Steve Frey
Contributing writer
The Radford City school division has been working hard to develop a new schedule for Radford High School and Dalton Intermediate, and after much committee discussion and hard work, they have gotten down to two possibilities.
This process has included visiting numerous schools around the state (and actually around the country); advice from an expert in the field, Dr. Michael Rettig; much research and professional study regarding the scheduling process; and the examination/analysis of many different sample schedules.
The process began last year through a state grant to study innovative practices and technology, hopefully leading to Radford’s Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. As a byproduct, division staff (about 16-20 teachers and administrators from Dalton and RHS plus district administrators served on the committee) discovered schedules that promoted integrated learning and other instructional/student involvement opportunities.
A significant problem with the current high school/intermediate schedule is that about 250 students come in on buses but don’t have a class or activity during the optional zero class period.
They don’t have any other transportation to school, so they are basically sitting around waiting for first period from approximately 7:15 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
Another problem is that the current schedule only includes six periods plus the optional period that, with mandated courses each year, limits student choice for electives they may be interested in pursuing.
Many experts will tell you that there are basically three ways to improve instructional pedagogy: adjust the curriculum related materials/technology you are using; change the instructional techniques and strategies; or increase the amount of time you are devoting to instruction in an area.
Having students disengaged and idle for up to an hour and fifteen minutes of prime instructional time each day makes no sense, and the district wants to find a way to get the students in class and learning.
Belle Heth and McHarg were recently recognized by the state for their academic achievement, but Dalton and the high school have a few gaps in achievement they are working to address (math, for example), so they need to have students available for instruction every second possible.
Another issue the division wants to address is providing time for teachers to work together at the upper levels. Belle Heth and McHarg have been able to develop schedules where teachers have common planning time.
For example, all fifth-grade teachers can meet and examine student achievement data and plan instruction based on their findings and the needs of the students. They can also meet to tweak instruction to better cover the curriculum, plan integrated (planning to include learning objectives from multiple subject areas) lessons together, share instructional strategies that have been extraordinarily successful or plan to team teach/share students. The high school and middle school teachers do not have common planning time in the schedule or those opportunities.
There has been a lot of discussion about Career and Technology Education, or CTE, in the district and around the country.
Every school is looking for ways to provide students with access to classes and certification in skilled trades, ranging from welding to cybersecurity. Employers are begging for skilled workers, and high schools, community colleges like New River Community College, and four-year schools like Radford University are looking for ways to work together to help students become certified in various areas.
NRCC even developed programs like ACCE (Access to Community College Education), which allows high school students to get college credit and certification for free.
The schedule needs to be changed to provide access to additional CTE courses and business internships, and to provide more time for large projects or the set-up and breakdown of materials, which is limited with the number of class minutes in the current schedule.
There is also a problem with labs for the sciences. If the teacher has to spend half of the lesson on the setup and the break down of materials, the students are severely limited in the amount of instructional time they have to complete an experiment or see a demonstration and no real time for meaningful follow-up discussion.
After visiting some model schools in Virginia Beach and other school divisions in the state, as well as the High Tech High program in San Diego, the team found two schedules that met all of the preceding needs and more.
These two schedules have many similarities: Both eliminate the current problem with the zero period/activity time in the morning as all students will go right to a class; both include one lunch period that is slightly over an hour long (more on lunch in a moment); both include flexible scheduling with longer periods on some days that could be used for labs, CTE, additional instruction for remediation/enrichment and the opportunity for teachers to spend more time on an activity, discussion or in-depth study; both provide for additional classes (for example, Radford has an interest in offering students classes in health services leading to occupations like nursing); both include the possibility of additional tutoring; both have a short breakfast and a second chance breakfast period built in between class periods; and both provide opportunities to work on homework and have internet accessibility during the day.
It should be emphasized that each of the following schedules is just a base. Radford will be using the one they choose as a starting point and will personalize it to meet the needs of the students, staff and community.
The first schedule is called the Jefferson Schedule (After Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria).
It includes:
Eight classes
All eight classes meet on Monday for 43-45 minutes.
