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February 01, 2010
Advocacy for Arts Education Begins at Home
January 01, 2010
A Case for Middle School Arts
December 01, 2009
FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: When Is A Loss A Loss?
November 01, 2009
FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: Solid Advocacy Groundwork Saves Two School Music Programs in Nevada School District
October 01, 2009
FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: Three-Step Action Plan to Make ‘Music Education For All Students’ a Goal in Your School District
September 01, 2009
FOCUS ON COALITION-BUILDING: Back-to-School Inspiration: Elementary String Program Saved!
August 01, 2009
FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Award-winning Student Essays Highlight the Unifying Powers of Music
July 02, 2009
FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Music Education Advocacy for the Digital Generation
June 01, 2009
FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: Keeping Your Momentum, Even in Troubled Times
May 01, 2009
FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: Are YOU Ready to Write a Letter in Support of Music Education?
April 01, 2009
FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Research Study Links Music Making and Music Education with Improved Academic Performance
March 01, 2009
FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: Moving from Survival to Vision
February 02, 2009
FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: NOW MORE THAN EVER…
January 05, 2009
FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: Develop an Annual Report Featuring Your Music Education Program
December 01, 2008
ADVOCACY IN TIMES OF FISCAL CRISIS: Your Local Music Coalition
November 01, 2008
FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Research Study Indicates Teenagers’ Strong Commitment to Music & Music Making
October 01, 2008
FOCUS ON ADVOCACY: The Purpose of Arts Education
August 01, 2008
MUSIC ADVOCACY: Singing Through the Dark Times
July 01, 2008
FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Students Express Why Music is Important to Their Complete Education
June 01, 2008
Reflections on Advocacy as the SupportMusic Coalition Celebrates Five Years
May 01, 2008
FOCUS ON BUDGET: Reverse Economics – Developing a Fiscal Case for Your Music Program (Part 2 of 2)
April 02, 2008
FOCUS ON BUDGET: Reverse Economics - Developing a Fiscal Case for Your Music Program (Part 1 of 2)
March 01, 2008
Focus on Issues & Decision-making: Educational Reform Movements - Tax Vouchers and Their Impact on Music Education Programs
February 01, 2008
ARTS ADVOCACY LESSONS FROM THE 2008 IOWA PRESIDENTIAL CAUCUS: #1 Take-Away ñ Let the Candidates Hear From You!
January 03, 2008
FOCUS ON STUDENTS: NJ Arts Education Census Project Offers Model for Other States
December 01, 2007
FOCUS ON COALITION BUILDING: Advocate for Music Education
October 30, 2007
FOCUS ON ISSUES & DECISION MAKING: Music Education Research 101, Part II
September 17, 2007
FOCUS ON ISSUES & DECISION MAKING: Music Education Research 101, Part 1
August 07, 2007
FOCUS ON ISSUES AND DECISIONMAKING: Do Your Elected Officials View Music Education as a National Priority?
July 13, 2007
FOCUS ON COALITION BUILDING: American Symphony Orchestra League Launches Historic Statement of Common Cause to Support In-School Music Education
June 03, 2007
FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Music & Arts Education is Essential to Development of Creative Economy & 21st Century Skills
June 03, 2007
FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Music & Arts Education is Essential to Development of Creative Economy & 21st Century Skills
May 03, 2007
FOCUS ON COALITION BUILDING: Think Globally, Act Locally ñ and Why Reading This is NOT an Advocacy Action
March 21, 2007
FOFCUS ON BUDGET: FTE and the Staffing Ratio, Part 2 ñ The Music Teacher
February 21, 2007
FOCUS ON COALITION BUILDING: From Anytown, USA to Washington, DC . . . All Music Advocacy Is Local
January 17, 2007
FOCUS ON COALITION BUILDING: How to Create School Board Support for Music Programs
January 07, 2007
FOCUS ON COALITION BUILDING: How to Create School Board Support for Music Programs
December 15, 2006
FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Why Music Technology Enhances Student Success
November 16, 2006
FOCUS ON COALITION BUILDING: These Parents Made A Difference ñ You Can Too!
October 18, 2006
FOCUS ON STUDENTS: The Study Hall Game
September 27, 2006
FOCUS ON ISSUES & DECISION MAKING: The Music Administrator, Part 2 of 2
September 20, 2006
FOCUS ON ISSUES & DECISION MAKING: The Music Administrator, Part 1 of 2
September 08, 2006
Back-To-School Primer: The Local Music Coalition
August 30, 2006
Focus on Budget: FTE ñ A Case Study on Teacher Seniority & The Fallacy of Average
