Some 70 parents were in attendance at Monday evening’s PTSO meeting to hear about West High School’s plans for 10th grade English. This was the largest turnout for a PTSO meeting in recent history. Approximately one-third of those there were parents of elementary and middle school students who will be attending West at some point in the future.
The consensus from parents was that they want more discussion of these planned changes, and given the school’s timeline for formalizing next year’s course offerings, these meeetings have to happen soon.
Parents heard from Principal Ed Holmes, English department chair Keesia Hyzer, and from teacher Mark Nepper. What follows is a brief summary of the presentation.
Mr. Holmes explained that the impetus for restructuring 10th grade English was the Small Learning Communities (SLC) grant that West High received two years ago. (West is currently in the second year of a three year grant). This grant has as its goals the improved achievement of all students and the simultaneous reduction of the achievement gap. That grant called for a core curriculum in both 9th and 10th grade. Last year the school implemented a core curriculum for 9th graders wherein students would take their core classes (math, English, social studies, and science) within their SLC. The English department began approaching the challenge of creating a 10th grade core this past January.
Ms. Hyzer reported that, as the English department approached this task, they had 3 areas of focus: their writing program, helping struggling students, and managing the department’s workload. By creating a unified core 10th grade English, there is now an opportunity for teachers and students to spend an entire year together, a unified curriculum means that students won’t be able to circumvent academic rigor in their course selection, and the common experience will provide a springboard for courses in the 11th and 12th grades.
The redesigned curriculum combines aspects of Fundamental and Intermediate Writers Workshop classes, Modern Literature, Writers in Their Times, and Justice.
The school firmly believes that heterogeneously grouped classes is the best way to meet the needs of all students, addressing the wide range of abilities through curriculum differentiation. Keesia Hyzer told parents that the English department will study differentiation over the summer and work to implement it in the classroom.
For students who want more challenge or a more rigorous English experience, West intends to offer the opportunity for an Honors designation. Students would be required to do extra work outside of class and would meet with the Honors coordinator twice a week during lunch for additional discussion/study sessions.
Many parents were skeptical that students would volunteer to do additional work and regularly give up portions of their lunch periods and the opportunities to participate in clubs and other activities for this designation. They questioned why students couldn’t do this work in their daily English classes, and suggested that the school offer an honors section of English 10 within each SLC. They pointed out that students who enjoy literature and want more challenge in English are being punished by having to go outside the regular classroom to get their educational needs met, a situation that doesn’t exist in math or science where academically advanced students can get their needs met in the classroom. While a number of parents were complimentary of the goal of integrating literature and writing within one course and the books that were on the proposed reading list, it was noted that the inclusion of challenging reading material does not automatically make a course rigourous. The speed at which the class moves through the material and the level of discussion can vary widely, depending on who is in the classroom. Also, as a 10th grader reminded us, there is no guarantee that all classes will read all of the books on the reading list.
Several parents also pointed out that no students get their needs met in a heterogenous classroom: Struggling students get discouraged when they compare themselves to high performing students, high end students report boredom and frustration as the class moves slowly so as not to leave students behind, and middle range students get ignored as teachers spend the majority of their time attending to either the high or low achieving students. Differentiation of curriculum has its limits, even for the most skilled teacher.
Mr. Holmes and Ms. Hyzer took questions for about 20 minutes and then left. Parents weren’t ready to end the discussion and continued to talk about the presentation and raise questions for some 40 or so minutes afterwards. One of the biggest questions was “What can we do to get them to listen to us and genuinely take our concerns into consideration?” One answer is to contact the following district staff with your concerns and suggestions: SuperintendentArt Rainwater, Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Schools Pam Nash, West Principal Ed Holmes, English department chair Keesia Hyzer, Director of Teaching and Learning Mary Ramberg, Language Arts and Reading Coordinator Mary Watson Peterson, the Instructional Resource Teachers for Language Arts and Reading in the Middle and High Schools – Sharyn Stumpf and Doug Buehl, District Talented and Gifted Coordinator Welda Simousek, and the Board of Education. Parents can also keep informed by subscribing to the West High PTSO mailing list.
Others who were in attendance are encouraged to add to this report.
Based on the books included in the new Core 10 proposed curriculum, my daughter who is 10th grader and is currently taking IWW & LUG as a sophomore is questioning whether there will be any American Literature options left to choose from as a junior or senior? If all the American Literature courses are integrated into the core, she is concerned that she wouldn’t have the opportunity to study any traditional American Literature. Please identify what remaining english options will be available to juniors and seniors.
Thank you.
Thanks for posting the notes. I have 3 questions:
1) What were the books on the reading list for this new class?
2) The SLC grant requires core curriculum in English only?
3) Is Memorial HS’s SLC funded with a similar grant? If so, how have they handled this core curriculum requirement?
Thank you for the information.
I’ll answer your questions in reverse order.
Memorial’s restructuring does not affect curriculum. They have “neighborhood” time on a regular basis, monthly or weekly, I don’t recall, where they spend time with members of their small learning community.
The SLC grant proposed a core curriculum in math, science, social studies, and English for all ninth and tenth graders, and under the proposal students would take these core courses within their SLC.
