presentation. i would like to know more about the development of the assessment, the vendor, what other -- sites are using this product. >> this is a state mandated assessment. the state pays for it. the state chooses the window. we don't. >> commissioners, any other questions? yes? >> okay. i wanted to echo the 6th grader question on page 5, the 10th slide which is who is going to be grading the culmination for the explanation questions? >> depending on the type of questions it might be a 1 word answer, the computer will be able to do that. depending if they are a longer response, there will be some artificial

intelligence but always against real people as well. so depending on the type of items but also anyone that's created by the computer by artificial intelligence will also be graded by people as well. >> so, 2 years from now when it's the real test, it will be all electronic, all on computers, is that correct? my question is will we have the capacity to do that, to have every student on a computer at the same time? >> so, yes, all the test will be on computers starting next school year. and we should have the capacity. it shouldn't be an issue. >> if i may just a clarifying question. >> commissioner wynns?

>> it's not a capacity where every student will be taking it at the same time? >> that is correct. we do not have sufficient devices for students to take it at the same time. >> the assessment is not designed for every student to take it at the same time. we'll of course be interested and want to know how well we are doing, but there are many other school districts that think they are going to be way behind us. that where they are going to use the large testing window because their electronic capacity is very small compared to their student capacity. >> i was wondering what support the english language students will have because it's a big shift for a lot of

students. >> that was my question. that is a good one. >> so i believe probably louis valentineo can answer that question. >> just to reiterate house does the s back accommodate for our english learners and i would extend that category to our students with disabilities. >> so certainly with the online testing, it does open up actually, it's now usability guidelines that the state is offering. so, there is a variety of things available, some for all students and then some just for students with iep's. that

includes glossaries, english to spanish glossaries will be available, even at some levels there can be dictionaries available depending on the type of item and depending on what's being asked. so it will depend in part of the situation what is certainly there will be a variety of supports available for them. >> the supports are none digital and there is additional support provided for students. the technology will require that students be able to manipulate both a glossary or the additional support that has been available to them previously but now apply it with technology and for us it's about working with the teachers to ensure that we lend the support necessary to be able to help students work through that process. >> commissioner moffit's?

>> thank you. so, you said there was going to be a tight window during this field, what does that exactly mean? >> yes, i apologize. there is not a significant amount of time between now and the field test to acquire the technology and get it deployed. it's going to be an incredible amount of work to do that. we are going to be working very fast to make it happen. that's what i meant by tight window. two 1/2 months. >> do we have the compass knee your -- capacity in your department? >> it's going to be very tight. >> okay. >> yes. superintendant? >> this is a challenge that all districts face to not just in the hardware but making

sure the students can take these test. ideally that we have these tools for learning and we need to take a stance on required not just for administering this test but also that the teachers and students are comfortable to use. >> i don't worry about those districts. i worry about san francisco school district. >> commissioner, mendoza mcdonnell? >> thank you. will these be able to be administered through the tablets or will they have to be so we can utilize some of the other equipment? >> absolutely. >> the middle schools for example. >> absolutely. we are hoping that some schools choose tablets. i want to checkout a couple of key boards . they

can be administered. the requirements are very broad. from apple to win ex-. you can run very old machines on these. >> commissioners, any other questions, comments? so i have a couple. so, i think what i'm sort of concerned about when i hear about this test is how are we making sure that our students will be prepared. this is much more rig let -- rigorous. i'm not saying it's wrong, but the idea that it's more in depth. the idea of teaching in technology. this is a big jump not only for teachers but our students. how are we going to make sure students are prepared to take these test.

and what other supports are we giving to them and then also how will we make sure that our learners have access to the content. i think that we have a great dental -- digital divide here in san francisco. i was a parent organizer for a long time and those parents do not have a computer in their homes. the children do not know how to use computers. as you know in some of our schools, it's not enough or adequate enough for them to supply and buy their own devices at the schools. also, for example it's $5,000 for some elementary schools to supply their own wifi much less have these available in schools to practice on. correct me if i am wrong, is that this is a timed test. so

when it's timed, it would mean that your skill level on the computer cuts into your time whether or not your skills are not skilled. i speak from someone who is not skilled. when you say highlight and drag or drag and highlight, that takes me probably longer than an average person to do. actually looking at these questions, i am so glad that i have graduated from high school already. i even set this on what is the right answer. so those are my concerns is that if this is all of the computer we have so many students that don't have computers at home. they just don't have them. those are the students that will be then disadvantaged from those students who have maybe four or five computers at home that are used to doing all that stuff as five things up on a screen like my son was.

