Newsletter Contents

• The 4x4 Block Schedule at Jackson High School
• Heatherwood Middle School, Gateway Middle School, and Jackson High School: All are poor performers when compared to "like" schools: "Apples to apples."

The 4x4 Block Schedule at Jackson High School

Here are some facts relating to the 4x4 and JHS:

1) For those of you who don't know, the 4x4 is designed to be 4 classes a day (every day) of 90 minutes each. These courses are a calendar semester long. Since these courses are almost twice the minutes a day as a normal schedule, a year's worth of material can be covered in a calendar semester.

2) In actuality though, students often end up doing homework in class and only cover half the material as a normal school's course, as the course's curriculum is watered down.

3) JHS has been trying to tweak the 4x4 for years.

4) During the 2002/2003 school year, JHS experimented with an A/B schedule for 2 courses: a Spanish class and a Tech class. An A/B schedule is an alternating schedule and the courses run for an entire year. World Language classes are especially difficult to learn on the 4x4. Why is JHS experimenting with an A/B schedule?

5) Heatherwood’s Algebra class (taught in a normal 50 minute daily class) easily keeps up with the equivalent JHS Algebra class (taught in 90 minutes a day).

6) Several years ago, JHS realized that kids were not learning Algebra when they tried to teach it in a 4x4 semester. So they broke it up into 2 classes: Algebra 1A and 1B. So in essence they have a yearlong Algebra course now. But students receive a full math credit for each half course and end up graduating with a woefully inadequate math education. Recently, the school district insisted that JHS only grant a half credit for each of these half courses.

7) For the 2003/2004 school year, according to the master schedule, there will only be 5 AP Courses – 1 class for AP Calculus, 1 class for AP Chemistry, 1 class for AP Studio Art, 2 classes for AP US History, and 1 class for AP World History. 4of the 5 courses (AP Calculus, AP Chemistry, AP Studio Art, and AP World History) are all scheduled for 4th period. This means that students can only take one of these courses over the entire year. Students should have more options.

8) Approximately 40 of the 350 seniors graduated this year but were not permitted to attend graduation ceremonies. They were punished for not completing all aspects of the Culminating Exhibit. The main complaint expressed by parents of these students was the way these students were thrown into classes that tried to be all things for all kids. Again, students should have more options.

9) The Seattle Times lists the top 10 public high schools (as rated by college admissions officers) in the Greater Seattle Area. The 7th - 10th rated schools are on a traditional 6 or 7 period schedule. The top 6 schools are all on a modified block schedule such as the A/B schedule JHS is experimenting with. The 4x4, however, is nowhere in sight. Two of our founding AP/IB Boosters are going to present this information and a proposal for change to the School Board this Tuesday, June 24, 2003 at 4:30 PM. Please submit your comments, both for and against the 4x4 school schedule, to my attention.


Heatherwood Middle School, Gateway Middle School, and Jackson High School: All are poor performers when compared to "like" schools: "Apples to apples."

Another argument against AP or IB level courses has been the complaint that students at JHS are not motivated. Whether that is true or not, and whether they are made that way or not, JHS needs to change.

Recently, the OSPI (Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction) updated their on-line state school report card.

http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/

Citizens can use this tool to see how Washington State public schools are performing. Using the "% free and reduced lunch" criterion, Jackson High School is essentially at the bottom in performance when compared to its socio demographic peer group. A major reason for that lackluster performance is the 2 feeder middle schools. Heatherwood and Gateway are also essentially the worst performing schools among schools with similar socio demographics. For interesting plots of WASL data on all Washington public schools, see the following:

http://www.apibboosters.org/Guides.html

Schools in the Everett School District and the Bellevue School District are highlighted.

From this data the following observations can be made:

Elementary Schools

Middle Schools

1. Free and reduced lunch % continues to matter.
2. Reading in Everett schools starts to deteriorate.

High Schools

1. Free and reduced lunch % continues to matter
2. Reading in Everett schools continues to decline.
3. Bellevue high schools continue to rise above their respective demographic means, especially in math.

As always, your comments are welcome.