DEER ISLE, Maine — Less than a year after switching to a new schedule amid concerns over gaps in learning, Deer Isle-Stonington High School is seeing an alarming rise in the number of failing grades as some students struggle to adapt, according to school officials.
And now some parents, teachers and students are urging school administrators to find a schedule better suited to the challenges of a small island school already struggling with relatively low graduation rates.
Last winter, members of the local school committee voted to switch from a “four-by-four block schedule,” in which students take four 80-minute classes each semester, to an alternating days system.
Dubbed the “blue-and-white” schedule at Deer Isle-Stonington, the new system allows students to take up to eight courses that may last all year long, with classes often meeting every other day for 70 minutes. But while the blue-and-white system eliminates potential gaps if a student only took math or another subject every other semester, some students are having problems adjusting to the combination of more classes and alternating days.
Todd West, principal at Deer Isle-Stonington High, said the number of students failing multiple courses and the total number of failed credits has increased since last year. Additionally, some students are failing by wider margins than in recent years, creating a situation where more students will have to retake courses.
West, who presented his findings to the Deer Isle-Stonington CSD committee this week, said he anticipated that some students would struggle and receive failing grades in the new system.
“I didn’t expect that there would be quite as many failures,” West said during an interview on Friday. “And it wasn’t just that kids failed classes. It was kids failed classes with a grade of, like, 27 which we haven’t seen in a number of years.”
And West said he does not believe it is just a matter of a first-year adjustment because even some freshmen who never experienced the four-by-four schedule are struggling.
The school has a robust support system for struggling students, West said.
Scheduling has been a hotly debated topic in education for years as schools around the nation experiment with different systems. The Maine Department of Education does not keep track of which schools use which system, but “block schedules” that feature longer class periods are fairly common in the state.
The Deer Isle-Stonington CSD committee voted last year to adopt the alternating days schedule over the objections of students and faculty at the school.
Deer Isle-Stonington High also faces some unique challenges. With less than 150 students, the school already struggles to offer the array of classes that students need to graduate and succeed. In the past, Deer Isle-Stonington also had one of the lowest graduate rates in Maine, and in 2010 it was designated by the state as one of 10 “persistently low-achieving” schools, a designation that West and teachers have been working hard to correct.
During last Tuesday’s school committee meeting, several parents and teachers criticized the board for last year’s vote, which followed several years of back-and-forth discussion and inaction over the scheduling issue.
Katy Helman, an art teacher at the school, said she sees more students unprepared on a daily basis and that she believes the pace of learning has actually slowed under the new system. The difference “is like night and day,” she said.
“I would go back to the other schedule in a nanosecond,” she said. “I just think it is better for all of us.”
One parent with three children in the school system, who declined to give her name, said the discussion leading up to last year’s vote was all about college-bound kids. But she said the new system is hurting many other students.
“I’m sorry it has to come to this but I have come, once again, to say please reconsider this,” she told the committee.
Committee members appeared swayed by West’s figures as well as the comments of parents, teachers and a few students. Although no clear action was taken, in part because of confusion over the parliamentary process, several committee members seemed strongly inclined to direct West to explore other options.
For his part, West noted that the previous scheduling task force had spent two years looking at alternative schedules and didn’t come up with a plan that everyone supported. He told board members on Tuesday and repeated Friday that scheduling would not be his top priority when making changes to improve the quality of education at the school.
West said research shows that the quality and strength of a school’s curriculum and how well it is taught are the biggest factors.
“That is much more important than scheduling,” he said.
“The Deer Isle-Stonington CSD committee voted last year to adopt the alternating days schedule over the objections of students and faculty at the school.” …. “And it wasn’t just that kids failed classes. It was kids failed classes with a grade of, like, 27 which we haven’t seen in a number of years.”
D’oh !
Think of it as non-violent non-co-operation, and the extremely low “metrics” will sudden make good since to the entire committee, I should hope.
