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Educators Suggest High School Changes: CMS Superintendent Says Reforms for Class Schedules, Teachers Are Under Way

Posted on: Tuesday, 10 January 2006, 09:00 CST

By Ann Doss Helms and Peter Smolowitz, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Jan. 10--Charlotte-Mecklenburg high schools should change class schedules, offer struggling students and teachers more help, and improve math and science classes, according to a state report going to the school board today.

Interim Superintendent Frances Haithcock said Monday those changes are in progress.

The report highlights serious problems at specific schools. But a state official said that CMS's efforts will serve as a model for reform in other districts next year.

"Some of the things they've got in place are very powerful strategies and just need time," said N.C. Deputy Superintendent Janice Davis.

Gov. Mike Easley sent teams to study 10 Charlotte-Mecklenburg high schools after Wake Superior Court Judge Howard Manning Jr. issued scathing criticism of their weak academic performance.

Last fall, educators from other districts visited eight of the 10 schools with pass rates under 60 percent on 2005 state exams (Garinger and Olympic are still to come). Their findings, detailed in the new report, range from praise for a strong academic culture at Harding High to concern about conflict among students, staff and parents at Waddell.

Ann Clark, the CMS administrator who oversees high schools, says the report brings few surprises. For instance, tension at Waddell stems from Principal Edward Ellis' mission to demand change.

"The principal is doing what we asked him to do," Clark said, "which is raise the bar."

Most of the low-scoring schools need to expect more of students and help them succeed in more demanding classes, Davis said. Too many courses, especially in math and science, are taught at basic levels, without activities that prod students into higher-level thinking, the teams said.

The most dramatic change will come in August, when CMS drops its schedule of eight yearlong courses, with different classes on alternating days. Instead, students will start taking four classes first semester and four second semester, joining peers in other N.C. districts.

The "4 x 4" schedule helps students and teachers focus, state and CMS officials agree. It also offers flexibility to let slower learners take more time in core academic courses.

Other state recommendations are in the works. For instance, CMS has successful veteran teachers stationed as "coaches" in high schools to help develop better lessons. The district offers after-school and Saturday tutoring for students who fall behind, but those programs were delayed last fall when a gas shortage curtailed busing.

The state will hire a "high school improvement coordinator" to spend this school year monitoring CMS, then develop a reform model for other districts.

Davis said she's "very optimistic."

"The people that can make things happen in Charlotte-Mecklenburg," she said, "are paying attention."

Learn More

State and CMS officials will report on high school reform at today's board meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, 600 E. Fourth St. It will be broadcast live and at 6 p.m. Wednesday on CMS-TV Cable 3. Chairman Joe White said Monday he expects the report early in the meeting.

Changing Schedules

CMS plans to change its high schools from an "A Day / B Day" schedule to a "4 x 4" schedule in 2006-07. Here's what that means:

4X4

-- Courses last one semester.

-- Students take four courses first semester and four courses second semester.

-- Exams are given at the end of each semester.

A Day / B Day

-- Courses last all year.

-- Students take eight courses but attend only four a day, with different classes on alternating days.

-- All exams are given in spring.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Charlotte Observer, N.C.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)

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