August 24, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making:Educational Reform Movements: Middle Schools, Part 3 of 3
August 15, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making:Educational Reform Movements: Middle Schools, Part 2 of 3
August 08, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Middle Schools, Part 1 of 3
August 08, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Middle Schools, Part 1 of 3
August 01, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Trimester System and Year-Round Schools
July 18, 2006
NEWS FLASH!! CA Advocates Secure Historic Funding for Arts Education
June 30, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Part 10 of a series Decision Time!
June 22, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Part 9 of a series Three Perspectives on Block Scheduling
June 18, 2006
NEWS FLASH!! CA Advocates Secure Historic Funding for Arts Education
June 13, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Part 8 of a series Two Options for Four-Period Block Scheduling
June 06, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Part 7 of a series Block Scheduling and the Music Student
May 30, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Part 6 of a series Rotating Schedules
May 18, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Part 5 of a series Two Options for 7-Period Scheduling
May 08, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Part 4 of a series Scheduling Myths & the Grades 9-10 "Bottleneck"
April 27, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform movement: Part 3 of a series Scheduling & The Traditional Six-Day Period
April 19, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform: Part 2 of a series Scheduling
April 12, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Educational Reform Movements: Part 1 of a series An Overview & Some Advice
April 04, 2006
FOCUS ON BUDGET: Actual FTE Value & Individual Student Load
March 27, 2006
PUBLIC OPINION SURVEYS: A Slippery Slope
March 15, 2006
Music Advocacy 101: Do YOU Have "The Right Stuff"?
March 01, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Who Really Calls The Shots?
February 16, 2006
Focus on Budget: FTE and The Danger of Using Averages
February 07, 2006
Focus on Budget: Identifying Potential & "Hidden" Music Budget Cuts
January 24, 2006
Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Music - Curricular, Co-curricular or Extra-curricular?
January 10, 2006
Focus on Budget: FTE and the Staffing Ratio
January 04, 2006
Focus on Students: Advocacy and the Music Student
December 27, 2005
Focus on Budget: How to Develop & Use Impact Statements
December 20, 2005
FOCUS ON ISSUES & DECISION-MAKING: Central and Site-based Management
December 05, 2005
Focus on Budget: How "Average" FTE Value Creates Budget Problems
November 28, 2005
Focus on Coalition Building: The Public School Music Participation Survey
November 21, 2005
Focus on Coalition Building: 8 Strategic Errors in Music Advocacy & How to Correct Them
November 14, 2005
Focus on Issues & Decision Making: Is My Music Program Vulnerable to Cuts?
November 07, 2005
Focus on Budget: FTE & Staffing
October 31, 2005
FOCUS ON STUDENTS: Putting Students First
October 10, 2005
Decision Making: The Politics of Process
October 04, 2005
SCHOOL BUDGET PRIMER: UNDERSTANDING "FTE"
September 09, 2005
Back-To-School Primer: Creating a Local Music Coalition
August 12, 2005
The Public School Music Participation Survey
August 01, 2005
The Right Stuff?
July 19, 2005
Advocacy and the Music Student
June 29, 2005
The Danger of Public Opinion Surveys
June 22, 2005
Music: Curricular, Co-curricular, or Extra-curricular? (Part II)
June 16, 2005
Music: Curricular, Co-curricular, or Extra-curricular? (Part I)
June 09, 2005
Developing Impact Statements
May 25, 2005
News Flash: The Crisis in Minnesota
May 12, 2005
Identifying Potential Music Cuts-Part II: "Hidden" Cuts
May 12, 2005
Identifying Potential Music Cuts-Part II: "Hidden" Cuts
April 25, 2005
March 23, 2005
March 23, 2005
Decisions: Adult or Student-centered?
March 23, 2005
Decisions: Adult or Student-centered?
February 23, 2005
Case Study: "Block Schedule ? The Perils"
February 16, 2005
Educational Reform
February 09, 2005
The Public Survey Trap
February 02, 2005
Strategic Errors in Music Advocacy
January 27, 2005
Uncovering the Mystery of the School Budget: Glossary
January 19, 2005
A Glossary of Terms for the Music Advocate: The Art of "Educese."
December 28, 2004
Decision Making: The Politics of Process
December 22, 2004
Decision Makers: Who's really calling the shots?
December 15, 2004
Is My Music Program Vulnerable to Cuts?
December 08, 2004
What is the Single Most Important Isssue in Music Advocacy? YOU!
December 01, 2004
MUSIC ADVOCACY: Caring Enough to Put the Student First