There is a much bigger Problem here. More than just a schedule change.
this school system needs to be taken over by the tax payers,the whole system is completely about the staff and has nothing to do with the students.This is one of the towns that could have gotten a millon dollars for getting rid of its princapal,todd west bob webster and all of the others who have abused the students and tax payers of these towns.My son had to take classes for vocational school because they dont know how to teach the requirement for him to get in,plain and simple the whole school system down here sucks!!! and until some sort of accountablity to tax payers and students its not going to change
That’s what the school board is for, they represent the tax payers. It sounds to me like the school needs some accountability to the students and the teachers. The taxpayers way is clearly not working.
school board ? thats a joke they would rather hire some dimwit who has no degree teaches english has been there for more then five years,so there’s five years of failure of student and the school board. getting the idea yet? this school system has been taken over by the staff it self which is incompadent at best,this school system needs local people,stop wasteing money on outside offices for adminstraton ie bob webstwers office when i went to school here the superintentant was at the end of the hall staff and student knew it. I blame the teachers for passing kids who did not pass the class and to bad the got caught by testing so now blame the class structures its all bullpuckey and they know it.
I like how the guy with the worst grammatical skills on here is the one criticizing the teachers/educators.
A student gets a 27 in a class…yeah, it is “the schedule’s fault.”…sure. I don’t believe schedules cause failures.
Take a look at those Teachers that protested the loudest about this change and then Take a look at the percentage of students having the most difficulty in those Teachers classes. I wonder if there will be a connection?
Actually this is very untrue one of the teacher protesting this is a very good teacher and the kids do well. Seth Laplant is one of them. But in harder subjects that take extra time and extra individual attention are failing and failing bad and the teacher is very good.
I dont know any of these folks , just was wondering.
I have another
question though, this current scheduled seems to be similar to the one most
commonly used in High Schools up until the late 80’s early 90’s, could be considered the traditional method.The former “four-by-four block schedule,” is a comparatively new idea. So my question is, is this another one of those “how did we ever do it” situations?
Truthfully not many kids did it back then let alone get great grades. Drop out rates and failure rates were high. I remember this schedule from when i was in school.
Where was the BDN last year when this schedule was forced upon the school. Faculty and students both fought diligently to keep our old schedule. The school board didn’t just approve the schedule, they are also the ones that proposed that the schedule change. Students at all spectra said it wouldn’t work for them. It slows down the students who want to excel and forces those who have difficulties to manage more than they can handle.
The BDN doesn’t care about the reporters who are in the bureaus outside of the big office in Bangor, from what I’ve heard. They leave one person to cover a whole county and give the Bangor reporters a city
The Hebrew word for parents is horim, and it comes from the same root as moreh, teacher. The parent is, and remains, the first and most important teacher that the child will ever have. Stop blaming the teachers or the schools, parents, and do what you are called to do. Teach your children.
This school system has been a nightmare for quite some time now. Time for a new school board, new Principal, new Superintendent and perhaps a handful of new teachers. There are far more problems going on than the scheduling issues, that’s for sure
how about you replace all of the students that do not care because they blame on lobstering their whole lives?
How about we provide ALL children, including those planning to go into fishing careers with a foundation of knowing how to read, write and do simple math but not push them to take college-track courses? Every child should be entitled to an education. WE the taxpayers are paying for their education and none should be left out. I’m all for college, but if a person chooses a different career, they are still entitled to be educated. And this process needs to begin back in Elementary school.
I agree, everyone deserves an education- and the classes offered at DISHS (as far as I know) are not college track courses, they are regular courses any high school kid would have to take- my point is that the students who dont care about school because they already plan to go fishing are not helping the rates at the school, a lot of those kids don’t graduate because they drop out, or they do not care. every one of them has the right to an education, but do all of them care about it? no, they dont.
There are AMPLE opportunities for students to learn more about fishing, boat building and even carpentry-all built in to our course selection. At the same time there are MANY opportunities for students to seek extra help (such as the “resource room” or the “learning center”- a classroom available to students at all times during the day just to get help in whatever area they struggle in), find a class that suits their learning needs such as honors, regular, and even lower level classes in ALL the essential subjects. It is extremely hard to provide a variety of courses in such a small community but our administrators and staff work hard to give every child a chance to pursue what they are interested in.
Our teachers are qualified, caring, and motivated and our principal is working around the clock to improve our school. It is not easy to walk into a position like Mr. West did. Deer Isle has struggled for many years, even before Mr. West became the principal. It is not an easy process, and the school has a long way to go, but the improvements are proving successful. The problem is NOT the teachers or the principal. If you want to talk about replacing people maybe it’d be worth it to look into the SCHOOL BOARD’S role in all of this. For example:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Island-Teachers-Working-Without-a-Contract/241494355920695
The latest status update is a quintessential example.
