Board Talks:
Goal #1 Provide quality academic programs so that all students meet or exceed the state and federal standards. (Act to meet the goals and objectives of the 2006-2007 LINKS Plan.)

With the higher state education standards, students must pass five Regents exams in order to graduate. Otselic Valley teachers stepped forward earlier than required and said our students could achieve a passing grade of 65 on the Regents while other districts were adopting a passing grade of 55. We were the only school in our BOCES to do this. In 2005 all of our seniors graduated.

The Board of Education strives to have all students graduate on time. Two of the programs that have been implemented to continue graduation success are Reading First and the LINKS Integrated School Improvement Plan.

Reading First is a program that is paid for with a Federal grant that provides materials, staff training, and instructional best practices in the elementary building. Students read or are read to in blocks of ninety minutes each day. The intent is to have the students reading better and understanding more of what they have read. Data is kept to track student progress, and teachers use the data to match their lessons to what each student needs. Assessment scores showed the first year was a great success for grades 1 and 2. The second year shows much promise.

The LINKS plan is the other program implemented to help students to graduate. LINKS coordinates several required plans into one document outlining comprehensive strategies designed to address district needs. Administrators and teachers worked together with DCMO BOCES staff as facilitators to develop LINKS.

Quality staff development is key to student achievement. BOCES is a major source of staff development. The staff at the BOCES informs teachers of new practices to enrich student learning. The Board allows time needed for departments to map instructional direction and goals.

The state is again changing the math curriculum and students will have different requirements at different grade levels. This will cause a need for teachers to align the curriculum again to prepare for the latest changes.

Recording and using data on student success is important to show where extra support is needed and to implement help where needed.

Our students can compete with other students in college, which is important for them to be successful in the workforce. The Board will continue to support ways that help our students meet success.