EDUCATION OVERSIGHT BOARD MEETING MINUTES October 16, 2002 9:00 A.M. Oklahoma State Capitol Building Conference Room 412B Oklahoma City, OK 73105 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Pete Churchwell, Kenneth Bridges, Gerald Dickerson, Ron Dryden, Don McCorkell, Sen. Penny Williams BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Ed Long, Karen Yarbrough, Rep. Larry Roberts OTHER REGULAR ATTENDEES: Secretary of Education Dr. Floyd Coppedge Office of Accountability Staff: Robert Buswell, Matt Hesser, Jerry Hsieh VISITORS: Jeff Packham (Capitol Network News) Call to Order and Roll Call: Mr. Churchwell called the meeting to order and declared a quorum present. Approval of Minutes: Minutes of the September 18, 2002 meeting were approved as submitted. Report on Oklahoma School Performance Review (OSPR): Mr. Churchwell asked that this agenda item be moved up due to time considerations. He then introduced Dr. Leonard Hall, the new Contracting Coordinator for OSPR. Dr. Hall has been in education for many years and has served as Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, Principal, and teacher in Oklahoma and other states. Most recently, Dr. Hall has been serving as a consultant to the Noble school district. Dr. Hall will take his new post at the end of the month. Mr. Churchwell added that the board was moving into this new project with apprehension. He explained that great wisdom had been used in the creation of the program, but was cautiously optimistic about weather the program would be supported in upcoming years. He felt it would be good to have someone of Dr. Hall's stature working on the program for the first year and was eager to get the program started. Dr. Coppedge reminded the board that the Office of Accountability had used the FTE previously used for an Informational Representative to fill the position. He suggested that the board would need to work to have an additional FTE provided to the office before the Informational Representative position could be reinstated. Resolution of Appreciation for John Rex: A proclamation of appreciation was created for John Rex for his service on the Education Oversight Board. The proclamation was approved by the board. It will be framed and presented to John Rex by Pete Churchwell on behalf of the Education Oversight Board. Election of Officers: A motion was made by Mr. Dryden to retain the current officers for another year. The motion was seconded by Mr. Bridges and was approved unanimously. Senator Williams added that Pete Churchwell's leadership and experience would be greatly needed in this year of transition caused by the elections. Report of FY 2003 Expenditures: Report was distributed to board members, with discussion from Mr. Buswell. He noted that there had been little activity since the last meeting and that most of the office's expenditures would come near the end of the fiscal year. Report on the Oklahoma Educational Indicators Program: Mr. Buswell began by reporting on data flow. The office had now received a response to the board's letter to State Superintendent Garrett regarding data flow. The response consisted of a schedule of delivery for the various data items; however, the delivery timeline had not changed substantially from previous years. He then went on to remind the board that the office would begin working on the survey for this year's profiles reports. The discussion then migrated to how schools would be addressing the budget shortfalls for this year. There seemed to be consensus that smaller schools would have a more difficult time meeting the shortfalls and that it would be a good idea for someone to provide a forum for schools to share shortfall management approaches. Mr. McCorkell also though that it would be helpful to the legislature so that they could have a feel for the strategies that schools were using to meet the shortfall. The general consensus of the board was that the State Department of Education could handle this best. Mr. Hesser then distributed the report on website downloads that had been created at the request of the board during the September meeting. The board was pleased with the document and felt it should have as wide a distribution as possible. Report on Interim Study Committee on HR-1, the No Child Left Behind Act: At the last meeting the Office of Accountability had been asked to draft a letter to Senator Williams' interim study committee outlining the board's concerns over the Oklahoma School Testing Program. A draft of the letter was distributed by Mr. Buswell and comments were requested. Discussion then migrated to what Oklahoma had already done to address the requirements of HR-1. Mr. Buswell was asked by Mr. Churchwell to share his understanding of the process. Buswell said that there had been a document generated by the State Department of Education which was Oklahoma's formal response to HR-1. It was his understanding that the document outlined Oklahoma's plan for meeting the requirements of HR-1 and that it had been all but approved by the U.S. Department of Education. Board members were concerned that few people outside of the SDE had been given access to the document. Mr. Churchwell voiced concerns that the state might have a system with two, or three entities reporting progress on HR-1. He believed that responsibility for reporting school progress had already been charged to the Education Oversight Board / Office of Accountability. He also believed that the Office of Accountability had the expertise and wherewithal to report in an effective and objective manner. Mr. Churchwell voiced an additional concern that a plan may have already been developed and submitted yet no one knows if the Education Oversight Board or the Office of Accountability was mentioned, much less designated as the reporting entity. Mr. McCorkell suggested that a second letter be developed which would clearly state that the EOB feels the Office of Accountability should have the job of reporting progress on HR-1 to the public. Mr. Churchwell agreed and asked Senator Williams to bring the issue before her HR-1 interim study committee. Mr. McCorkell went on to question if the EOB could possibly oversee the Oklahoma School Testing Program and thereby be provided testing results in a more timely manor. Senator Williams suggested that the Education Oversight Board should be a party to the testing contract along with the SDE. There was general agreement that being a party to the contract would be a good compromise to having oversight of the entire testing program. Mr. McCorkell suggested that the second letter go to the Education Committees of the House and Senate and outline what the Education Oversight Board thinks would be the best approach to HR-1 with regard to reporting school progress and which articulates very clearly what the EOB would like to see accomplished. He felt it was important to get the Office of Accountability's report cards recognized as the sole source for information on HR-1 progress. The board asked Mr. Buswell to make drafts of both letters and send copies to board members via e-mail. Report on New Legislation: Senator Williams reminded the board that there were several meetings coming up for her interim committee on HR-1. An ad-hoc meeting later that day would deal with the subject areas that should be tested. There would be a standard meeting on Monday, November 25 and SREB would be presenting at a meeting on Thursday, December 5. New Business: None Announcements: None Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at approximately 11:00 a.m. The minutes of the October 16, 2002 Meeting of the Education Oversight Board were approved (as submitted) or (with corrections) on November 20, 2002.