This schedule was forced on the students and teachers by the school bored. May faculty, students and parents voiced their concerns about overloading the kids. Many Many very smart kids are struggling. What makes me very mad is that a overwhelming amount of signatures from the community was presented to the school board all protesting the new schedule but they did what they wanted anyway.
DISHS students, teachers, and staff have come a long way in just a few years. As a Junior I’ve noticed major changes just since my freshman year. Teachers and staff put in much more effort, time, and even their own money to meet the needs of our students. The schedule change was a disaster. The decision to switch to a “blue and white” system was made hastily and was backed by uninformed school board members who failed to take into consideration the unique dynamic of DISHS and its students. As a student I can’t name three teachers or students who were for the change. Although I do feel as though this has been a major setback I believe 100% that our principal, superintendent, teachers, and staff are working diligently and making good progress.
only the school board and possibly a tiny hand-full of teachers agreed to this schedule not the other 150 students and faculty involved. this was forced apon us even after we blatently said we wont be able to keep up and keep grades becouse of the massive change not only is there blue and white there is also another block added as well to the day also shorteneing effective learning time for a “focused study” period where most of the students are forced into classes not helping with school work that kids take as a joke because we can not fail them. then on top of this there is the new swe projects we need to graduate. then senior year we will also have senior ex. opps forgot to mention the community service. and because of the seperation in classes teachers are also doleing out close to twice as much home-work. and i can personaly say that i know of many kids that are planing on transfering or dropping out because of the amount of work that is not improving our education. many kids from the Sedgwick, Brooklin and Brooksville are already in the works of transfering to other schools or going to HCTC. we may not be the whole grade but if im not mistaken the kids from across the reach make up about 20 or so kids. and we can simply transfer to another school like GSA or Ellsworth. adding requirements is not going to make any schools graduation rates go up. especialy in a fishing comunity and where a good 1/6 of the student population is made of kids who have the choice to leave. it was a bad idea from the begining and now its ugly effects are showing……..should have listened
you can not blame everything on the schedule- a students motivation, ambition, and down right time management skills are a HUGE problem, most of the kids in high school think it is a joke and just dont care, or they think its too hard so they dont bother, well high school is the only time in life where you get a free ride. yes, it sounds like the schedule sucks but its not just the schedule, its kids not accepting a change.. and if students are transferring because of that, they may just be running away from a challenge instead of facing it head on.
well put it this way. i plan on furthering my education would u rather work three times harder to graduate at a school that is one of the ten worst in the state , or go to one that is among the best educational ranked in the state. it should not be hard to see why kids dont want to go do DISHS any more. especialy for the ones from across the reach. and the lazy students is defintly becoming wide spread, last friday i remember there being ablsaute chaos in one of my classes. the school as a whole needs to be restructured from the ground up. with some teachers allowed to stay and others told to leave. im not saying that some teachers dont try to help ect. im saying they cant. the only place ive seen with classes as out of control are over in kids peace….
Its not a perfect world. Things sometimes look good on paper , but do not work for all kids. Its not all about the Grades . A grade is not always a good indicator of what a kids learns. Some kids fail because they do not do homework but score high on test. Some kids Score lower on test get honor role but have parents help them with homework or do it for them. Witch kid learned more? The one who failed who with a higher yest score or the Kid who cheated by having parents do homework with lower test scores but made the honor role???????? Its is not a perfect world.
I attended a school board meeting here in my hometown, when this type of schedule was presented before the board. They all voted against it, because they said they felt it was setting the students up to fail. Kudos to our board for thinking of our children first!
I think this issue is much more deeply entrenched than the schedule…it seems to me it needs to be looked at from gradeschool right up through!! Sudents getting a 27??? Don’t they do progress reports?? So why wasn’t this detected before the end of the class grading period?? As I said before it goes way deeper than the schedule, and I hope they can come up with a plan that helps, because it’s a crying shame for those students to not be getting the best education possible!!
The students get fair warning when they are failing classes- the teachers are very concerned with their students progress, but it is the students responsibility to actually do the work and learn the material, and also to get extra help if they need it.
