 |
 |
 |
August 1, 2006 Educational Reform Movements: Trimester System and Year-Round Schools Even though we’ve concluded our examination of the most common types of educational reform movement scheduling options, there are two remaining forms of scheduling I’d like to present as an addendum to this 10-part series. There are only a few districts where these systems are being used, but music education advocates do need to be aware of their potential impact on music programming. The Trimester System Historically speaking, dividing the academic year into trimesters seems to be a compromise between the traditional two-semester system and the block schedule . With the trimester system, the typical 36-week school year is divided into three equal terms of 12 weeks. Full-year courses (36 weeks under the traditional schedule) would be reduced to 24 weeks in length. One-semester courses (18 weeks under the traditional schedule) would be reduced to 12 weeks in length. The primary issues for the music program are similar to those in the block schedule. The number of courses per day and the length of periods may be changed in an attempt to resolve a variety of issues. If your district is considering the trimester system, I recommend you use the Summary Comparison Chart: Scheduling Options as your guide and develop similar data to compare and contrast the specific format that your district is considering. Year-Round Schools In the majority of school districts, the traditional school year is currently scheduled over a nine or ten month period. With the year-round concept, the school year is scheduled over the entire calendar year of 12 months. This concept may be confusing at first because it may appear the intent is to increase the number of days that students spend in school. However, this is not the case. Students continue to have an academic year of approximately 180 days; however, the district will be providing instruction for an additional 60 days. Advantages of Year-Round Scheduling There are two primary motivations for the year-round system: 1. Scheduling classes over twelve months increases school capacity by one-third. For example, a school building with capacity for only 750 students can accommodate 1000 students on a four-track system, because 250 students will be on vacation during any given track. 2. Scheduling classes over twelve months may be used to reduce class size. For example, a school with 1000 students enrolled could reduce the number of students on campus at any given time to 750. This may also be used to alleviate overcrowding of space. Under the year-round system, students are placed in groups known as tracks. If the district adopts a four-track system, students attend classes during three of the four tracks (terms). In other words, during any given track 75% of the students will be in classes and 25% of the students will be on vacation. In some schools there may be multiple tracks in operation; in others, there may be only a single track. Each method of implementation has its own complexities. How Does Year-Round Scheduling Affect School Music Programs? Music education advocates should help others in their districts to carefully consider both the consequences and the motivations of year-round scheduling before this system is adopted. Here are a few key issues to target as you assess the effect year-round scheduling may have on your district’s music programming: 1. Additional staffing will be needed to provide instruction for the fourth track or term. 2. Team teaching is often necessary to provide instructional “catch-up” time for students who were on “vacation” (off-track) during a previous track. 3. If the district does not provide additional staffing or multiple tracks, students may be “forced” to drop music because of scheduling conflicts within a specific track. 4. Curricular design and assessment must be configured to ensure that students do not miss significant segments in the learning sequence. 5. The scheduling of music performances must be made with great care to ensure that the maximum number of students is able to participate. While this CounterPoint article officially wraps up our series on scheduling, we will re-visit the topic as we discuss other movements of educational reform that affect music programs, such as middle schools, tax vouchers, and school-to-work. We have mostly focused on the high school level here; as we discuss other levels of education, scheduling will also be an important component of those discussions. Until next time, John Benham |
|
 |
|
 |
|
Organizations:
Artists:
Scott Brady |
