% probability of purchasing for the 2005-06 school year. The elementary adoption will most likely be a dual adoption of Saxon with Bridges as a supplemental or alternative material. Secondary adoption will most likely be a dual adoption of either a Glencoe or Prentice-Hall product along with Connected Math and Singapore Math as supplements.
On a different, yet related, topic – many teachers in Klamath County and City have been receiving training in “Effects of Poverty” based on the work of Ruby Payne. This training has deep ramifications for math instruction in Klamath County as our poverty level approaches 55% in our schools. Teachers are gaining a clearer understanding of the resources (physical, mental, emotional, financial) our students have or don’t have access to, as well as the role that poverty plays in the acquisition and use of language in formal discourse. Being able to communicate in the formal register speaks directly to success in math problem solving and reasoning. Perceptions of achievement and access to advanced level classes may be tied more to economic class than to anything else.
• Area 10A Cheri Clausen
Linda Holliman (a presenter for Bureau of Education & Research) will present "Math Literacy Centers" during the Malheur ESD Summer Institute to be held in Nyssa, Aug. 8-12. I will present the Area 10 awards to Tina Joyce (from May Roberts Elementary) and Steve Wyborney (Nyssa Elementary) this month.
• Area 10B Molly Smith
Friday, April 15, Molly Smith presented a workshop for the Baker School District teachers. Baker is in the middle of mathematics adoption, and wanted to know more about the Bridges curriculum. There were 35 K-5 teachers there for the presentation.
Patty Sandoz has been teaching an Annenberg class to teachers and paraprofessionals from her District. They meet once a week, and not only does Patty wow them with her math skills, but also with her baking skills. They get great math and great cookies all in one evening. Patty is sharing the Algebraic Relationship lessons and a new cookie recipe to a very excited group.
GO-Math (Greater Oregon Math) - a grant for Eastern Oregon teachers, is still in progress. This group is continuing their training in the Annenberg Series and have been training their co-workers in the series this school year. Chuck Peterson has gone to the school sites to help. The group also meets once a month on V-Tel to review lessons and ask questions. We will get together in July for another 2 week class. Patty and I took the class last year, but are joining the grant this year to help teach lessons and guide teachers who need help.
• Area 11A and B Nancy Swarat and Betsy Shane
Students had the opportunity to compete in the annual skills challenge at BMCC. All schools are actively working to make sure all students are tested.
Some of our area schools are in the process of considering increasing the amount of credits in math required for graduation.
• Area 12B Janet Echanis
Hood River County School District continues to enhance its elementary math curriculum with grade level meetings that expand on last summer's extensive math project. That project has put us in really good shape to teach to the standards.
Teachers were asking for a problem solving workshop, but lost interest when the state dropped the open-ended state test portion. Due to the loss of all elementary PE and music teachers in the district along with extra district technology requirements, all time and energy is being put into just surviving at the elementary level. The high school has changed its math program away from the integrated courses of the past to Holt Rinehart Winston - Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2.
• Area 13A and B Marla Baber and Debbie Lindow
Schools in our area are all in some phase of the textbook adoption process. Most schools have had great success.
Reynolds is looking forward to the OMLI grant and working on collaborative professional development. Reynolds has been given tentative okay for late starts monthly to work on professional development in math. Reynolds High will implement the second year of IMP next year and is working towards it.
Reynolds will host the Portland area Pentagames competition again this year at Reynolds Middle. We will have nine schools involved.
Last, Sheet Metal Union members I visited with after our last Board meeting said that they are thankful for our support for math education and they see this directly in the sheet metal profession.
• Area 14A Lois Costine
Area 14 is proud to have Cassandra Barnes, the 2004 Presidential Award winner, in our midst. Cassandra will not be able to attend OML this year, but she hopes to attend in 2006.
• Area 14B Linda Parker
Oregon Trail
We had seven people attend the NCTM Conference in Los Angeles. Much positive feedback about the conference. Many are planning on St. Louis next year. Pam Alexander, longtime math enthusiast and middle school math teacher is retiring and taking a position with the New Orleans District. We wish her well.
Molalla River is in the process of a K-5 Math adoption. Our math leadership team is working on common vocabulary lists for each grade level so we can support the higher-grade levels. Our district is one of ten in the state that is participating NSF grant with OMLI (Oregon Math Leadership Institute). In a nutshell...for the next 3 years teachers will be getting intensive training in 6 math strands with the assumption it will create a richer environment in the classroom and provide for deeper student understanding. Three weeks in the summer teachers will be trained by college professors from around the state developing the programs.
Peg Moore
Waluga Junior High in Lake Oswego is working on a new adoption. We are using Holt Middle Grades Math for our 7th graders and McDougal-Littell Pre-Algebra, Algebra, and Geometry for our 8th graders and advanced students. SMART boards were installed in all of our classrooms at the beginning of the year. We've been learning more about the technology and exploring our new books. It's been busy, but fun to try new things. Jennifer Bell
Here at Estacada Jr. High, things are going well this year. This year, all of our 8th grade students are taking Algebra, as per a board directive. There are two levels of algebra offered. Students in the Honors Algebra will be ready to take Geometry in high school. Those in the regular algebra class will continue with the second part of Algebra. As I teach only 7th graders, I'm not exactly sure how it is going. It seems to work well for our motivated and able students. It is extremely difficult for our lower-level students.
Elizabeth Warren and I have been doing a math club after school since January. It is open to any student who has an interest in math. We are doing some of the fun things that we don't always have time to do when a school is focused on meeting AYP. We adopted our math materials a couple of years ago, so we are finished with that process. We adopted Scott-Foresman Addison Wesley Middle School Math with Connected Math being our supplemental materials. We use a lot of Connected Math in the seventh grade. I hope this info was helpful and we look forward to seeing everyone a Math Leaders in August. Sally Wood