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Board Schedules Time to Support Learning and Teaching

March 31, 2009 - In its meeting today, the Board of Education approved the 2009-10 bell schedule including a change for the use of time to support learning and teaching, developing techniques for strengthening and enriching students’ skills

The new school schedule adds 10 minutes to the school day and provides one hour early dismissal on Wednesdays. On six of those Wednesdays, school will release 2.5 hours early.

This will provide time for teachers to meet for an hour on Wednesdays in professional learning communities, or learning teams. In these teams, teachers meet across grade level or subject area to review instruction and look at ways to better meet the needs of individual students. Schools will continue to use the six 2.5 hour sessions for schoolwide faculty professional development.

The schools that have the earliest start times have added the additional ten minutes at the end of the school day. The schools with the latest start times have added the additional ten minutes at the start of the school day. You can check the bell schedule here to see school bell schedules for 2009-10.

The board established the six 2.5 hour sessions as common early release days. The school system had been providing four early release days for schoolwide faculty professional development.

School administrators and representatives of the Time Committee say the changes will provide the desired status of:

• Common understanding and expectations for professional learning teams;
• Consistent, structured time for all WCPSS K-12 educators;
• All staff participating in professional learning teams; and
• Community understanding of the value of the learning teams’ work.

Representatives of the 40-member Time committee that includes school administrators, principals, teachers and parents told the school board’s Student Achievement Committee that they’ve been studying the issue for two years as schools have worked individually to figure out ways to create time for teacher learning teams to meet. Schools are at different stages in putting learning teams to use across grade levels and across subject areas.

The Time committee representatives recommended the school system provide a more uniform system that provided all schools the time for learning teams to work.

Superintendent Burns said learning teams will allow educators the time to collaborate that will help the school system improve student academic performance. He said the school system has already been studying the implementation of learning teams and will continue to look at ways to use learning teams effectively.

Time committee members said the drivers for their recommendation were the Board of Education goal for all students to graduate from high school; the need to provide time for collaboration; the need to increase student achievement; the opportunity to close academic achievement gaps among groups of students; the chance to provide job embedded professional development; and the need to provide equal opportunity for all teachers to participate in learning teams to help students achieve.

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