then i'm also concerned about the el's about the reading level. if you can't comprehend, if you can't read it but it doesn't match with comprehension. if your reading skills are low, if somebody were to verbalize, the content you might understand it verbally, but because of your reading skills for our el's are not at that level then they would be disadvantaged also. then i also think that one of these test are 2 hours to complete at a high school level. so i just want to know also how are we preparing our students to have the stamina to take the 2-hour test. i think we have had severe tracking in our schools and a

lot of rigor hasn't gone into a certain track. so students who are used to taking an ap test or sat test, they can do a 2-hour test. but students who are used to quizzes that are 15 minutes long and i know from firsthand experience even with my son who said after half hour, a lot of the students are asleep or they are throwing paper or just not engaged. this is not only an academic preparation. this is also about a resiliency, a mind-set and stamina preparation. are we including this when we are looking at this scaffolding of information and how we are doing rolling out the common core. i feel that our students would be at a disadvantage because many of our students in the general ed track

because they have not had this practice of increased stamina of taking a test. a 2-hour test for many of our students in classrooms, in classes that are 55 minutes long, they have never taken a 2-hour test and they weren't expecting them to do it. i just want to ensure our students are getting the best possible advantage where the technology divide in san francisco. what are we going to do with that. another one, el's much more writing and comprehension. this writing is evidence of comprehension. if their reading and writing levels aren't at that level, then how are we measuring or assessing knowledge and comprehension. and also what kind of support are they going to be given and then the stamina issue and then i have

to just mention that suppose students have glossaries, will have dictionaries, so in order for me to look at something in a glossary, it takes time. these are timed test. will our students at el be at greater disadvantage. i think nationwide, you will see that parents are in uproar about it. a lot of these come from english learning communities. how are these children going to be able to compete. i ask these of you for our students and how much from our budget will this require. you said it will take a supplemental from our general fund. have we estimated how much this will cost us. i think this is new. i know it's coming on the pike, i think that it's coming when we agree or we don't agree. i think that at this time when you are asking for feedback and presenting it to

the board, these are my concerns. i don't expect you to have all the answers to them now, but i would like on the record for it to officially have it on the record that i have these questions and i have these concerns because i think we are building something that perhaps the k student will be able to do successfully in 12th grade, but we have a whole spectrum now that is not prepared to do this. unless we build in all these other skill sets for our students, they will not be successful on the test and i fear not adequately assessing knowledge. and for our students who work really really hard. it is devastating sometimes to get a test result that doesn't add up acknowledge the knowledge that

you do have. >> i think i really do love your questions on technology familiarity, the content, exposure as well as the stamina because those three are the key things as we move on to smarter balance. the only thing i will tell you that these are not necessarily timed test. you can take more time. 90 minutes is the approximate time suggested. >> okay. so then they can take as much time as they want? okay. >> and you can break it up, but not for the performance task. you are right about the performance task, but the other part you can break it up. >> then i want to know on these constructed responses. will students do you think that they will be dinged for

spelling errors or typing errors? >> on the construction response probably not unless it's clear. definitely not. >> and the grammar used, will the sentence construction, will that be if it's not proper tense would that knock off also points? >> only if it was part of the intent of the question it will be clear on the question if you make a list and give me two details about this, they be the grammar and spelling would not be a factor. >> i think after i have said all this that when we are rolling out the common core state standards for the students, i want us to be mindful about the digital divide and how el's are going to perform on this and are

students adequately prepared to take this test. be mindful of the students that are going to need these extra supports and as we do everything in this district as we proceed, we proceed through the lens of equity. we want to ensure that the support and instruction that we are giving is also has equity in mind too that it will take more for some students to be able to be successful on these test. i don't have a problem with this assessment. i think they are kind of difficult, i looked at some of them, i thought my goodness. but i am concerned about those students that i think we haven't adequately prepared. as we are preparing students, let's keep this in mind about we serve so many

el's and to make sure that they are getting what they need to adequately access the content needed to be successful on these assessment. >> can i ask a clarifying question. did i hear you say in the performance test, a portion of the 2 hours is spent teaching. do we know what portion that is? >> it's more like the i do, redo and you do. so the i do is approximately 25-30 minutes of class time. it's a prelesson and they practice together and then you go to the computer lab to do the performance test. all of this approximate time is two hours. 2 hours. >> any other questions or comments?