We do have progress reports and also an on-line information system that allows parents and students to view their grades at any time. We have a system in place called the Student Assistance Team that analyzes data each month to identify students who are failing or having other difficulties. Those students identified are required to have a meeting with their advisor and the teachers that they are failing. The parents are encouraged to attend but often opt not to. During these meetings we offer solutions, require students to have study halls with small groups with targeted help and figure out what will work best for the students to improve. We also have a credit recovery and grade recovery system that allows students to improve those grades after grades have closed. We have a daily focused study that allows and requires students to work with the teachers they are having difficulty with. We also regularly assess our students reading and math skills using NWEA tests, when a student is below benchmark they work with a literacy teacher or increase math skills using an on-line program called ALEKS until they are able to reach benchmark. Our system of interventions, joint leadership and plc’s have been recognized by the New England Secondary School Consortium and we will be presenting next month at the conference in Massachussettes. Although we continuously get negative press, our system has made great strides in the past 5 years. 5 years ago our school had the highest drop out rate in the state. Our drop our rate is now in the bottom third (meaning good). We also just announced a national merit scholar finalist yesterday. Despite all of this, our failures were high this past semester and we are not happy about it. We will work tirelessly to solve it, none harder than our principal.
If this is Tuesday is first period last? That is the kind of question from students you might hear on a rotating day schedule. The confusion, and lack of preparation for this type of schedule is inherently built into the system. As a career teacher I worked 3 years under a rotating day schedule, and frankly, it was hard even for me to know which group of students I was going to see on any given day.
A 4X4 block schedule is by far the best way for a small school to serve it’s students. I worked on a 4X4 schedule for many years, and once you get used to it, you love it. You can give more attention to struggling students, and the ones that are not struggling can almost always finish homework assignments during class time. I divided my hour and 30 minute period into 3 distinct classes. The first was a review of yesterdays lesson. The second part was the introduction of new material, and the third part was assisting students who needed help. The students loved it, and I loved it too!
The issue at Deer Isle seems to be one of people in charge who didn’t know what they were doing. Good luck at going back to something that was working!
so is the shchuedule better for you ? or the student? really think about it before you answer.you must be staff,your screen name says it all. when students are let out early on fridays so teachers and staff can hold “think tanks” and ways to improve the education process,we the taxpayers would like copies of the minutes of these so called staff meetings if any have happened,again how can the teachers hold student to the task if they cant be held to the same standards.and tell me how getting out of school early on friday prepares anyone for work i know of no jobs that do that other than the teachers at D I S
I believe that the schedule is better for the students. I will qualify that by saying that the teachers do need a good deal of training to make that schedule work. Once the students realize that they can get the required subjects out of the way sooner, they really buy into this schedule. This leaves students room to take classes they really want or need. It allows the vocational students more vocational classes, and the 4 year college bound students are allowed to take the advanced subjects. Technically on a 4X4 schedule, a student could almost graduate at the end of their junior year. This would leave their senior year to take electives, and courses they will need after graduation, whether for the workforce, or for college.
Maine does have a lot of student release time for inservice (think tanks). I can tell you that at my school, the think tanks, for the most part take place after school when students are not there. We volunteer our time for these. I think it is the elementary schools that seem to need this extra time, not the high schools. I have never taught in a school where there was so much downtime for meetings. But then, I also don’t have control over that either.
There are minutes taken at our after school meetings. I suspect anyone could ask for a copy if they wanted. Our district does NOT get out early on Friday, so I can’t comment on that.
A point of fact. Ellsworth and Bucksport both have early release on Friday to allow time for collaboration. Ellsworth had it before us, Bucksport after. Many schools in our area and across the country have time built into the schedule for those meetings. Its not free time or a staff meeting, we work to enrich the curriculum taught at the school. I usually have meetings 3 out of the 4 other days after school working on other initiatives and quite often have meetings on Friday after our “early” release.
its a joke what job are they being prepared for,no one not even the boss gets out at 1.30 on a friday,another way to teach ? lets face it the place is run a muck and anyone who has been there as long as you have know it and if its news to you perhaps need to look at the progress of students after high school.
Why is it such a big deal for early release fridays- the students love it, and its helpful for the teachers. its like a reward for the students to get out early on fridays after a week well done, and otherwise (when i was in school) a lot of the kids would leave early on fridays because they did not want to be there, this way they get out early without leaving early and missing classes. That school is not “run a muck”, its a work in progress and its progressing for the better, but its not someting that you can snap your fingers and get results that fast, its going to take time.
