State Drops Requirement For Portfolios
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Individual schools and departments have permission from the Warsaw School Board to develop student portfolios if they choose, but they are no longer required to by the state Department of Education.
Portfolios, or collections of the students' work over a specified time period, are used in holding student-led parent conferences, showing student progress over time, and helping students assess their own work, teachers told the school board Monday.
"A portfolio gives kids a more vested interest in what they're doing and helps them to see learning as a continuous process," said Pat Deck, principal of Lakeview Middle School.
The state originally mandated portfolios in all school districts, but backed away from that decision last fall. The school board's resolution Monday allows individual schools and departments within schools to decide whether they want to use portfolios as learning tools.
The school board also approved a report by Chuck DeFord, assistant principal at Warsaw Community High School, on developing a vocational printing partnership with Vincennes University and printing companies in the area.
DeFord said he expects to finalize program details by spring.
Another program under development deals with peer mediation and conflict resolution - teaching students to help other students and learn to solve their own problems while reducing fights and disagreements.
Students are trained by an accredited peer mediator and will help their fellow students find resolutions to various nonviolent problems. The program is just beginning and is expected to have the added benefit of saving time for teachers and school counselors.
The school board also:
• Announced an opening for the board's appointment to the Warsaw Community Public Library board to complete the term of Ron Raber, who is resigning for health reasons. The board will accept letters of intent for applicants interested in serving for the duration of Raber's term, which ends Aug. 12, 1999. Applications may be submitted to the superintendent's office through Dec. 31; interviews are tentatively set for Jan. 6, and the appointment will be made at the board's regular meeting on Jan. 13.
• Congratulated WCHS assistant principal Jennifer Brumfield for representing the state in a national competition for assistant principal of the year.
• Heard from WCS business manager Rande Thorpe that the state has failed to reimburse the school district for more than $23,000 for textbook funds. Thorpe said the deficit has occurred for more than five consecutive years.
The school board meets at 7 p.m. on the second Monday of each month. [[In-content Ad]]
Individual schools and departments have permission from the Warsaw School Board to develop student portfolios if they choose, but they are no longer required to by the state Department of Education.
Portfolios, or collections of the students' work over a specified time period, are used in holding student-led parent conferences, showing student progress over time, and helping students assess their own work, teachers told the school board Monday.
"A portfolio gives kids a more vested interest in what they're doing and helps them to see learning as a continuous process," said Pat Deck, principal of Lakeview Middle School.
The state originally mandated portfolios in all school districts, but backed away from that decision last fall. The school board's resolution Monday allows individual schools and departments within schools to decide whether they want to use portfolios as learning tools.
The school board also approved a report by Chuck DeFord, assistant principal at Warsaw Community High School, on developing a vocational printing partnership with Vincennes University and printing companies in the area.
DeFord said he expects to finalize program details by spring.
Another program under development deals with peer mediation and conflict resolution - teaching students to help other students and learn to solve their own problems while reducing fights and disagreements.
Students are trained by an accredited peer mediator and will help their fellow students find resolutions to various nonviolent problems. The program is just beginning and is expected to have the added benefit of saving time for teachers and school counselors.
The school board also:
• Announced an opening for the board's appointment to the Warsaw Community Public Library board to complete the term of Ron Raber, who is resigning for health reasons. The board will accept letters of intent for applicants interested in serving for the duration of Raber's term, which ends Aug. 12, 1999. Applications may be submitted to the superintendent's office through Dec. 31; interviews are tentatively set for Jan. 6, and the appointment will be made at the board's regular meeting on Jan. 13.
• Congratulated WCHS assistant principal Jennifer Brumfield for representing the state in a national competition for assistant principal of the year.
• Heard from WCS business manager Rande Thorpe that the state has failed to reimburse the school district for more than $23,000 for textbook funds. Thorpe said the deficit has occurred for more than five consecutive years.
The school board meets at 7 p.m. on the second Monday of each month. [[In-content Ad]]