The curriculum and technology committee meeting for the Salisbury Township School District was held Jan. 13 at Salisbury Middle School.

Sixth grade learning support teacher Kara Bellis gave a demonstration on the Discovery Education Techbook being used by students at SMS for social studies and science.

The Techbook is an online textbook with added benefits and features including video images, interactive activities, games and assessments.

Each lesson includes the five "E's" including engage, explore, explain, elaborate and evaluate.

The Techbook has a text-to-speech feature, where the student can actually listen to the passages which allows for a higher level of comprehension. The online book also provides an English to Spanish translation, and offers various levels and learning venues for students.

Bellis said the social studies Techbook has an interactive atlas allowing students to explore the area they are studying, a global news section and a reference section.

A teacher-made scavenger hunt supplements the interactive Techbook.

The science Techbook has an interactive glossary so students can engage in vocabulary terms through their learning styles. Students have a highlight feature to mark portions of text as well as a sticky note feature.

Board builder allows the students to collect their text, videos, and more for presentation.

Currently, STSD is piloting the Techbook in grade six only.

Supervisor of Instructional Practice Lynn Fuini-Hetten said the Discovery Education Techbook will be evaluated at the end of the year to see if it is meeting the district's needs.

One advantage of the Techbook over the existing textbook was discussed. The existing textbook for the sixth grade classroom is from 2000. The online books are kept current.

In other business, Roth and Ziegenfuss discussed the Pennsylvania Department of Education Initiatives including the principal effectiveness evaluation which is being piloted right now in some school districts. Principals will be evaluated in how they use resources, reach out to community and use data to make decisions within their context. The state wants to see a shift in how superintendents are supporting principals in terms of their work. PDE is talking about superintendents having instructional conversations with principals and helping to support them in their instructional efforts, Roth said.

Next year, teachers will be evaluated as part of the Teacher Effectiveness System as per Act 82 of 2012. Eighty-five percent of their evaluation will come from planning, instruction assessment and professional responsibilities with the final 15 percent based on the building level data.

Changes in graduation requirements were discussed. For the current ninth grade students who will graduate in 2017, they will need to be proficient in English language arts, algebra I and biology Keystone exams. The 2019 graduates will need to be proficient in English language arts, algebra I, biology and composition. The 2020 graduates will need to be proficient in English language arts, algebra I, biology, civics and government.

PDE is piloting an option for students who struggle with the Keystone exam; they can complete a computer-based project and get support from a certified mentor.

Members of the Class of 2017 will not have to complete the state mandated graduation project.

For students struggling with Keystone exams and the project, the superintendent can submit for a waiver for those students to still graduate.

The board will discuss at a later date if the graduation project requirement will continue for students.

During the TL2014 update, STSD is now an Apple service provider allowing personnel to repair the Apple devices.