Sounds like they are experimenting with a school that can least afford it.
They should a try S. korean schedule . There would be some serious whinning then.
1) No schedule is perfect for all, so schools looking for a ‘magic bullet’ fix for all their problems is just using the schedule change (either before, during, or after the change) as a scapegoat. Altering the schedule one way or another won’t fix issues.
2) The 4×4 will work well for kids who don’t have the academic stamina to pull more than 4 classes at once and who can’t focus on a year-long haul. However, it will leave gaps in learning for kids planning on attending a post-secondary institution. For example: depending on what is offered, students could find themselves going for entire half years without a math or foreign language class.
3) However, the alternating block can alleviate the learning gaps for upper level kids, but it is going to be a disaster for those who can’t hack the year long/7 classes schedule.
4) Block scheduling done without intensive staff training and buy-in is usually a half a disaster because all too often teachers end up lecturing for 80 minutes (ugh) or teach for 40 and the rest of the class is a study hall in which to do homework (ugh for most). Unless you have a staff that is well trained in current best block schedule teaching practices, it won’t be overly effective for you no matter how you do it.
5) Schools need to break down and examine all they do and why they do it, and then build from the ground up. One change can have adverse effects on other areas…in addition, schools often implement initiatives (having teachers waste time and effort) that serve some master other than actually improving education…and most of these initiatives die out or vanish within a few months to pile on new initiatives (which die out as well), but the public is never told about this.
6) The primary function of administration in most schools is to serve as ‘yes men/women’ and to tell school boards about all the great and wonderful things going on and prevent anyone from actually seeing what is going on in most schools. School boards should do their reading on best educational practices and visit their schools on a regular basis, asking students and teachers probing questions, not on a witch hunt, but in the best interests of doing what works best…and these can’t be orchestrated dog and pony shows. Want to be on a school board? Then be prepared to visit your schools often. Better yet, serve as a substitute teacher.
Uncle….you have some great points…but, I think you don’t realize the one thing that most people don’t see….public schools have to shoot for the middle of the road students. That doesn’t mean we short the upper, and the lower students, but we have to hit the middle group. The middle group of students is by far the majority by numbers. The lower students have 504’s, IEP’s, and receive services through ESE. I would agree with you that the upper students tend to suffer the most under any schedule.
However, the numbers do not dictate that we spend a lot of resources on those students. I can tell you that the upper students will always succeed, with or without the teachers assistance. That is a fact of life.
The 4X4 schedule is not a panacea, but it does offer the possibility of a student getting 8 credits a year. That allows the upper students ample time to take the electives, and more difficult subjects once they fulfill the core requirements. The one big if there is, if those classes are offered. In many rural Maine schools, it is a monumental task to have the teachers be able to teach these classes. It certainly makes for some very small classes in some schools. Now we get to the real issue, $$$$$$$$. I don’t believe that just throwing truckloads of cash to the schools, but in Maine, some of the smaller schools have cut to the bone, just to exist.
It all comes down to whether the state, or the local school board wants to support the schools. Not everyone lives in a large city. We just received the news in our AOS that approximately 1/3 of our budget is cut for next year.
Maine is in the same shape as a lot of states with a large elderly population. Education is not foremost on the minds of many of the citizens. That’s not bad, or good, it just is. In today’s economy, most people, including schools, are just trying to get by, and make do.
Great points Uncle!
Eastern Maine’s so-called “Blue Ribbon School”, Bangor uses the oldest, most industrial system of seven 40 minute periods, a holdover from the 70’s that rarely is used and yet they are a high performing school.
Scheduling isn’t the problem. I don’t teach in DI-Stonington but I venture to guess that heterogeneous grouping might be the problem. With that sort of grouping of students, low performing students have to produce, same as the college-prep kids, yet these low students come from homes where education isn’t valued and they do poorly as a result.
Big schools have many levels of every class and kids in the low classes have much less pressure as a result, expectations are lowered and they pass.
People that I’ve known that work in fishing communities find it hard to teach kids that are quick to point out that they earn more as stern man or working their 600 traps than the teachers that attempt to educate them. What’s the point of an education is likely their thought. Maybe they’re right?
When I went to MDIHS we too used the 7, forty minute class format you mention. It always seemed to work fine. That system is no longer use.
