RECEIVED Catterall 5711/2005 Draft MAY 1 6 2005 OFFICE OF DESEGREGATION MONITORING Questions for Parent Interviews Target parents
Identify parents of an YRE student or students where at least one of these students spent two or more years in a traditional calendar year school. The main goal is students) in both the traditional and YRE school setting. Randomly select 20 of these parents from each of five YRE schools. Conduct a phone interview with each parent. Explain the purpose of the interview. We are interested in how Year Round Education schooling in Lade Rock is working, especially when it comes to student learmng. Since you have experience in both YRE and traditional calendar schools we'd like to ask you a few questions - "X" number questions to be exact lour name will be confidential. It will not appear in any of our reports and only your school name will remain with our notes from this interview. B. Confirm that a child in this family attended both YRE and traditional calendar j schools. I. What was the reason your students change from traditional calendar to YRE education? a. The school changed to YRE./_/ b. My child transferred to a YRE schooi/_/ c. Multiple children - both reasons apply. Capture the essence of responses, but always check
a., b., or c. You may spark talk of rationales for changing schools here - e.g. I wanted my student to learn more wanted access to inter-sessions, didnt like previous school, etc. If parent claims to be dissatisfied with prior school, hear parent out here and bring this back up when asking about differences between YRE and traditional calendar schools below. Record worthwhile quotes.2. What are the year schools? main differences you see between YRE and traditional caleada ar Capture essence of responses. Record worthwhile Retrospectively group into categories in for reporting. quotes. 3. Let's focBs particularly on how different schools help kids learn ff apphcable, solicit elaborations of any school effectiveness differences Question 2. (Remember to focus year schools.) on reported in comparisons between YRE and traditional calendar Or if learning did not come the main differences in up in response to Question 2, ask parent: What do yo
'u see as student learning in YRE vs. traditional calendar year schools? Capture essence of responses. Record worthwhile quotes. 4. (If leaning-related differences seem not well addressed in responses to Question 2, push harder on learning differences through the following que^tiX If^X- dillerences were well-covered, skip to question 5.) Are there things about the YRE calendar that help kids learn better? calendao'^ perceptions of learning differences, YRE to traditional You wUl probably get these sorts of responses, so check-off if you hear any of these
a. Kids are in school more. b. Shorter breaks/vacations. i. Kids forget less academic content. iii. Shorter gaps in teaching. iv. Kids remember better how to behave in school, c. Inter-sessions help kids learn more. e. d. Teachers seem to like YRE better, and Others (specify each). are happier in their jobs. Also
Capture essence of responses. Record worthwhile Retrospectively group into categories in for reporting. quotes.calendar schools, do vou think that children feci differently about school or about themselves in one type versus another? Yes, a lot. Yes, a little. No. Check One that best describes main response If No, interview is done. If Yes, probe for what kinds of differences and why they might exist. Pay attention to claims that specific aspects of being an YRE school affect how kids feel about school. their motivation for school. their outlook. And other effects mentioned. Capture essence of responses. Record worthwhife quotes. 6. Docs your child/children talk about the fact that the they If yes, what kinds of things do they say? are in an YRE school? Capture essence of responses. Record worthwhile quotes.1. I think the main parts of the survey should remain comparisons between as they are, responses in different years will be valid. so 2. It seems like we need a better comparative school experiences^ way to identify PARENTS who have YRE and traditional Calendar year. I suggest adding an item (B2) to the Parent Survey, which asks: "How many of your children were enrolled in traditional calendar schools before they enrolled in an YRE school?" 0 1 2 3 4 or more 3. Add at the bottom of Student Survey (same reason): "What was the LAST grade you spent in a 9-month school' LAST and 9-month) (Bold both Never attended 9-month school Kindergarten 1st 2nd 3rd 4 th Perhaps the back of 4. on tne Dac< or ALL THREE surveys, parent, student, and Xsacner , place zh sane n*AO open Questions: think YRE is better than traditional calendar for heloing children - succeed academically, K-he^k here /_/ and please list one or two reasons for this: (follow with 4 -5 lines for writing) b. What suggestions do you have for improving the schools? (one or two suggestions): effectiveness of Y.RE (follow with 4 -5 lines for writing) That would give us some things to chew and suggestions. on. Let me know your thoughts] Arkansas Democrat 1^(ijazettc THURSDAY, JANUARY 13^, 2000 3 LR grade schools line up year-round classes secret-ballot vote. The school teachers have to spend so much . time reteaching the information BY CYNTHLA HOWELL .ARK.