Introduction With the ever changing philosophies and expectations of education and curriculum in the United States, school district are constantly looking for techniques to increase academic performance. A school districts ability to keep up with the latest changes related to curriculum and academic expectations helps schools adjust instructional methods and improve potential deficiencies. The “Four Circle Model” is a model focused upon determining exactly what a school wants to accomplish it, and the fashion in which to go about accomplishing it. This model centers on what needs to be accomplished, the belief of the school, and what we know about the school. The identification of each area provides intel, which provides the strengths and …show more content…
As a school, Woodruff High School wants to achieve on a high level academically and in extracurricular activities. The purpose of schools is to teach students; whatever else they do, they must promote high-level student learning (Danielson, 2002). We have achieved on a high level in both areas, but there is always room for improvement and to allow evolution to take place. Due to our past academic success and extracurricular successes, the school nor community on much in favor of changes in relation to age old academic practices, methods of discipline policies, nor a upgrade of overall philosophy of education. A particular area in which the school struggles is to move from traditional scheduling to block schedule. Each high school in the local area change to four block scheduling nearly 20 years ago, our school continues to function on a traditional six block scheduling system. The four block scheduling system allow students to complete a potential eight classes each school year, while the traditional six block scheduling system only allows for potentially the six classes to be completed. The traditional six block scheduling makes students receive instruction in only one course for an entire school year, when on a four block schedule system they would only have one semester of a particular class. The effect on curriculum could be dramatic, allowing students to receive more instruction in multiple areas compared to more instruction in only one particular
From the beginning of high school, students strap on their seatbelts and prepare for one of the most vigorous races of their lives – becoming successful. With the rare occurrence of a break, kids are expected to keep on driving as fast and as powerfully as they can in order to get into a “great” college, which would be followed by graduate school and then an actual job that would make a lot of money. In American society, common values include working hard, determination, and being so productive that free time is not even a question. However, this philosophy is taking a major toll on American college and high school students. For at least 40 years, America’s future has been steadily growing unmotivated, tired, and hopeless due to the overemphasis on performing well in school. This phenomenon is appropriately expounded in William Zinsser’s “College Pressures”, which takes a look at the top four sources of tension that cause these feelings of dejection and agitation. After reading this article, I came up with a few solutions to this national problem. It is time to switch the harsh, over-encouraging green light of education to a comfortable yellow one. In order to make this ideal transition, directors of education across the country need to primarily reduce the amount of out-of-class assignments, lighten the grading system, and incorporate days in the school year that allow students to express their thoughts about school and provide useful feedback.
Southern Regional Education Board. 1996 Outstanding Practices: Effective Strategies in Raising the Achievement of Career-Bound High School Students by Replacing the General Track. High Schools That Work. Atlanta, GA: SREB, 1996. (ED 404 541)
Changing the high school program back to five years will help students with their grades and course selection. This extra year for secondary education provides them with extended time to focus on the courses heir high schools provide them with and courses they have taken. Students who may not have performed to the best of their abilities In a course the previous year/semester will have the opportunity to retake a class get additional assistance from teachers to improve their mark averages. For instance, a student who has completed their Calculus and Vect...
Academic excellence is strongly emphasized along with respect for individual differences and flexibility of programming where needed. Each student is challenged to grow and develop to the highest reaches of his or her ability. As methods of reaching those goals, in 1997 the high school initiated a 4x4 block schedule after preparing the staff in a variety of teaching techniques and seeking support and approval from the community. The high school also pursued a relationship with Seton Hall University and is part of the Project Acceleration concurrent enrollment program that allows students to receive college credit while taking their high school courses. The middle school moved to a modified block schedule in September 2006, with an eight period schedule four days ( M, T, W, F) and a block schedule Thursday. This schedule allowed for three core classes to meet in an extended block every other week. In September 2009, the school added Tuesday as a block schedule day, allowing all six core classes to meet in an extended block each week. An advisory Program, providing each student with a staff member advisor who meets with students three times a week at the beginning of the day, was added to the schedule in September 2007. Additionally, a Thursday activity period each week is dedicated to student-initiated problem-based learning with a strong service learning component.
After a long summer, the time has finally come for Sam and his classmates to return to school. Sam dreads going back to school, because he knows that the first weeks of school mean long, boring reviews. Despite the fact that Sam and his friends do not like to study topics they have already learned, they need to review because most students forget what they learned over the three-month break period. Many students can relate to Sam, wasting two weeks or more at the beginning of the school year. Parents, teachers, and students across the United States believe a better option exists that will waste less time. Many suggest the idea of a year-round school schedule. Almost all schools should adopt a year-round schedule because of the many advantages including higher academic
In modern times, it comes as no surprise that there are a plethora of issues and negative occurrences throughout the traditional educational system. Schooling is not a choice, but a mandatory duty that each and every child must fulfill almost daily. Depending on grade level and work load, the average student spends nearly 8 hours per day either learning in school or completing assignments from that day (U.S. Bureau). This indicates that a majority of a secondary education student’s time is consumed by school and school related work. Because this is an obligatory role, it is imperative that these students are not being forced to do such work, but instead are interested and engaged so that they may enjoy this work. Although there is a multitude of reasons that a student may do poorly in school, a substantial cause is the flaws with the grade level system that most schools implicate. The elimination of grade level systems is not entirely unheard of or practiced, but it has not been extricated enough to show the advantages of alternative schooling systems.
