March 6, 2007 Parent Education Series

Parent Council Meeting, Tues. March 6, 2008
Notes from Nancy Meyer

David Conley – Professor of Education, University of Oregon– ideas re: what is needed for success in college
These are comments I found particularly interesting. This isn’t meant to be inclusive of all Dr. Conley’s comments.

We’re the only country asking the question ‘what’s needed for success in college,’ since our high schools, colleges, districts, and states all have different operational definitions for success
What’s needed for success in college:

1. HS choices influence college success, so the goal of kids should be to take the most challenging courses – not just for admittance, but for readiness

Worst mistake = to take an ‘easy’ load senior year (tempting, since kids say they’re tired, have worked hard, etc.), but all evidence shows a full set of academic courses as a senior is a strong indicator for first year college success
The senior year should be the most challenging year (include math, science, etc)
Easier loads lead to more risk in college
(my take: I’m sure this is true – both in terms of content challenge, staying in top ‘intellectual shape’ – but also the senior course load is a reflection of the student’s motivation…probably in both high school and college)

2. A major difference (& potential problem) for kids (based on a survey of college freshmen) is recognizing the need for study.
High school – contact hours are about 30 /week of classes; for college – it’s about 12-14 hours/week. Some kids think the extra time is for snowboarding or anything but homework.
Kids who don’t do well spend less time studying (a result of less control, supervision, but also knowing what amount of studying is needed for success)

3. College – focuses on developing habits of the mind (how to think critically, research, reason, problem solve, interpret info, etc)
High school – focus on content; kids show up and do what they’re told (may not want to be in class, etc)

High school kids are often not prepared for college questions asking them to interpret information that wasn’t always presented in class – rather than respond to content (as in high school)
High school kids need more than content – they need to develop a habit of mind – the ability to write that reflects thinking (many believe they can write better than they actually can – they need to learn to spend time thinking, researching, proofreading, and editing a paper. These aren’t skills that many are putting to use in high school.)

4. Comparing AP High school courses w/similarly titled college courses – colleges expect substantially more reading for the same content

5. If kids are having problems, they will show in October – problems need to be caught then (rather than Thanksgiving) since they can’t recover (crash/burn)
Kids are used to being able to make up work in high school (extra credit, rewrites, late work) – none of which happens in college

Four things needed in high schools:

1. Preparation should be more challenging – stress reasoning skills, problem solving, interpretation, research, etc.
Habits of mind – beyond the surface content (eg highlighting key ideas only – not 80% of material; learn to annotate in margins, etc – critical thinking)
Work on expository writing – how to prove points w/insight (colleges want 3-5 page papers frequently; kids must learn to commit to revision process to learn to write better)

2. Key content areas/knowledge – standards

3. Academic behaviors – self-mgmt, awareness (eg of their own writing skills, when they need help), motivation, planning, accuracy (checking for errors instead of haste), study groups, getting along w/other kids (vs high school cliques), how & when to study

4. Contextual knowledge – how to apply to college, how college operates as a culture (getting to know prof, etc); navigating the system (how to get credits, courses, etc)

Ideas to help our kids succeed:

Make sure they have a full senior course load
Find ways to help/support stronger writing skills – revision, accuracy
Math – check kids are learning concepts (not a pattern of problems)
Are kids developing intellectually – are they mature, managing their time, able to discuss
the news with you
Evidence of maturation should be the decision rule for college choice – goal is to find a
fit (colleges are pretty good about transfers, etc – so make sure kids can handle
one level before changing, etc); boys seem to be struggling more, statisically

February 8, 2007 Meeting Minutes

South High Parent Council Meeting, Feb. 8, 2007


College Success- Conley and Brunson-Newton:

This will take place March 6 – come hear abut what you need to do to prepare your child for college.

Stand for Children – Joy Marshall:

4J is not what it used to be – so much funding has been cut.
State economy is brighter, so we’re hoping for money this year. We have to as voters show that this is unacceptable. The capitol needs to see public pressure.
Please come to the capitol on Feb. 19th noon to one on the State steps.
The bus leaves South at 10, drops you off right there. The governor’s going to speak, there will be a high school band. We’ll sign everyone in who comes and YOU are COUNTED. We will return at about 2:30-3.

Principal’s Update – Stephanie or John for Randy

Staffing for next year – we’re looking at a decrease in enrollment. We’re looking at a loss of a .8 FTE as a result. District is maintaining 25.38 to 1 FTE. We’re trying to raise $90,000 for an FTE. So far we have $30,000.
We sold 135 Chinook books – we made 4,000 dollars.
We’re looking at a new school improvement plan – support those kids falling through cracks, reducing student stress and helping the 9th graders adjust who are having difficulty.
New graduation requirements are in: total is same – 24 credits to graduate. Now you need 3 credits, 9th graders take Alg. 1, 3 science credits, 2 lab credits, 3 credits from Arts/2nd Lang./ Prof. Tech Training, 6 elective credits. It’s still 4 of English, 3 of Social Sciences and 1 health, 1 PE

Financial Update: Cindy Wright

We paid $29,000 – statement available upon request.

Action Items:

Helen asked if we want to have a “seminar” time so that we can learn abut the new requirements for graduation. Should we be “parent mentors” to other parents so that they can learn about these new requirements and how to implement them for their children?

Next Meeting: Tuesday, March 6


Teen Time Management

Liz Coleman teaches a class for incoming students to LCC on this matter.

Some questions this group has –

Help your children organize their time to study as well as everything else.
Balancing multiple responsibilities/activities at a high level.
How to anticipate the varying learning skills of different kids.
What is down time?
How to convince kids that organizing their time is necessary?

Liz teaches kids how to manage themselves, interdependence, time management…

Encourse, by Skip Downing. Paperback, easy to read. It has exercises in it – how to manage yourself, not time. we all have the same 24 hours. How will we manage it? He breaks time into a grid – i important things, not so important things. We have urgent things and not so urgent. These are in 4 quadrants

Important: sleep, school (attend class), homework, eating,

Urgent, but Not important: TV show, party, talk to friends, computer time, shopping, relationships. Making other peoples’urgencies your own. Always helping others.

Not Urgent and Important: Everything that you’re able to do ahead of time so that it doesn’t become Urgent and Imp.. This means PLANNING ahead. For this you need to be 3 steps ahead all the time!

Not Urgent and Not Important:

In college it’s 2 study hours for every hour you’re in class.
Kids need to put all their necessary times on the calendar – sleep, computer, school, activities, studying

Studying has to come first. If they are engaged in lots of activities, then they have to come through with the work first, THEN the social activities.

How are you going to manage your 24 hours every day? On the bus you can text your friends, read a chapter of a book…

What can families do to ensure success? Media time outs, personalized tutoring time with each child, agreeing to help with a project if they bring it to you the DAY it’s assigned.don’t over manage their every minute!

Help your child prioritize – make sure they have down time – give yourself downtime!