\SS.\S DEMOCR,.\T-GAZETTE For pupils at three Little Rock elementary schools, the 2000-2001 school year may begin earlier and last longer than it will at other schools. But included in the year will be more frequent or longer vacations. Parents and faculty at Woodruff and Mabelvale elementary schools have voted to try what is referred to nationally as a year-round The new calendar. school Stephens Elementary School also will operate on the reconfigured calendar when it opens in early 2001. More than 80 percent of the fac- Ultj- members and families at Woodruff and Mabelvale favored the proposed change, which now must be acted on by the Little Rock School Board. Frances Cawthonjones. the Little Rock School Districts assistant superintendent for elementary schools, said Wednesday. A majority of families at two other schools. Washinpon .Magnet and Dodd elementaries. also favored the revised calendar. But the margin of approval did not reach the 80 percent requirement, so the schools wont make any changes in the coming year. The School Board is expected to discuss school-year calendars both traditional and modified at an agenda meeting that begins at 5 p.m. tonight. The board isnt scheduled to vote on calendars until Jan.27. Pupils at the three participating schools wont go to school any more days than children at other elementmy schools in the district but the 178 days will be distributed differently, CawthonJones said. Mabelvale Principal Tabitha Phillips said Wednesday that she's had a long-standing interest in year-round school calendars. When district officials invited principals and others to informational meetings on the subject she was eager to go. Additional meetings were held at the school for teachers and parents. Information was sent home to parents and visits were made to a year-round school program in Texarkana. Ultimately. 96 percent of the Mabelvale staff voted in favor of the change. Parent approval followed. Each family was entitled to one has about 400 pupils in pre-kinder- garten through fifth grades. The bottom line is student achievement. Phillips said about the desire to try the year-round calendar. Everything we are hear- ing, everything weve read, indicates that student achievement goes up. The reason behind that is the children are not out of school for extended periods like they are on a traditional calendar. Phillips continued. They are out in June. July and most of August. By the time they come back in .August our that was not retained over the summer months. With the alternate calendar, the children arent out as long and they dont lose as much information. .An added benefit is that during the school breaks, pupils who need remediation can get it more immediately and from Mabelvale teachers at the school. The children dont have to wait to attend a traditional summer school remediation session, which would probable be at another school- .and See SCHOOL YEAR, Page TOB School year Continued from Page 1B taught by teachers whom the children dont know, Phillips said. Teachers would have the opportunity to work during the intercession periods for extra money, just as they would choose to work in summer school. A specific calendar for the three participating schools has not yet been selected or designed, Cawthon Jones said. Representatives from the three schools will meet Jan. 18-19 with Richard Alcorn of the National Association of Year Roimd Education to select a year-round calendar and work out other details, such as transportation, food service and after-school child care for the days when year-round pupils are in classes and other pupils are not, and vice versa. The calendar options are numerous. One of the most common arrangements nationally is a 45-15 plan, in which the school year is divided into four nine-week terms separated by four three-week vacations or intercessions. An exfra four weeks are scheduled for winter and spring breaks and national holidays. Both Cawthonjones and Phillips said an initial concern from parents and others about a year-round syrtem centered on families that might have one child in a year-roimd calendar school and others in a school with a traditional calendar. Its interesting the different ways people look at that, Cawthonjones said. Ive had a couple of families tell me they think it would be wonderful to have time with one child while another is in school. It gives them opportunities to do different things. She also said that despite the calendar differences, there will be common vacation time between the traditional and alternative calendars. The winter and spring breaks are expected to be the same, as will staff development days and part of the summer vacation. Cawthon-Jones said that when she was an elementary school principal she would have been reluctant initially to tinker with her traditional summer vacation. But now that Ive looked at these year-round calendars I love them, she said. You really have periods to take a breather, just regroup. I cant see why any teacher or principal wouldnt like it... I really think that in 10 or 12 years most of our country will be using extended year. If approved, the three Little Rock schools will be in rare company in the state as the only other year-round calendar schools are in the Texarkana, Bentonville and Fayetteville school districts. Nationally, there are year-round schools, public and private, in 43 states, totaling about 2.800 schools and affecting about 2 million students.z Ir IArkansas Democrat (Gazette FRIDAY. FEBRUARY 4, 2000 ' Pupils year to stretch out at 3 schools BY CYNTHIA HOWELL .