I would like to implement a blended environment composed of
online mastery based classes where students would receive credit based on
demonstration of mastery. The courses
would be web-based and administered as independent study / credit recovery for
attendance purposes. It would be
conducted in a one room computer lab with 25 computers manned by a minimum of
one teaching assistant and one teacher at all times of operation. It would operate from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm and
have three teams of teacher-teaching assistant pairs that operated it in three
4 hour shifts. Each Teacher would be
responsible for administration of a maximum of 40 students. Therefore, the capacity of this lab would be
120 students. Students would attend the
at assigned times ranging from 1 two hour session a week to daily two hour
sessions depending on their progress.
Students and their parents would also be able to check out netbooks so
that they could work at home.
1. If you were to implement this practice, strategy, idea today, what specialized skills, resources, and dispositions would you need to obtain for yourself, your colleagues and staff?
If implemented today at JCCS this would have to be an autonomous unit established as a pilot in one region. Technology resources (student computers and curriculum) would have to be acquired. I believe a few JCCS teachers could be found with the necessary skill set. If not then, some technical training of the selected teacher-teaching assistant teams might be necessary in addition to training on the curriculum. The biggest hurdle would be the established attendance reporting system, JCCS leadership mindset about attendance reporting and by far the teachers union. This arrangement would require some exceptions or flexibility to current teacher contract. The union leadership is intently interested in maintaining the existing Independent Study system, which is woefully out dated and inadequate, because of the freedom and flexibility it provides the teachers.
2. What skills will your colleagues and those you supervise need in order to be successful in this scenario? Of those skills, which ones are currently being supported through resources such as professional development in your setting? Which ones are missing or minimal? What is currently being supported in your setting that would likely be obsolete in 2020.
JCCS is currently encouraging and supporting teachers obtaining the technical skills necessary to teach in this environment. As eluded to in the answer to question #1 our current way of conducting Independent Study is currently outdated. It does not serve our students well. They need the scheduling flexibility but the instructional pedagogy is less than inadequate and it is a totally paper based system. I believe if Independent Study continues to be offered the way it is today it will not exist in our organization in 2020. In fact the Community School part of our system may cease to exist.
In what ways are we unprepared, lacking in resources and staffing, or to what degree are our strategies and underlying values unable to respond effectively to the conditions this scenario represents?
JCCS educational offerings outside of the institutions are to a large degree determined by what the teachers union will approve. As with most teachers unions they are run by long time teachers committed to a seniority system, and intent in maximizing their retirement payments. In California, these payments are determined to some degree on the earnings a teacher has in their last 3 years.
3. What could we be doing now to leverage this trend to our advantage?
I think this a baby step toward JCCS leveraging the online instruction trend to its advantage or survival.
4. What would need to happen internally and in the external environment for preparing yourself and those you lead to navigate in this strategic vision? What changes should your organization begin to make? What should it start doing? What should it stop doing?
1. If you were to implement this practice, strategy, idea today, what specialized skills, resources, and dispositions would you need to obtain for yourself, your colleagues and staff?
If implemented today at JCCS this would have to be an autonomous unit established as a pilot in one region. Technology resources (student computers and curriculum) would have to be acquired. I believe a few JCCS teachers could be found with the necessary skill set. If not then, some technical training of the selected teacher-teaching assistant teams might be necessary in addition to training on the curriculum. The biggest hurdle would be the established attendance reporting system, JCCS leadership mindset about attendance reporting and by far the teachers union. This arrangement would require some exceptions or flexibility to current teacher contract. The union leadership is intently interested in maintaining the existing Independent Study system, which is woefully out dated and inadequate, because of the freedom and flexibility it provides the teachers.
2. What skills will your colleagues and those you supervise need in order to be successful in this scenario? Of those skills, which ones are currently being supported through resources such as professional development in your setting? Which ones are missing or minimal? What is currently being supported in your setting that would likely be obsolete in 2020.
JCCS is currently encouraging and supporting teachers obtaining the technical skills necessary to teach in this environment. As eluded to in the answer to question #1 our current way of conducting Independent Study is currently outdated. It does not serve our students well. They need the scheduling flexibility but the instructional pedagogy is less than inadequate and it is a totally paper based system. I believe if Independent Study continues to be offered the way it is today it will not exist in our organization in 2020. In fact the Community School part of our system may cease to exist.
In what ways are we unprepared, lacking in resources and staffing, or to what degree are our strategies and underlying values unable to respond effectively to the conditions this scenario represents?
JCCS educational offerings outside of the institutions are to a large degree determined by what the teachers union will approve. As with most teachers unions they are run by long time teachers committed to a seniority system, and intent in maximizing their retirement payments. In California, these payments are determined to some degree on the earnings a teacher has in their last 3 years.
3. What could we be doing now to leverage this trend to our advantage?
I think this a baby step toward JCCS leveraging the online instruction trend to its advantage or survival.
4. What would need to happen internally and in the external environment for preparing yourself and those you lead to navigate in this strategic vision? What changes should your organization begin to make? What should it start doing? What should it stop doing?
Internally JCCS needs to become aware of the
research surrounding effective instruction.
What students want in their educational environment and what’s working
in other alternative schools in San Diego County. A select group of people are doing some of
this but it is not disseminated. JCCS
very rarely brings teachers and administrators in from outside the
organization. It needs to build a model
for the future free of what is being done now and what has always been done. According to Christensen this may require a
new autonomous unit that creates a new school – perhaps a charter school.
Susan, the comment regarding maintaining the independent study form of instruction because it meets the needs of students is unfortunately too true. What a great idea - Kevin Nicholls the principal of our continuation school, Palm Academy is looking at implementing a similar strategy for credit recovery and acceleration. The focus is to meet the needs of the students and provide them with the resources.
ReplyDeleteI think we need to be constantly reviewing programs, identifying what is working, what is not, and implementing new strategies and tools. After, isn't that the purpose of ongoing assessment? Student data is one piece that we are getting pretty good at reviewing; however, I am not sure we always consider the entire picture when we consider what we need to do differently...Design, Plan, and Meaning come to mind. A redesign of the day, the time, the contact with students could be a part of the solution.
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