Your comments about hererogeneous grouping makes a lot of sense too. In some cases the course material either has to be watered down to an intermediate level or there are students who are in way over thier heads.
It couldn’t possibly be that the kids are playing with their various electronic toys instead of paying attention to the teacher?
yes, this is a big problem!
We have quite a few teachers at that school that have no idea how to get the kids’ attention. That wasn’t a problem back when I was in school. We had teachers that gave you “the look” and you didn’t DARE misbehave. When I went to our first parent-teacher conferences for our kids several years ago, 2 of the teachers actually told us that “the class is tough and we have a hard time keeping kids settled down. A lot of the kids in this class spend their time running out into the hallways and chitter chattering.” Guaranteed this is part of the problem!!
If you were a 16 year old who could make more in a week fishing (without an education) then your teachers make in a week teaching would you be so willing to participate in class? And if you were a teacher who graduated high school went to college got a degree and began a teaching position would YOU have the tools to teach to such a difficult and unique group of children? All teachers face problems controlling their class, it’s not easy, but it isn’t their fault.
Sounds like parents are the biggest issue. If my kid was disrespecting teachers like that, there would be hell to pay.
Yes I would, if I wasn’t forced to take college-track courses. When we were in high school, we had the option…general, business or college. There would still be the select few who would drop out, but nothing like we’ve seen in the past few years…That would be my guess.
As a former student council member I’ve talked to people who went through high school with the “track” system. I think it’s a wonderful idea. It would allow different students to excel differently. Although, it seems as though many people don’t feel like it gives every student a chance.
I do think it’s a wonderful idea. I’d be interested to hear why those people feel it doesn’t give every student a chance. I took general for science courses because I wasn’t planning to go into a field that needed chemistry or physics. I took almost all business math with the exception of 1 year of algebra. I took 2 years of college English and 2 years of business English. I designed my own plan. By the time you’re in high school, you should be grown up enough to take on some responsibilities for deciding your future, in my opinion. What a great opportunity. Had I been thrown into chemistry, physics, calculus, trig, etc., high school have been a rude experience for me and, well, I’m not sure I would have survived it. I’d so love to see business courses come back. It’s great for students wishing to go into ANY type of business, including owning their own fishing business someday, plus that kind of curriculum teaching tremendous life skills.
While I understand and agree for the most part I believe like many teachers and DISHS that students should be well prepared and well rounded. Having a basic knowledge of Chemistry or physics or trig is a great thing. College’s love to see students who stepped outside their comfort zone and tried something different, even if it has nothing to do with you’re future career, it shows that you are enthusiastic and have a willingness to learn.
You do have a very valid point that I can’t argue. I just wish more kids saw things the way that you did and perhaps there wouldn’t be such an issue with the drop-out rate and children performing badly on tests. I must commend you for being part of the student council and for your focused interest in the well being of your school. That’s pretty awesome! I think we all want to see our school succeed. Bottom line.
This is to Nick Gillen, Nick why do the kids from Sedgwick, Brooklin, and Brooksville, chose to go to the Island to high school. I know why it was when I went to school. I was because, for the most part they, knew they couldn’t keep up at GSA. when I went to GSA, you needed 20 credits, to graduate, DISHS was 16. I know my own nephew went to DISHS, for this reason, he’s a good kid worked hard and got good grades. I can tell by your writing that you are smart kid.
If a schedule change tips kids over the edge, there’s a much bigger problem here…Clearly this school has underperformed for years. Maybe the focus should be on why so many kids do poorly than on how the schedule made that more painfully obvious…
Exactly!!!!
That problem has been addressed and better preparing students has been the goal and main focus for several years now. The schedule was a setback and it wasn’t a decision made by our teachers, principal, or students. The school board both proposed the change, and voted in favor of it. Now its the schools job to handle the situation at hand and still work to improve our school. There are not enough hours in a day to fix this quickly enough so that critics will be satisfied. It also makes it extremely hard for teachers right now who have been working without a contract since september because the school board is unwilling to to work with them.
Why is working without a contract hard? I work without a contract just fine…
Just another in a series of sad excuses by indolent, incompetent educators who have failed in their mission.
Just stop the whining and get the job done. Life is all about playing the hand you are dealt, getting the best results under less than ideal conditions.