\RK.\NS.\S DEMOCR..\T-G.\ZETTE The Little Rock School Board voted unanimously Thursday to allow Mabelvale, Woodruff and the new Stephens elementary schools to operate on an e.xtend- ed-year calendar that could have pupils attending class from early August until the end of June. The 2000-01 school year will start Aug. 8 next summer for children at the three Little Rock elementary schools, 13 days earlier than classes in the rest of the districts schools. . Stephens, however, won't open until January 2001, so its pupils will start the school year, along 'with the extended calendar, at .iExtended Continued from Page 1A $laski County to try an extended- lyear schedule. They join only five ..'other schools in the state that use . an alternative calendar.
"We do believe this will improve student achievement." Assistant Snmediation. The intersession periods will be taught by teachers who volunteer to work. They will be paid extra for the intersession work, just as teachers are paid extra for teaching summer school courses. The second intersession period of the coming school year will be Jan. 2-5, which will be a one week extension of the regular Dec. 18 - Jan. 1 perintendent Frances Cawthon- winter vacation that all district stu- ' Jones told the board. "We are veiy dents and employees get The next enthusiastic. We have good staff intersession will be April 2-6. which and community support and we are .................... in the process of doing some excellent planning with community gioups and day-care facilities." The affected schools had fifthgrade standardized test scores this year ranging from the 18th to the 24th percentiles. The 50th percentile is considered average. The Mabelvale, Woodruff and Stephens children \rill have the would be tagged on to the tradition spring break of March 26-30. Board member Baker Kurrus said he had some initial doubts about the concept of a year-round school calendar but was pleased by the motivation of the teachers. "I hope it works." he said. Board member Mike Daugherty said his only concern was for parents who have children in different same 173 school days next year that schools with different school vaca- other district students have but will have three two-week breaks that school officials are calling "intersessions." when pupils may attend remediation classes. Clois Bell, a music teacher at tions. But he said he was pleased to see that efforts were being made at the affected elementary schools to ensure that child care is possible for families that need it. Garland Elementary. LXXCUIU The three Little Rock schools are the first public schools in Pu- See EXTENDED, Page 11A The board on Thursday also ap- Mabelvale, told the board that provedthe200001schoolyearcal- teachers at her school were eager to tiy the calendar as a way to better educate and motivate children. endar for the schools not affected by the extended-year plan. Classes will start for those students on Aug. She said the reused schedule 21 ^nd will end May 31.2001. and two-week breaks will enable children who need more instimc- tion to get immediate attention be- Thursday's board meeting was rescheduled from last week when a ___________ snowstonn caused the regularly fore they fall far behind. Other scheduled meeting to be postponed, pupils and teachers can take time The board will hold its Februarv to regroup and refresh before the agenda meeting next Thursday and next nine-week giading period, she ' said. And the shorter summer recess will mean less time for pupil skills to weaken. "I'm excited about this." Bell said. . Sharon Faulkenbeny. a fifthgrade teacher who will work at Stephens Elementaiy. echoed the enthusiasm. is expected to call a special meeting within the next two weeks to con- sider recommendations from a three-member committee charged with exploring the feasibility of a property tax campaign to finance improvements to school buildings and to expand technologj' systems in the schools. Committee membeis include board President Sue Strick- "One problem that teachers face land, the Rev. Steven Arnold and when we come back from being out all summer is remediation.'' Faulkenberry said. "We always member. state Sen. John Riggs IV, who is a fonner Little Rock School Board have to spend several weeks going Superintendent Les Camine told board members that thev will over material that was already cov- __________________________ ered. We think this will be a great also be asked within the next sev- help. Also, after spring break, students tend to shut down, and we eral weeks to consider some short- term construction projects at think that if we have intersession schools where there's crowding breaks throughout the year, that that could worsen next year as the will be eliminated." district's enrollment grows. In past years, the districts enrollment has Teachers in the extended-year schools will begin work Aug. 1 in dropped as students move away or preparation for the return of pupils lea\'e school for other reasons. This Aug. 8. The school year will stretch year, the Jan. 11 enrollment of through at least June 15 and possi- 25.643. was higher than the Oct. 1 bly June 29 for pupils who need the time to build their skills. The fimt intersession period will count of25.190. Camine called the unusual growlh and the need for some im- beOct. 