The number of Little Rock School District high schools using a college-style class schedule will grow from two to five if the state's education chief approves a proposal that is intended to create "equity of opportunity" for students.
Superintendent Mike Poore and Deputy Superintendent Marvin Burton have asked state Education Commissioner Johnny Key to authorize the use of an eight-period A/B block class schedule -- or some variations of that -- at J.A. Fair, Hall and McClellan high schools, starting in the 2017-18 school year.
Key acts as the school board in the Little Rock district, which is beginning its third year of operating under state control without a locally elected school board.
"We want to make sure that all students have the opportunity to earn eight credits over the course of the year," Burton said about the reason for the scheduling proposal.
The class scheduling proposal for the Little Rock high schools comes at a time when the Little Rock district, the state's largest, is cutting expenses in its annual budget of more than $300 million to offset the scheduled loss of $37.3 million a year in state desegregation aid. That special funding is to end after the 2017-18 school year.
The district, which cut employee workdays and reduced health insurance premium benefits for this school year, is planning to close three campuses and repurpose a fourth as part of those budget-cutting efforts.
The list of pros and cons for block scheduling sent to the state by district leaders makes note that teachers will only see students two to three times a week, which can result in loss of continuity. And if a student or a teacher is absent on one of the class days, the lack of continuity is exacerbated.
But district leaders also said teachers will see fewer students in a day, giving them more time for individual instruction. Less time will also be spent each day in transitioning between classes or settling into a class.
Central and Parkview Magnet high schools already use a block schedule in which students have four, 90-minute classes one day -- the "A" day -- and a different set of four courses on alternating "B" days, enabling students to earn up to eight credits a year and 32 credits over four years toward graduation.
But J.A. Fair, Hall and McClellan high schools are currently using a more traditional schedule of seven, 50-minute class periods a day, generating seven credits a year and 28 credits over four years. The three schools reverted to that traditional seven-period day beginning with the2015-16 school year, after previously using a block schedule.
The district's proposal to Key would enable all five schools to give students the opportunity to earn eight credits a year, although the means for accomplishing that could vary from school to school, said Burton, who oversees the district's high schools.
Instead of a schedule of A days and B days, for example, a school could structure the weekly schedule so students would take four 90-minute classes on Mondays and Wednesdays, and four different courses in 90-minute periods on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Fridays, students would go to all eight of their classes, which would be taught in abbreviated, 45-minute periods. That flexible schedule would have the advantage of putting students and their teachers in contact at least three times instead of just twice, as can be the case with a regular A/B block schedule.
"Whatever is the best fit for a school," Burton said about possible variations.
Michael Anthony, principal at J.A.Fair High School, said last week that he was extremely enthusiastic about the block schedule plan because "it really levels the playing field."
"Our students will have the opportunity for more elective courses and it definitely aligns with the new career-tech education program that the district is introducing to the five high schools," Anthony said. "It's really important that all the high schools be in line and in sync together. And, if we plan and prepare right from an instructional standpoint, that 90-minute block will definitely give us the opportunity to maximize instruction."
Teacher training is key if block scheduling is to be successful, according to a research report on learning time and school schedules compiled by the Center for Public Education. The center is an arm of the National School Boards Association.
"Teachers who are most effective in block scheduling often plan lessons in three parts: Explanation, application and synthesis," the report said.
The report also recommended the use of new strategies such as cooperative and small group learning, hands-on projects or labs, and increased use of technology.
Burton said if the Little Rock scheduling plan is approved by the state, staff training will begin as soon as this spring in preparation for the next school year.
"It won't be a 'sit-and-get' type of lecture," he said about instruction. "That is not effective for 90-minute classes."
Instead, the class periods are likely to start with a lesson, followed by student work time on projects and other interactive activities. Classes would close with student-led descriptions of what has been learned so that teachers can assess mastery of the lesson or the need for corrections, Burton also said.
The block scheduling concept won't be entirely new at Hall, McClellan and Fair.
The three schools previously adhered to a block system until the district did away with it in 2015. That's when the three schools were state-labeled as academically distressed because of chronically low student achievement on state math and literacy exams. District leaders reverted to a seven-period class day, believing that students would benefit more from daily classes in each of their courses. Also said at the time was that instruction in shorter classes would have a better chance of keeping student attention.
State Education Department leaders are now asking the state Board of Education to vote this week to remove Fair and McClellan from the academically distressed list based on recent improved test results. Both schools continue to be identified as priority schools under a federal school accountability system.
"The reasons for making the decision to move the distressed high schools to a seven-period day two years ago are still legitimate," Poore and Burton said in a seven-page block schedule proposal to Key. "On the other hand, the benefits of an eight period A/B block schedule are also valid. A hybridized version of the eight period A/B block schedule and the seven-period schedule will capture some of the favorable features of both types of schedule."
District leaders said the use of of block scheduling at all of the system's high schools "is being made to create equity of opportunity for all students, to create an academic environment that supports all types of learners and to support efficiency in staffing to support budget needs."
A block schedule will not only allow for eight credits. The 90-minute class periods will also accommodate career-tech courses, expand student opportunities to take electives or remediation courses, and provide time for more individualized instruction.
If the class scheduling proposal is approved, teachers at Fair, Hall and McClellan will most likely be assigned to teach in three out of four periods a day, or six periods out of eight periods over a two-day period, and six out of eight periods on Friday.
"That is the proposal for next [school] year," Burton said. "That may change as the budget becomes tighter."
Block schedules are traditionally more expensive to carry out than the seven-period class days, Burton said, "but it should not be in our case because we have been very careful around how we are scheduling and how we are actually loading classes -- not overloading the classes [with students]. In some instances we have some very small classes and we won't be able to have very, very small classes. We will have classes that are closer to the state standards," which is about 25 students per class.
Angela Frierson's daughter is a senior at Fair this year who experienced block scheduling as a freshman and sophomore.
Frierson said the old block schedule gave her daughter at least two days to do every classroom homework assignment. That helped her daughter, who took a heavy class load.
Even though her daughter is graduating in May and will not be affected by any shift in class times or days, Frierson is pleased about the potential change in class scheduling.
"I'm pretty sure parents are like me and are going to like it," she said.
Metro on 02/05/2017