There are four classes each day on Tuesday through Thursday (Half the eight classes two days and the other half on two days) for about 90 minutes each.
Instructional time per class: 135 hours or 8100 minutes per year.
The student meets with the teacher three times per week.
The second schedule is being called the Backwards Jefferson Schedule.
It includes:
Seven classes
All seven classes meet on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for 50 minutes each day.
Four of the seven classes meet on Thursday for about 90 minutes, and the other three meet for 90 minutes on Friday. Additionally, on Friday there is an Open Activity Period for 90 minutes that can be used for assemblies, enrichment, tutoring, etc.
Instructional time/class: 144 seat hours or 8640 minutes per year.
Students meet with the teacher four times per week.
As shared earlier, each schedule includes a single lunch period of about 65 minutes. This OneLunch, or Lunch and Learn time, has many different advantages for students and staff.
On the logistical side, students will have more time to eat lunch; they can socialize with their peers; they can choose (with some guidelines) their eating space; students can catch up with announcements on large screen televisions; and lines will shrink as students can eat at any time during the OneLunch.
Students can also use this time for a wide variety of activities such as working on homework during school; participating in club and activity meetings; meeting with teachers and/or administrators in advisory groups on school issues or interests; getting tutoring or extra instructional help; participating in intramurals; meeting with counselors or mentors; planning school events; completing make-up schoolwork; studying for upcoming tests; practicing an instrument/choral/ or theater activity; and meeting with administrators/teachers to discuss or share concerns such as cyber bullying, parking or other topics of interest (these groups might be static with one teacher working with a group to establish relationships). This could even be a time for class/student council elections/activities, performance or demonstration activities, topical discussions, etc.
OneLunch will benefit teachers, also. They will have a chance to meet in subject area teams to discuss and analyze student achievement data and share strategies to best address student needs.
They can share best practices and techniques; integrate instruction, which could range from working on mutual units with objectives from many curricular areas to team teaching; work on the curriculum; plan projects; and discuss projects with administrators/supervisors.
They will also be able to work with students on tutoring, mentoring/advisory activities, and club/class activities.
If the Backwards Jefferson schedule is chosen, some of these student and teacher activities may also take place during the Open Activity Time.
Whichever schedule is adopted, students will have the chance during the school day for additional learning opportunities and electives plus participation in activities (some students cannot attend before- or after-school activities because they lack transportation).
It will help to provide students and staff time to develop better communication, a sense of belonging, and stronger connections.
It may also create periods for activities like remediation or extra help, enrichment, or a study hall to provide time for homework completion for those students participating in sports, work or other after-school activities.
Again, the schedule chosen will be adjusted to meet the specific needs of the Radford school community. Once the schedule is decided, students will be given the opportunity to experience it as well as the OneLunch.
In fact, this entire year will be dedicated to that and to professional development for the staff to investigate integrating instruction to create natural connections between subjects to make instruction more relevant for the students, data analysis practices, etc.
The time will also be used to prepare for OneLunch, which will require additional eating areas, furniture, big-screen televisions, etc.
Additionally, there will be discussions about the beginning and end of the school day. For example, would it be possible to adjust school times to more efficiently meet the needs of students and families as well as the school?
Executive Director for Curriculum and Instruction Ellen Denny said, “We want to make sure their [students] learning experience is the greatest ever, and so we want to create a schedule that really supports that…We want to provide some things for our students that…inspire them to take more courses; to build relationships with their teachers; to decompress sometimes.
I just want children to really like the learning environment, so they continue learning all their lives.”
Either schedule will be centered on student needs and provide teachers will flexibility as well as the opportunity to develop cutting-edge instructional programs. It will be a win-win situation for the entire Radford community.
The goal now is to share information about the new schedule and get input from all stakeholders in order to bring a recommendation to the school board at its October meeting, if possible.
To facilitate that process, there will be School Community Information Meetings on Sept. 12 and Sept. 17. Both meetings will start at 6:30 p.m. at the school board office, and everyone is cordially invited to attend to learn more about the plans and process.