9-20. At least one week of the mediate expansions at the high two-week period will be used for re- schools "a happy challenge."Arkansas Democrat ^^(j^azctte [ . THURSDAY, JANUARY.20',? Faculty, parents send year-round schools to board for OK during the intersession periods students throughout, the district The consultant also urged the BY CYNTHIA HOWELL ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE Faculty and parent leaders from three Little Rock elementary schools agreed Wednesday to an extended-year calendar for the coming year that would make Aug. 8 the first day of class and provide for quarterly breaks of two to three weeks. The proposed extended-year calendar planned for Woodruff. Mabelvale and the new Stephens elementary schools will now be submitted to the School Board for final approval. The board is expected to act on the alternative calendar, as well as on a regular 2000-2001 school-year calendar, at its Jan. 27 meeting. Both calendars provide for 173 student days for next year. The regular school year is slated to begin Aug. 21. Richard Alcorn, senior consultant for the National Association of Year-Round Education, said an extended-year calendar offers the opportunity for continuous leam- 'shorter summer breaks lessen the amount of review teachers have to provide their pupils. Alcorn said. And. the short breaks during the school year not only allow staff and pupils to take a breather but make it easier to offer timely remediation to low- achieving pupils. Alcorn is a former elementary school principal and district administrator of extended-year schools in San Diego. He worked Tuesday and Wednesday with campus leaders from the three Little Rock schools to establish the proposed calendar and begin planning for the intersession periods between the nine-week grading periods. Teachers in the extended-year schools would begin work Aug. 1 in preparation for the return of pupils Aug. 8. if the proposed calendar is adopted. The first break from regular classroom instruction, or the intersession period, would be Oct 9-20. During that intersession time, a school might offer one week of instruction and activities to pupils and one week of vacation, although some schools might decide to offer two weeks of academics at no cost to parents, Assistant Superintendent Frances Cawthon- Jones said. Pupils would not be required to attend classes during the intersession period but would be encouraged to do so. she said, especially if they are achieving below their grade levels. Teachers who work would be paid extra, but payment plans have not yet been determined. Next November, pupils at the Richard Alcorn, senior consultant for the National Association of Year-Round Education, said an extended-year calendar offers the opportunity for continuous learning. three affected schools would get the same teacher convention days and Thanksgiving holidays that all will get. Similarly, all district students will be out of school for the winter vacation, Dec. 18 through Jan. 1. Pupils at the three affected schools would have an intersession period Jan. 2-5. Spring break would be March 26-30 for all district students. An intercession period for Woodruff. is llabelvale and Stephens planned for April 2-6. The last school day of the year is scheduled to be June 15.2001. but a two-week intersession program would be developed for June 21-29. Alcorn encouraged educators to use a different approach to instruction during the intersession periods and to incorporate community activities, field trips, games, the arts, storytelling and more individual attention to pupils into the curriculum. planners to make every effort to communicate their ideas regularly and work with others at the school and in the community to prevent feelings of disgruntlement and ultimately rejection of the year- round calendar. Funding plans have not been finalized but Cawthon-Jones said the schools would likely pay for the intersession periods with their allotment of the district's traditional summer school funding and with their federal Title I funds for improving achievement in schools with large numbers of children from low-income families. Each of the three schools planning to use a year-round schedule has previously polled parents and faculty on the .concept and got more than 80 percent approval from both groups.
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