Darlene Quayle: European Schools Research and Explorations

Date:   June 30, 2009

Re:       Sabbatical Update

I would like to once again thank the board for providing this opportunity for my research. I have plans for implementation of the information gained from this research within my own classroom and in the ICE Program, and will be sharing these findings through various presentations, for the board, the community and the state.

As a summary, I made these findings:

• We need to focus more on basic computational skills in math and accelerate levels at earlier ages, so that more students have completed algebra before they enter high school.
• We need to embrace creativity in learning, supporting students’ interests.
• We need to provide more world language learning at earlier grades, as this supports literacy skills.
• We need to provide non-university options for students beginning at the 9^th or 10^th grade level for those who do not plan to attend university.

I am scheduled for a visual presentation to the board at the first meeting in September during the 6:00 portion of the meeting. I asked for this date, as I wanted to be sure that a greater audience is available to view the presentation.

I look forward to a discussion of my findings at that point.

Yours truly,

Darlene Quayle