Why is it considered by Emily Cain(D) & Justin Alfond(D) that a ‘waiver’ from MEDICAID regulations is illegal; but a waiver from NCLB isn’t? Could it be that when Obama grants waivers they bow in abeyance?
Brunswick has long had a ‘black’ & ‘orange’ schedule. Their scores are in the top twenty of Maine High schools. They do use an automated scheduling software and have a huge number of AP and elective courses.
Did Deer Isle consult Brunswick’s principal on their schedule? If not, who did they consult?
Blame the schedule, blame the teachers, blame the parents, blame the world economic conditions, blame the Dems., blame the Repubs. …….What about the lazy STUDENTS??? I’ll bet if they spent several more hours a week (at the least, 15 hours/week) WORKING ON THEIR STUDIES instead of whining about how difficult and unfair it all is they might not fail. At the college level they estimate one hour of study for every hour in class.
Don’t you think that if the parents were doing their jobs and getting these “Lazy Students” to do their work that it might improve their work ethic?
“monkey see monkey do” thats the way it works for at least the last 25 years or more,staff abuseing the students and taxpayers. Kids learn at a very young age how to get away with all they can,they see the teachers taking no really seroius so why should they be serious,not for nothing they are kids and need constant structure that is accountable,no one at DIS accountable.
Decisions, whether they involve scheduling or staffing or anything else, cannot be made based solely upon grades. Grades are a very poor indicator of a Teacher’s effectiveness. I cannot claim to be an expert in the subject but I can make some observations.
1. Students identified as having special needs take these tests as well. If a teacher had 3 special needs students one year and 50% special needs students the next year that would reflect poorly on the Teacher even though it had nothing to do with the teacher.
2. Often a student does not want to look like a “dork” and will intentionally do poorly on tests/assignments. This is an example of “Socially perscribed perfectionism” although it can take many forms.
3. Gifted/talented students often do not get proper attention, especially with bills like the “No Child Left Behind Act.” The state of Maine will not give special attention to above average students unless they score at least above roughly one standard deviation on a normal bell curve. Basically they must consistently score within the top ~5%. Often what happens with these students is that they get bored, they are intelligent but since they are not being challenged they stop doing the work which is reflected poorly in the grade book.
I’m only scratching the surface.
progress is being made. however, it’s like moving an iceberg with a motorboat. you can’t really see it, but it’s always inching ahead. there was a time when most of the local children could not deduct 10-13/16 from 15-1/4 after graduation. that has changed to a large degree due to a change of teachers in the shop. no ordinary shop, btw).
not being an educated person myself, if i was a parent of children in that system, i would get my child a library card upon entering first grade and spend the time getting them interested and enjoying age appropriate books from the two local libraries. books can also come through the mail from the maine state library not to mention being able to download e-books from the state library also.
although working people built this great country of ours, modern times has shown that working folks are held in low regard and its up to them to make the best of a bad situation by not ignoring the problem but by reading and learning on their own from an early age and to be loved and encouraged to do it. my $.02
Oh COME ON. Blame it on the “lazy students” or the “crazy schedule” or the “oblivious teachers” or “electronic toys,” the root of the problem is being entirely missed here. The island school is a small high school. The teachers are trying hard, and while obviously they’re not going to be the best teachers in the country, they make do with what funding and support they have and try to leave an impression on their students. Many students are doing the best they can with a school that has to cater to the lowest common denominator. The problem is that many in our community simply don’t value education. As the economy worsens and environmental issues threaten the fish populations, no one can expect to make a living fishing alone without knowing basic math and writing skills. Once those are learned, however, it may even be a smarter decision today to go into a hands-on or craftsman trade than spending ridiculous amounts if money on college. BUT STILL, it’s time to WAKE UP and smell the roses. Basic education skills are undervalued and the schedule didn’t help kids in an already precarious situation. Not all under-performing kids are LAZY, some simply CANNOT DO THE WORK.
Block scheduling is an educational train wreck, and alternating day block is a complete and total disaster. Block scheduling should be banned by the state. I taught in the block for quite a few years.
Nearly all the high schools in the greater Houston (TX) school system are using this schedule. I mention this because we’re native Mainers who moved here a few years ago; one of our kids was a mid-year sophomore at the time and had no choice but to adapt. Let me just say this—the district’s many, many exchange students haven’t had any problems with it, either, so if we want to keep up with the rest of the world academically it’s worth figuring out how to make it work for our kids as well.