>> thank you. i would like to ask you for a follow up. as we get reports, i'm concerned about the how the availability of the devices and the availability of them over time. have they been using them all along is related to the sort of level of challenge in our schools. so what i'm wondering is during this year in particular, do we have a plan to make more availability and pay more attention to the schools where we think that maybe helpful for them as for their test taking on electronic devices skill building. is that part of our plan, i understand that. i mean i don't know, it's not exactly hardware plan, but kind of a multifaceted

challenge. >> i agree it's a multifaceted challenge. unfortunately with the timeline we have students with no technology for this year is going to be able to get technology this time. when we started talking about this last year, we were both concerned with students sitting down for the first time with this technology. we are hoping this technology is used prior to the assessment. that is the plan. the address of the el question is a much more difficult question that i'm not going to be able to address tonight. that was the plan. technology was being used for assessment. we do want to give our students exposure to that. it's really critical. we are looking at

10-1 ratio for devices and it's rounded up so there is enough devices for an entire class so you don't have to split classes up. if there is grade 3, you don't need more than three devices but in the middle grades you may need 20 devices. the project calls for 100 devices. currently the funding is coming from the state as a one time fund. this year we are spending $900,000 and $2 million and $2.1 million. and we want to make sure the technology stays more than. we want to make sure

there is good modern technology for students. we are actually leading these models and will be replaced in 3 years. >> did you say this money is money that has been given to us from the state to implement the common core? >> that's correct. >> this is out of the $12 million? >> correct. >> okay. thank you. commissioners, any comments, questions? no. thank you so much. i didn't think this would take so long. it's been very informative. thank you so much. there was an item removed.

>> there is a support for our work as we try implement the school quality improvement system connected with our nclb waiver. we have staff on hand prepared to respond to a lot of the questions that were raised that evening. i know that our commissioners were sent those responses and those were also shared with president kelly as well. >> i believe we have one speaker, president kelly. >> thank you very much. i didn't know that presentation was going that long either. can i just ask you one thing also. i didn't see any reference to the audit in the agenda. all right. i didn't see it there. i was concerned

it hadn't been properly noticed. tonight you have once again $83,000 for the commitment on the waiver for services. i thank you for the back up to explain some of it. once again the agenda leaves out the verb. it says interventions must blank provided for identified priority schools. i know since you got the back up that you can tell us what your priorities are and your focus schools as you have listed it. has the board agreed to this terminology and who else has these appalachians. the agenda speaks to the intervention of the department institute but what are the agendas being paired? what does that mean?

who will provide the intervention. the california department list only three employees on their website and you know now who will participate in the institute and what can you tell us about the agenda or the activities for that institute? the same website for the california education folks list only one institute that took place back in 2012, nothing since then and nothing they have planned for the future. where will the partnership work take place. i know the place the berkeley. the website list the san francisco location for the california education partners at 1 lombardy street. we know that's the office of phil halpern and san francisco alliance. the san francisco

suite of mr. halpern works. where are they going to fund it. it states the nclb tutoring money and we went into waiver to free that money. we got about $700,000 freed up by going into core waiver and now you are spending 13 percent of that money plowed back into same consultantcy to pay for the core waiver. is this just the beginning of feeding this alternate bureaucratic structure. do you have other payments that are going to be called for? what exactly is it that we are entering into? what will we get out of this expenditure and how much more are we on the hook for. thank you. >> any comments?

>> it's up to the commissioners we are happy to highlight some of the information shared in advance. we have staff here who can provide an overview of some of the school designations, what these categories mean, which schools does that involve and this contract in particular is to facilitate the communities at practice or the school pairings where if we can certainly talk about some of the activities that are starting to commence in that regard we have also one of our superintendants who is also involved in that who can describe that if you wish. >> commissioners, do you need more information to be able to vote on this or can we do a roll call vote now? seeing there is no request for more information, i believe we are ready for roll call vote. >> thank you, ms. angela wei,

maufas, murase, norton, six ayes. >> it was moved and seconded. second under section s. >> angela wei, maufas, mcdonalds, murase, wynns, fewer, 6 ayes. >> excuse me. consent calendar resolutions. i'm sorry, did i miss something? no. thank

you. board members proposal. first reading, none tonight. board members report. i believe we have a report from the committee as a whole which emily murase has already reported on. so, we have report of any other reports by board members? commissioner maufas? >> thank you president. i just wanted to make an announcement regarding black history month and acknowledge the hundreds of volunteers that will be doing the read aloud with books by black authors or illustrators in elementary schools across san francisco the 25th national african american reading and will be put on by black alliance schools educators and special ed fund and many many

volunteers in coordinating with sfusd and training readers for all of our schools that select to be read to. so this year in february, the first week of february and spanning that whole week with several of our elementary schools and they will receive free breakfast and they definitely start at 7:45 to read and it will go on to 10:30 a.m.. i just want to say, due to the overwhelming response of volunteer readers that the registration is already closed. we have had hundreds of responses and people have followed through and gone through their training already. there is one training left for those folks already signed up which is this thursday the 30th at the san francisco education