Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Springdale plans new school model
Springdale educators aim to make high school more meaningful, relevant and personal for students as they carry out a proposal that won a federal Race to the Top grant of $25.88 million from the U.S. Education Department.
The department named Springdale as one of five national recipients of Race to the Top grants awarded this year.
“We want 100 percent of our students to graduate,” said Marsha Jones, Springdale School District associate superintendent for curriculum, instruction, accountability and education innovation. “We know that the current structure of high school works well for some students, but it doesn’t work well for all students. As we think about how we can improve the junior high and high school experience, best practice says students need to feel more connected to school.”
During Wednesday’s announcement of the Race to the Top grant, Superintendent Jim Rollins said Springdale will focus on changing how students learn.
“It’s very much on the
minds of all of us to allow our youngsters to move through the learning process at their own pace,” he said. “We believe that youngsters can complete their high school experience, not just with a high school diploma but with an associate’s degree. The resources that come from this grant really build life into that goal.”
The district intends for each child to have an individual learning plan, increased access to technology and the opportunity for project-based learning, where they learn through researching, writing and collaborating with classmates on solving problems, Rollins said.
The grant will allow the district to research best practices used in schools across the country, hire additional staff, and provide training for teachers and parents, district officials said.
Springdale officials intend to implement 11 projects in four years that aim to improve education from pre- kindergarten through 12th grade, and many of the projects are about rethinking junior high and high school, officials said.
The district wants to develop a different structure of schooling for students interested in completing an associate degree while in high school, Jones said. Students must finish most of their high school coursework in the eighth and ninth grades, begin taking college courses in 10th grade, and then take a full load of college classes in the 11th and 12th grades.
Jones envisions a classroom where students have work stations for taking courses online. They will have access to certified teachers to respond to questions and guide them. The class, she said, will feel more like what students experience in the Environmental and Spatial Technologies programs, currently in five Springdale schools.
In Environmental and Spatial Technologies, students have work stations in a large room, and they work on independent projects, she said. The grant will support expanding the program to nine additional Springdale schools.
The state currently requires students to sit in a class for 60 hours per course each semester, but Springdale officials will seek approval from the Arkansas Department of Education to waive the “seat time” requirement, Jones said. A “seat time” waiver would allow the district to experiment with awarding credit for courses on the basis of mastery of content.
“You get it done on a schedule that is compatible with how quickly you can do the work,” Jones said.
Some students have such a strong understanding of algebra that they could pass an end-of-course exam at the end of one semester, well before the exams are given at the end of the school year, Jones said. Under the current high school model, though, they get credit for the course based only on their grades and meeting the state’s requirement for seat time.
Starting in the spring semester, district officials will begin discussions about how to award credit for high school courses based on mastery of the content, Jones said.
The district budgeted $140,000 of the Race to the Top money to pay for substitutes during the school year and for stipends during the summer for staff members studying how to award credit to mastery-of-subject students, Jones said. The district plans to visit schools in New Hampshire that have implemented competency-based models.
Another $150,000 is budgeted to convene a “schedule project team” to develop a new bell schedule that would factor in flexible learning, advisory classes and personal learning plans but still fit with bus schedules, lunch schedules, and the start and end of the school day.
The district wants to build in advisory classes for each middle, junior high and high school that provide time for students and teachers to work on personal learning plans, as well as activities related to planning for college and careers.
Another project involves tailoring instruction to the personal needs and interests of students. Personal learning plans, intended for all grade levels, will guide students in examining who they are and take into account their talents, interests, dreams and aspirations. It’s intended to give students more ownership in the learning process.
The grant will provide nearly $ 640,000 to create multiple pathways to graduation, said Clay Hendrix, assistant superintendent for education innovation and technology systems. The money will allow the district to hire five additional teachers to expand career academies at the high schools.
Springdale High School now has five academies — information technology, International Baccalaureate Programme, medical, engineering, and law and public safety. But the district’s Har-Ber High School does not offer any academies. The project creating multiple pathways to graduation will allow Springdale High School to offer a new academy focused on career fields related to agriculture, while Har-Ber would add academies related to construction management and allied health.
Springdale district officials plan to open a school of innovation in the fall to serve as an incubator for new concepts for high school, Jones said.
The school of innovation will begin with students in the eighth and ninth grades. Students will have opportunities for breaks from their work stations, such as for sports or band, but the school would be structured so that students finish their high school coursework in 2 1/2 to three years and begin taking college courses in their sophomore years, Hendrix said. They would take a full load of college courses as juniors and seniors.
District officials are planning the school with input from officials at Northwest Arkansas Community College, Hendrix said.
“This is for achieving, successful students,” Hendrix said. “It is challenging. It is rigorous. We’re trying to provide some opportunities to those students.”
Jones hopes the changes lead to a more meaningful high school experience that will keep students from losing interest in school, especially between the ninth and 10th grades when some struggling students drop out, she said.
A new model for high school will provide students more choices that are connected to their interests and goals, she said. The hope is that they will finish school and continue their educations.
Jones sees the need as a board member for the United Way of Northwest Arkansas, which helps the working poor. The agency assists single parents going to college and connects people to services.
“If we can do more to keep families or individuals from getting themselves into low- paying jobs or jobs that are entry- level … that will help the community as a whole,” Jones said.