There are way too many educators celebrating because of the passage of
HB5. As if it changes
something. It does not. Funding has not been restored to
previous levels and nothing has changed on the testing front. All the tests that are kicking schools
in the teeth are still there. The
only tests that are going away are the tests that haven’t been administered
yet. So again, what has changed?
But at the high school level, WE are in a position to make significant
changes to protect both our students and our campus. All it requires is some simple tweaks to our master
schedules. Which of course means
that 99% of the campuses and districts will not considerer this a viable
solution. An ongoing phenomenon
that I attribute to one-dimensional thinking. This, on the other hand, is three-dimensional thinking.
The HB5 High Performance Schedule
There are now five End of Course exams (seven, if you are not a
politician crowing about your enlightened leadership): Algebra I, Biology, U.S.
History, English I (reading and writing), and English II (reading and
writing). Now most schools
consider Algebra I, Biology and English I to be freshman courses, U.S. History
to be a freshman or sophomore course, and English II to be a sophomore
course. This means that the
most fragile, least mature and least prepared students on a campus are taking
tests that impact both their ability to graduate and the “performance” of the
campus. That is, unless the campus
schedules proactively. Here is how
I would schedule my students.
Algebra I is now a sophomore course. Geometry becomes the default freshman math course. If the
Geometry course has some embedded Algebra I elements (hint), so much the
better. Now students who are more
mature and have had an extra year of math instruction take the Algebra I EOC.
Biology is now a junior course for the vast majority of my
students. Chemistry becomes the
default freshman science course. IPC (Integrated Physics and Chemistry) becomes the default freshman science course. The sophomore science course now becomes an
environmental science focused course. If the environmental science focused
course has some embedded Biology elements (hint), so much the better. Now students who are more mature and
have had two extra years of science instruction take the Biology EOC.
U.S. History is now a junior course for the vast majority of my
students. World Geography and
World History become the default freshman and sophomore social studies courses.
If the World Geography and World History courses has some embedded U.S. History
elements (hint), so much the better.
Now students who are more mature and have had two extra years of social
studies instruction take the U.S. History EOC.
Now this is where you double down on proactive scheduling. English courses are driven by PEIMS
numbers, not the year the course is taken. Meaning that English IV (British Literature), which is
traditionally taken by seniors, can be taken at any time, by any student. Which means now...
English I is a sophomore course and English II is a junior
course. Either English III or
English IV becomes the default freshman course (let your English Department
decide what is the best fit). If the English III or English IV course has some embedded
English I elements (hint), so much the better. Now students who are more mature and have had an extra year
of English instruction take the English I EOC. And two years of extra English instruction before taking the English II EOC.
What we know is that the more mature the student, the more motivated
the student, and the longer the student has been exposed to good instruction,
the more successful the student will be on accountability tests. If you take this one step further and
load your freshman classes with your absolute best teachers, your EOC
performance problems will become significantly less severe and your students
significantly more successful. Where's the downside to that?
Think. Work. Achieve.
Your turn...
- Call Jo at (832)
477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies
available on Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/Fundamental5
- Call Jo at (832)
477-LEAD to order your campus set of “Look at Me: A Cautionary School
Leadership Tale” Individual copies available on
Amazon.com! http://tinyurl.com/lookatmebook
- Now
at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite
(Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
- Upcoming Presentations: The Fundamental 5 National Summit (Multiple Presentations);
NASSP National Conference
- Follow
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