Post by momto4 on Apr 25, 2008 11:32:00 GMT -5
The traditional curriculum of a middle school education provides each student with a healthy balance of course variety and depth. In Indian Prairie School District 204, representatives from the teachers' union and district administrators began discussions several years ago to explore if students would benefit from a revised middle school schedule. In the fall of 2006, they teamed together with the goal to maximize the quality of classroom instruction in our middle schools.
So you might be asking yourself, "How does enhancing the middle school schedule benefit students?" By re-tooling the schedule, we are able to increase the amount of instruction time in the academic core classes so as to maintain high standards in the areas of mathematics, science, language arts, reading, and social studies. Perhaps just as important, the reallocated time will allow for greater interaction between students and our instructors. This measure is of critical importance to our teachers because it presents them with more time to talk in-depth about subject matter and time to introduce new topics.
To pardon the pun, our dedicated planning team really did their homework on this one. They spent time researching best practices on middle school schedules and reviewed the success of high-achieving middle schools throughout the country as part of the groundwork.
Through this extensive research, we were able to develop a schedule that not only maximizes academic instruction with the core courses, but also actually adds minutes to exploratory courses such as music, art, foreign language, computers, applied technology, and family and consumer sciences.
This was accomplished through reducing passing periods, moving to a 30-minute lunch period, and embedding the advisory/connections coursework into the core curriculum. The minutes gained from changing advisory/connections remain flexible and can be used by the core team of teachers in many ways to best meet the needs of students.
A wonderful addition to the schedule is teachers will have one non-classroom period devoted to meeting the needs of students. It will be an opportunity for students seeking enrichment and those needing academic assistance to receive it directly from a teacher.
We are very pleased that our planning team accomplished a schedule change without limiting student options. I applaud and extend my gratitude to all those staff members committed to helping us achieve what I think will be an important milestone with our middle school education.
We plan to introduce this new middle school schedule in two separate phases. The 2008-09 academic year will serve as the first phase and it will focus on staff development with our teachers. The second phase will take place in the 2009-10 academic year and that will be the time that it will be introduced to our students.
And finally, while the focus of this column is on the future of middle school education in our district, I'd like highlight an important achievement that occurred recently. Our very own Granger, Gregory, and Hill Middle Schools received the "Schools to Watch" award from the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform.
Indian Prairie's three schools were among 47 from across the country, including five from Illinois, to receive this honor. Schools were selected for academic excellence, responsiveness to the needs and interests of young adolescents, and a commitment to helping all students achieve at high levels. In addition, schools must have strong leadership, teachers who work together to improve curriculum and instructions, and a commitment to assessment and accountability to bring about continuous improvement.
It is wonderful to enjoy national recognition as it represents what we have been able to accomplish thus far. Looking to the future, we believe our new middle school schedule will help our students go even farther.
Stephen Daeschner
Superintendent
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School District 204
www.ipsd.org
780 Shoreline Drive
Aurora, IL 60504
USA