June 13, 2006

Educational Reform Movements: Part 8 of a series
Two Options for Four-Period Block Scheduling

After calling this meeting of the Schedule Task Force to order, the administration distributed a large packet of information in support of its proposal to adopt a Block Schedule format.

The administration started by reminding members about the initial goal of the Task Force – to eliminate the grades 9 and 10 scheduling “bottleneck - and then suggested that research showed adopting the Block Schedule would be the best way to meet this goal.

Research Claims About Block Schedule

During their presentation, the administration showed research to indicate Block Scheduling would:

• Eliminate the bottleneck by allowing students to enroll in 8 courses per year.
• Allow students to earn up to 32 credits during the 4 years they are enrolled in high school.
• Allow students to potentially fulfill the minimum requirements for graduation (24 credits) in only 3 years by taking 8 credits each year.
• Increase "time on task" by expanding each class period from 55 to 85 minutes.
• Increase test scores because of increased "time on task."
• Increase graduation rates (reduce drop-outs) because of increased student success.
• Improve grades in the general student population.

When they finished outlining the basic research about Block Schedule, the administrators in favor of this schedule format outlined two options to implement a Four-Period Block Schedule.

Option 1: The 4 x 4 Block Schedule

  • Students would take up to four courses per semester.
  • Each course would meet daily for 85 minutes.
  • Each course would fulfill the requirements of a (previous) full year course.
  • "Skinnies" may be implemented for courses outside the (perceived) core, such as music and other electives, including courses like band, choir and orchestra that need to meet for an entire year. [Note: A "skinny" is half of an 85-minute period.]

Option 2: The A/B Block Schedule

  • Students would take up to eight courses per year. (Some districts require the students to take one study hall, allowing only seven courses per year.)
  • Each course would meet every other day (A/B) for 85-minutes for the entire year.
  • Each course would be considered as fulfilling the requirements of a (previous) full year course.

Similarities between these two options included the following.

  • A course that was previously a full year (or 1 credit) would be "semesterized." That is, since the course was now meeting for a significantly longer period of time requirements for that course could be fulfilled in one semester.
  • The length of the day would remain at 355 minutes, but students would only pass between classes three times instead of four. Therefore, the extra ten minutes gained would be added to class time.
  • A teacher's load would be reduced from five 55-minute periods per day to three 85-minute periods per day.
  • A teacher's load would increase from five courses per year to six courses per year.
  • A teacher's daily student load would be decreased.

Controversy and No Decision

From the beginning of the meeting it was evident that this proposal was going to be controversial. In addition to the preliminary research done by the Music Coalition, other Task Force members had done their own research, scouring the Internet for information related to Block Schedule.

There seemed to be a general "sense" that Block Schedule was where the administration was headed from the very beginning. Some individuals even expressed concern privately that the Task Force had been appointed as a "token committee" and that, even though the administration and board had involved the community, they intended to decide in favor of Block Scheduling regardless of public opinion or concerns. Even the teachers seemed divided over the concept.

Discussion on the two options was extensive and lengthy, but no clear recommendations emerged. Therefore, it was decided that there would be a second meeting on the topic of Block Schedule, with the Task Force divided into sub committees according to the two options. People were asked to go to their various constituencies with the information, do their own research, and then come to the next meeting ready to present specific summary reports and comments on the two options.

Those summaries will be presented next time – and the discussion should be a lively one!

Until then,

John Benham





Organizations:

Artists:

Scott Brady

Nathan East

The Goo Goo Dolls

Lorin Hollander

Bob James

Carolyn Dawn Johnson

Harvey Mason

Bob McGrath

Chris Pierce

Nate Sallie

Take 6

Will Turpin of Collective Soul


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