The list of books for this proposed curriculum is as follows:
Semester One: The American Dream
Descriptive narrative and exemplification, levels of usage, introductions and conclusions, parallelism and the basic thesis statement. (Three Weeks)
Introduction to the American Dream
Ben Franklin, “Ways to Wealth,” and “Moral Perfection”
“Ragged Dick” by Horatio Alger (Two Weeks)
Persuasive Writing (One Week)
Slave Narratives Excerpts: Frederick Douglass and Harriet Jacobs (Two Weeks)
Seeking out the American Dream: Immigration
Multicultural Short Stories
Literary Analysis Essay (Three to Four Weeks)
Possible additional selections: Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Corruption of the American Dream
There are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz (Two Weeks)
Compare and Contrast Essay (One Week)
Continued study of the American Dream
Based on teacher selection students might read:
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail by Lawrence and Lee
Throughout the semester, students will be responsible for a 15-minute class presentation that requires individual study into some thematic aspects of the curriculum.
Based on previous choices, for the second semester students will study in either the Identity or Justice sequence.
Semester Two: Identity (Choice One)
Shakespeare
All students will begin the semester with examination of a play by Shakespeare. Students in each core will read: Othello
In mid- to late- February the English Department will hold a Shakespeare Festival, where students from each core will present theatrical performance of scenes from the play. (Four Weeks)
Definition/Classification Essay
The Research Paper
The unit will include the study of planning, information gathering techniques, interview and survey strategies, formal documentation and writing. Students will submit a five-page research paper before the third quarter ends. (Four to Six Weeks)
Dislocation from Society (Three Weeks)
Students will read at least two of three of the following works:
Catcher In the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Black Boy by Richard Wright
Continued Exploration of Identity Literature
Based on teacher selection students might read:
Autobiography of Malcolm X
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Caucasia by Danzy Senna
Counting Coup by Larry Colton
The Miracle Worker by William Gibson
Argumentation
Data based inquiry leading to a refined argument.
Writing Options will include creative writing: fiction or poetry.
English 10 will continue the grammar study that students begin in 9th grade, where they learn parts of speech, parts of a sentence, pronoun antecedent, subject-verb agreement, and punctuation. In English 10 students will study or review phrases and clauses, sentence variety, sentence combining, subordination and levels of usage.
Semester Two: Justice (Choice Two)
Shakespeare
All students will begin the semester with examination of a play by Shakespeare. Students in each core will read: Othello
In mid- to late- February the English Department will hold a Shakespeare Festival, where students from each core will present theatrical performance of scenes from the play. (Four Weeks)
Definition/Classification Essay
The Research Paper
The unit will include the study of planning, information gathering techniques, interview and survey strategies, formal documentation and writing. Students will submit a five-page research paper before the third quarter ends. (Four to Six Weeks)
Exploration of Criminal and Social Justice (Three to Four Weeks)
Students will read at least two of the three following works:
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko
Argumentation
Data based inquiry leading to a refined argument.
Continued Exploration of Justice
Based on teacher selection students might read:
The Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
12 Angry Men by Reginald Rose
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie
Native Son by Richard Wright
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines
Writing Options will include creative writing: fiction or poetry
English 10 will continue the grammar study that students begin in 9th grade, where they learn parts of speech, parts of a sentence, pronoun antecedent, subject-verb agreement, and punctuation. In English 10 students will study or review phrases and clauses, sentence variety, sentence combining, subordination and levels of usage.
If a 10th grade student is illiterate, how will the student handle the reading and assignments? What plan does the MMSD have for teaching them to read and write?
I’m not asking you specifically, Jeff, for answers, but the MMSD needs to have an answer better than “meeting with a teacher during lunch.” These kids need intensive instruction.
How do the teachers juggle their schedules? There probably aren’t enough lunch periods in a year to meet with the kids who want an honors designation and all the kids who struggle.
To put numbers to my comments on literacy, 9% of West’s students read at a minimal level, which is VERY low; 10% read at a basic level, which is not at grade level; 2% weren’t tested. Sooooo, we can figure 20% of the 10th graders cannot handle the course work in 10th grade English (or any other course for that matter).
Check the numbers from DPI at http://data.dpi.state.wi.us/data/graphshell.asp?fullkey=023269040840&DN=Madison+Metropolitan&Grade=10&Group=AllStudentsFAY&SubjectID=0AS&SN=West+High&Level=ALL&TYPECODE=3&CTY=13&WOW=WSAS&ORGLEVEL=SC&GraphFile=GEDISA&DETAIL=YES&EligibleOnly=NO.
(Now that’s a URL!)
You raise really valid points. If the school would group students by ability there would be an opportunity to address their needs in the classroom. Not even the most masterful teachers can differentiate across such a wide range of abilities.
According to the data at that DPI website, 65% of the students performed at the Advanced level which means that there would be plenty of students to fill many, many sections of an Honors English course.
I can tell you as the parent of a former average student at West, the only reason he enjoyed English was because he could “take his medicine” in the favor of his choice. I work in a district that has an integrated curriculum, but it is differentiated between an “A” and “AB” level and students have a choice of how much work they want to put into the subject. However, it does not help low-achieving students of any ethnicity – if they don’t like the subject and they’re bored and disinterested, they do poorly. High-achieving students may stick with it for the GPA, but they’re still bored and disinterested. I’ve always thought West had a better plan giving more choice to increase interest in learning and involvement in the subject matter.