Coalition for Glen Cove

Minutes

Monday, November 14, 2005

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church 7:30 PM

Susan Breen, the Coordinator for English and Language Arts for the Glen Cove School District, was our guest speaker. Her philosophy is “Public education is as good as private education.”

Ms. Breen is the supervisor for English and Reading teachers in Middle and High School and instructs elementary school teachers and reading specialists. The theme for English Language Arts (ELA) is reading, writing, listening and speaking. Her first priority was to create a framework for the K-12 ELA curriculum.

Ms. Breen spoke about curriculum mapping for seamless subjects with English, Social Studies and Math.

Nassau BOCES has a Data Warehouse for New York State exams. Administrators can observe their exams. Ms. Breen told her teachers that she detected the ELA test gaps.

Six ESL High School students who failed the English Regents exam were taught with a BOCES consultant, David Deering. Each of these students passed the English Regents.

When Susan Breen started in 2003, her important initiatives were

There was a shortage of textbooks. She designed a budget for ELA textbooks.
Course Outline for Grade 7–12 (Vocabulary, Language, Experience, Intelligence)
Personal Dictionaries for each classroom

K – 12 meetings
- English teachers
- Reading specialists
Grading Policy
Lesson Plan Formats
Pacing Calendar – ELA exam program
Library expectations and research papers

Future initiatives:

Teaching for Understanding
Research processes

New York State Education Department – English Language Arts (ELA) website:
http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/3-8/e-home.htm

Submitted by Bob Desiano