After another policy shift from the ODE, administrators will make slight changes to the current format

In the latest installment of what has been a dizzying process, Newberg High School Principal Mark Risen recommended

to the school board Jan. 27 that the school should stick with a block-scheduling format for the 2015-2016 year and beyond.

Much of the confusion has stemmed from the oft-shifting position of the Oregon Department of Education in recent years regarding enforcement of state Division 22 standards. Specifically, ODE had not strictly enforced the requirement that schools provide 130 hours of class time per credit until a complaint by parents in the Portland Public School District was filed in spring 2012.

In April 2014, ODE Superintendent Rob Saxton announced that high schools that didn’t satisfy the 130 hours requirement mandated in the state’s Division 22 standards would have to be in compliance for the 2014-2015 school year.

Newberg, along with several districts in the metro Portland area, operate on a block-scheduling model and district officials reported to the state that NHS did not meet the requirement.

Citing the fact that it had already forecasted classes by then and did not have enough time to properly engage students, teachers and families in creating a new schedule, the district applied for and was granted a waiver for the 2014-2015 school year.

A committee was formed and did exhaustive research, including a poll of teachers, parents and students, between April and October, eventually narrowing its focus to three potential solutions.

Risen relayed the results of the survey, which showed students preferred to keep an A/B eight-period block schedule, parents supported a seven-period daily schedule and teachers opted for a trimester system.

Risen then conducted listening sessions with about 100 students from varying backgrounds, but in October ODE changed course, indicating that it would do away with the 130 hours per credit requirement.

Instead, schools will be required to demonstrate that a certain percentage of their students take full schedules — in Newberg’s case, that they take all eight available classes in the current system.

The state board of education passed a proposal at its Jan. 22 meeting that would set the bar at 85 percent for the 2015-2016 school year, with an increase of 2.5 percent in each of the following three years to 92.5 percent in 2018-2019.

“With current staffing, we know we can be at between 91 and 93 depending on a couple of variables,” Risen said. “In terms of ODE setting the mark at 92, we feel pretty good about being able to be compliant with that three years from now when that will be expected.”

Risen also reported that NHS exceeds the minimum standard of classroom instruction when calculated on an annual basis per student. The general standard is 990 hours per year, but Newberg students receive 1,052.

The state board also approved changes to the definition of instructional time, most notably that advisory periods and assemblies will not count unless they contain an “instructional element.”

Risen reported that the shift in course by ODE allowed the committee to hold off on making formal recommendation on a schedule, giving it more time to investigate and discuss options, as well as better understand ODE’s new direction.

More importantly, the removal of the 130 hours per credit requirement afforded the committee much more flexibility in creating a bell schedule, which Risen and committee chairman Dan Malone also cited as a primary reason its recommendation is to stick with an A/B eight-period block scheduling model, with some minor modifications.

Specifically, they said block scheduling would provide more opportunities for electives and meaningful connections for students, more chances to provide strategic intervention and courses for struggling students, an extra day for homework help and support, and more prep time to assist staff in implementing instructional changes that the administration believes will raise the graduation rate and closing achievement gaps.

Risen also framed the choice in terms of best meeting the school’s overall needs, which he framed as continuing to support the approximately 70 percent of students who are succeeding (according to the graduation rate) while also meeting the needs of the remaining 30 percent that are struggling.

Risen added that there were concerns that the trimester and seven-period models would increase the pace of homework and instruction, especially for struggling students.

Just as important, a modified block format will allow the school to maintain its current course and support offerings for students without having to increase staff. Risen noted that it will both give administrators time over the next three years to work out the details of any modifications, while also insulating them a bit should ODE change course yet again.

“I appreciate all the thought and time that went into it, between leadership, as well as staff and students really taking the time to really think and talk it through and not make a decision until folks felt like they were completely confident that it’s not the right thing to do to change it,” Superintendent Kym LeBlanc-Esparza said at the meeting. “It gives me confidence when everybody talks about how and why they thought it all the way through and feel like it’s the right thing to do.”

Written by: Seth Gordon