Superintendent Michael Roth talked about the strategic visioning plan being developed for years 2014 through 2020 at the curriculum and technology committee meeting Aug. 26. A question to be addressed is "What do we want Salisbury to look like in 2020?" Roth said. He will come to the board with a formal plan; the goal is to have a strategic plan by summer 2014 with a required completion date of October 2014.

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Randy Ziegenfuss and Supervisor of Instructional Practice Lynn Fuini-Hetten discussed the Differentiated Supervision Plan for 2013-2014. This is a state-mandated initiative which ties student performance-achievement to teacher evaluations.

Based on the Danielson model, the evaluation is based on a research-based set of components of instruction aligned to standards and involves four domains of teaching responsibility: planning and preparation, classroom environment, instruction and professional responsibilities.

Ziegenfuss said a handbook explaining the evaluation was distributed to teachers during orientation.

"Teachers are going to face for the first time an evaluation similar to what members of the public have received for years," Giordano said. He said teachers were evaluated either satisfactory or unsatisfactory; now there will be different levels of evaluation.

"The day is going to come when evaluations may be about more than observation," Giordano said.

"The Danielson model was developed by a teacher to help teacher effectiveness," Giordano said.

Board member Sam DeFrank said the board should think about a program to recognize distinguished teachers in the district."

Administrators told the committee adequate yearly progress has been eliminated in Pennsylvania and now a school performance profile will be the standard for accountability within school districts.

In other business, a social services resources guide has been developed by social worker Jill Williams. It will be made available to families and DeFrank suggested a link to the guide on the district website.

Giordano asked how many parents are using the website, how many hits it gets daily, weekly and monthly and if the question should be asked at upcoming open houses.

Fuini-Hetten said the summer academy was well attended with 37 sessions offered to staff. There were 278 registrations which included 204 professional staff, 65 instructional assistants and nine secretarial/support staff. Of the sessions, 38 percent were technical, 14 percent were special education, 32 percent were content specific, five percent involved health and wellness and 11 percent involved specialized certifications.

The Leader in Me Agreement for the elementary schools was approved by the committee and will be placed on the board agenda for September. This was included in the budget.

The Overdrive Agreement with CLUI was also budgeted for and approved.

The Discovery Education Agreement was approved which will provide social studies and science e-Books for students in sixth grade. "The interactive books provide content on various reading levels which will meet diverse learners needs," Fuini-Hetten said. For students who do not take laptops home, accommodations will be made by the teachers for homework.

The Google Apps for Education Agreement was also approved which will provide student access to all tools for free and allow storage of an unlimited amount of emails on the Google server. By switching to Google email, the district will save $500.

During the TL2014 update, Ziegenfuss discussed the various types of social media being utilized by the district.

Ziegenfuss told the committee there were six summer library sessions, each two hours and 85 students attended the sessions.

In conjunction with the media classes, the district is pursuing a film festival for students in elementary grades through high school. The media classes will set the theme for the film festival and students will create videos. The film festival should take place in April.

Ziegenfuss said they are planning a technology event for Nov. 16. A sheet will be sent home with students. They hope to engage parents in the use of laptops at home and present facts on how to handle distractions.

Regarding VAST, there are currently five students enrolled in the online learning program. A handbook has been created for these students to supplement the Salisbury High School handbook. Three existing staff have been asked to be involved with the VAST students. "They are our students," Roth said.

Giordano asked the committee to think about whether the board should take a position on the library referendum. The issue will be discussed at a future meeting.