Have you ever began a book only to find that after a few chapters into it a more important task comes up that must be given attention to and you don’t make it back to the book for some time. The ensuing matter has been taken care of and now it is time to finish that novel that thought was so great you just couldn’t put it down but, where did you exactly leave off and what character are doing what now? Often it is required to skim a few previous chapters to get a sense of what is going on to give the full focus to the new events taking place. As the summer ends, the leaves begin to change and our school children return to the classroom to begin this very similar task. Instead of rereading a few pages, teachers must review with every student were they are scholastically and every student is very different. Almost a month into the new school year last year’s material is covered and reviewed. Our traditional school calendar may be to blame for our failing schools systems. Can schools attending year round with smaller gaps of time off from learning benefit the student learners? Better retention of material, higher graduation with college enrollment increases and safer downtime alternatives are a few reasons why the traditional education plan should be done away with.
The Effective Schools Model provides the grassroots approach that is necessary for urban schools. As I have stated, the urban arena within which the schools must perform is very diverse. As a result of the size and magnitude of this type of arena, most students associate themselves with a school as opposed to a district. Localizing the reform efforts and focusing on a holistic approach will establish a culture of caring and stability within which students can feel safe, accepted and capable of achieving academic
Education is an integral part of society, school helps children learn social norms as well as teach them how to be successful adults. The school systems in United States, however are failing their students. In the world as a whole, the United States is quickly falling behind other countries in important math and reading scores. The United States ranked thirtieth in math on a global scale and twentieth in literacy. This is even more true in more urban, lower socio-economic areas in the United States. These schools have lower test scores and high dropout rates. In Trenton Central High School West, there was an 83% proficiency in literacy and only 49% of the students were proficient in math. Many of these students come from minority backgrounds and are often from low income families. There are many issues surrounding these urban schools. There is a severe lack of proper funding in these districts, and much of the money they do receive is sanctioned for non-crucial things. Schools also need a certain level of individualization with their students, and in many urban classes, this simply does not happen. While there are many factors affecting the low performance of urban schools, the lack of proper funding and distribution of funds, the cultural divide between teachers and students in urban districts, along with the lack of individualization in urban classrooms are crucial reasons to explain the poor performance in these districts. Through a process of teacher lead budget committees and further teacher education, urban schools can be transformed and be better equipped to prepare their students for the global stage.
Collaborating with the school administration team, I was able to gain suffice information about the needs of the school as well as the needs from the community. I was given information about the academic needs of the students as well as the school’s improvement plan, which consists of the school needs assessment. Analyzing the needs assessment and test score data, there is a need for academic improvement is needed in the content areas of English-Language Arts and Math. The school is in need of strategies to improve scores in these areas, but the community can play an integral part in helping to provide the necessary resources, tools, and materials to enhance student learning in these areas. This could be established by community-school partnerships, if the school effectively communicates to the community their need for academic assistance. This can be achieved at PTO meetings, school activities, and local colleges or universities.
In conclusion, the core curriculum is vital to life of any student, yet with more personal choice and freedom, the high school environment can be strengthened and improved . Having a more balanced high school curriculum, with more options for the students, would also allow students to narrow their focus on a particular field or subject, while preparing them for their major in college. It would even boost the confidence of the student body, and therefore boost the Test scores as well. In addition, students who have trouble recognizing their talents, might be able to have a more fulfilling high school experience. The purpose of school is to prepare one for the future and ones occupation; it is certain, that having a more elective-based high school program would do just that.
Newmann, F. M. et al. "Authentic Pedagogy: Standards that Boost Student Performance." Issues in Restructuring Schools. Issues Report No. 8. Madison, WI: Center on Organization and Restructuring of Schools, 1995. (ED 390 906)
According to Sapona and Winterman (2002) teachers implementing this model in their classroom include six comp...
The CIP plan is separated into specific sections, and the AIT team reviews and the CIP plan to determine PD topics. The purpose of this Continuous Improvement Plan (CIP) is to communicate the goals, strategies, and actions a school is taking to improve academic achievement and school climate. The plan is written to inform a variety of stakeholder audiences including, district and school leadership, family and community members, state and federal education agencies. The intention of the school’s CIP is to show progress on the level of teaching and learning of the students in the school. The school’s CIP provides an outline for examining instructional concerns in the school that has not made adequate progress in student’s achievement. Consequently, the school’s continuous improvement plan emphasizes the achievement in the core academic subjects and the strategies used to teach them, followed by professional developments to ensure that students are accomplishing
When all stakeholders share similar core values and agree on the aims of education, reform efforts stand a better chance for success. Knowledge, skills, critical thinking, and citizenship are core values found at the heart of my beliefs for education. I also believe it is the aim of education to prepare students as contributing members of society. In schools where core values and education aims are revisited due to reform implementation, strategies are identified along with a plan for implementation, monitoring and evaluation. The federal government, state, districts, school leadership, teachers, students and parents all have significant responsibilities to make reform efforts a success.