12-13 Ballard Memorial schedule change

By Jennifer Wohlleb
Staff Writer

“We looked at the numbers and I go back to the No. 1 thing that impacts students and their learning, and that is the teacher,” said Principal David Meinschein. “If I have great teachers – and I do – then giving them the maximum amount of time for instruction that I can is going to impact student achievement.”

Most of the extra time comes from eliminating the daily intervention period that had been built into the old class schedule. And instead of 75-minute classes every other day, students now have 51-minute periods five days a week.

“What we’re finding is, when we have them in the classroom every day, we can address what we’re finding,” Meinschein said. “Our assessment cycles are short cycles and there are more of them this year. So with that short-cycle assessment occurring, we’re able to provide the intervention. I think that’s the key part, that intervention is still happening. And it might not even be intervention; it’s just supporting them in the classroom. It’s quickly finding out where they’re having issues, addressing the issues and then moving back in with the teaching cycle.”

No statistics are available on school schedules, but Robert Farrace with the National Association of Secondary School Principals said the pendulum does seems to be settling back in the middle after years of swinging toward block schedules.

“Certainly what hasn’t ebbed at all is this notion of taking a good hard look at how we use time during the course of a school day,” he said. “So whether it’s block or … whether it’s a traditional schedule, what really matters is, are you maximizing the school day to ensure that student learning is optimized during the time you have them in the building?”

With only about four months under the new schedule, Meinschein said the early indicators look good. Teachers are about a month ahead in curriculum compared with a year ago. He said this year’s data from assessments like PLAN, EXPLORE and ACT practice tests also show growth compared with this time last year.

But perhaps the best early indicator of success is the mood of students and faculty. Meinschein said an email query he sent to teachers elicited positive comments.

“They’re saying it’s easier to establish relationships with the students, it’s created a better learning environment,” he said. “We had to redo unit plans, pacing guides, but we have effectively covered more of the curriculum. I’m not having complaints of, ‘Oh my gosh, I’ll never cover this curriculum.’”

He said teachers led much of this change, including initiating talks that got the ball rolling.

“It started in my math and English departments and that’s interesting because that’s the brunt of the accountability right there,” he said. “When those people ask you for something, as an administrator you’d better listen because you put a lot on English and math. I made them do the research and made them justify why (the change). I didn’t share my thoughts and beliefs at first because I wanted to make sure it was something they wanted to do. Of course, I was on board, I was ready.”

As for students, silence seems to be golden.

“At first the kids weren’t too thrilled about going that way,” said Ballard County school board member Cara Mills, whose son is a junior, “but I haven’t heard any complaints since they started. So evidently it’s going fine.”

It has been a culture change for the school, which Meinschein said had been on a block schedule for at least 10 years.
 
“Our structure was built around having a block schedule: the intervention period; we had a success lab built in so if students didn’t complete their work they went to success lab during that intervention period; clubs were built into that intervention period in the middle of the day; speakers were built into it, so this is not just an easy change,” he said. “Think about that: you’re not just changing the schedule, you’re changing how you do operations. There’s a lot of work that goes into it. It’s not like you just meet one day and decide to do it.”

“I think my biggest concern was since my daughter was already in the middle, we were on a track to do things and this adjusted how many classes she had per day,” said Tilford, who is vice chairwoman of the Ballard County Board of Education. “On the old block schedule she had four classes a day, which gave her eight classes (a school year), and this new schedule gives her seven. So I think that was my biggest concern.”

Tilford said she had questions about the switch, but knew as a board member she would also field questions and concerns from other parents, so she met several times with principal David Meinschein.

“In the beginning I was trying to understand what the benefit of going from eight classes to seven was,” she said. “Now that we’re already this far in, I can see all the things he told me were true, as far as students seeing a teacher every day vs. the every other day when we were doing the block. I know (block scheduling) was even a big hassle to the students. My daughter was always saying, ‘Is this a green day or a white day (which identified which classes were on a particular day)?’ From Friday to Monday I don’t think they always remembered that. Now we don’t have to question that.”

Tilford said she is pleased so far with the change and how it has been implemented.

“In the classes where my daughter needed a little more work, it’s much better because she sees that teacher every day now,” she said. “Even though she’s not in there as long she was in the block, it keeps her on a more consistent basis with that information.”

Mills said one of the benefits she has seen – although students might disagree – is that they now have homework at night.

“Before they weren’t having homework, they were getting everything done in class,” she said. “I was hearing that when they reached college level they didn’t know how to study. I think this is providing a benefit to them to study at home outside of school. Maybe that will prepare them a little better for college.”

While Tilford did get some calls in the beginning from parents with the same concerns as hers, she said they faded after seeing the new schedule in action. She said not many people like change, and that was at the root of many of the worries.

“It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about the kids or the adults, sometimes change is scary,” she said. “But when I look at the overall picture of what’s happening in our school, something is happening correctly. We’re seeing grades go up and scores go up and I think it’s the right decision.”