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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMemo 18-106 Q and A IB at Merivale HS.25June2018 MEMORANDUM Memo No. 18-106 TO: Trustees Student Trustees FROM: Jennifer Adams, Director of Education and Secretary of the Board DATE: June 25, 2018 RE: Questions and Answers - International Baccalaureate at Merivale High School The following is a summary of the key questions and responses with respect to the implementation of the IB program at Merivale High School. Attached to this message is more detailed information about the IB accreditation process. 1. What is the rationale for the staff recommendation for a non-semestered model over a semestered delivery model? Why couldn't the school run a split model? There are four primary reasons why a whole school non-semestered model is recommended: i. IB preference for concurrency of learning; ii. Program quality and equity of access to OCDSB IB programs; iii. Sense of school community and quality of course offerings; and iv. Cost of split program. IB preference for concurrency of learning - The IB program structure embraces concurrency of learning based on the belief that with "concurrent learning across disparate disciplines will come a richer, more interdisciplinary learning, whereby insights from different disciplines inform learning in a mutually enhancing way". This research article explains the issue in considerable detail. Concurrency of learning is more closely aligned to a non-semestered school year, where students take 8 courses all year, rather than 4 courses per semester. One might say the emphasis is on how students learn rather than how students manage tasks related to learning - concurrency focuses on learning over time and allowing students to draw connections in their learning which better prepares them for learning related tasks such as summatives and exams. ____________________________________________________________________________________1 Questions and Answers – International Baccalaureate at Merivale High School Staff has made a number of inquiries with the IB organization regarding the concurrency of learning, and whether non-semestered is a requirement. There are other Ontario schools offering IB in a semestered system. We understand that, unlike Colonel By, these sites are considered IB programs rather than IB schools; the number of IB course options is more limited and the number of school pathways and programs may be more limited than what is offered in our district. We have not been able to confirm that semestered program delivery would be a barrier to accreditation, but we are mindful that this program is not yet accredited and the IB organization has a preference for concurrency of learning. Program Quality and Equity of Access to programs - The reason for opening a second IB site was to improve equity of access to a high quality learning program for students across the District. A second IB site will allow more students to enrol in the program and will not require students to travel across the District. During consultation, the community was very clear that both IB sites had to offer programs of the same quality. Staff is concerned that differences in program delivery could lead to competition between programs and requests for transfers and would not result in equity of access. Sense of School Community and Quality of Course Offerings - For a school to be successful, it has to have a positive school climate and strong sense of community. Offering a permanent split delivery model risks creating a divisive school environment. The programming needs would be so different that the school could essentially have an OSSD staff team and an IB staff team; and school events and extra-curricular activities would be difficult to schedule. Most importantly, running a permanent split schedule essentially means running two small high schools in one building - this would adversely impact on the number of course offerings for all students. This would be in addition to running an intermediate program on the site. Cost - Running a split program eliminates the economy of scale of most operational decisions. This includes staff assignments, the need for teacher overlays, classroom allocation, the need for more portables, complexity of scheduling and communicating school information resulting in significant additional administrative work for school principals, vice-principals and school office administrators. 2. Is it possible to change the year at which the non-semestered program is implemented (i.e., option #3 as suggested by a parent)? It is possible to change the year of implementation to have the current grade 8 cohort change to a non-semestered model in grade 10 at the same time as the incoming grade 9s (September 2019). This was referenced in the staff memo. This option may be better for the current grade 8 cohort and would not force a change of delivery model for students in their grade 12 year. It would have an impact in that the last cohort of grade 12 students would still be "orphaned" requiring overlays and other supports, but it is a viable model. ____________________________________________________________________________________2 Questions and Answers – International Baccalaureate at Merivale High School 3. Could the current grade 8 cohort be offered a late cross boundary transfer option? We could look at late cross boundary transfer requests based on the final decision of the Board. This could be done on a case-by-case basis, looking at student learning needs. 4. How can we help students manage the anxiety of 8 classes and exams and summatives? In any model, teachers are always considering a number of factors as they design final evaluations for students and classes. Evidence of student learning is gathered and presented in a number of formats, and not all courses will be best served with a final exam. Further, teachers will continue to collaborate with one another to ensure the tasks students complete over the term offer sufficient feedback on learning to support student preparation for final evaluations. In any delivery model, students are provided with scaffolded support to ensure they are prepared to meet course expectations. The administration of the school will work closely with staff to develop a schedule for final evaluations that best meets the needs of our students on each pathway. A non-semestered school has 10 exam days in June, and students typically will have only one exam/final evaluation per day, as is the case in a semestered school. There are courses in which students will complete a single final evaluation (e.g. exam) and courses where students will complete one or more final evaluations between the term and exam period, which may vary in design (e.g., performance lab and exam). The school has layers of support already in place (Learning Support Teacher, Student Success Teacher) which will continue to provide monitoring and individualized support to students as needed. 5. How is running both a semestered and non-semestered secondary program (9-12) different from running a 7-12 school? Our current 7-12 schools are operating two programs; one elementary and one secondary. If we have separate delivery models at secondary for the Ontario program and the IB program, then we are essentially adding a third program, which almost acts like a third school. This would increase the administrative workload significantly at Merivale High School and would reduce potential course options and offerings for secondary students in either the OSSD or IB program. At Colonel By, students can be enrolled in either OSSD or IB courses and staff can be assigned to both types of courses. Students in the IB program must take a number of OSSD courses. If the OSSD students and the IB students were on separate schedules, then there are essentially two small schools operating in one building. ____________________________________________________________________________________3 Questions and Answers – International Baccalaureate at Merivale High School 6. Are teachers unable to manage teaching some semestered and some non semestered courses? It is possible, but only on a very limited basis and adds considerable complexity to the scheduling process. The most important issue in creating school schedules is the ability to meet student needs and minimize course conflicts. The more administrative complexity or barriers we impose on scheduling, the less able we are to accommodate student requests. A full time teacher has a course load of 6 classes which must be balanced over the year (usually 3 courses/semester or 6 courses/year). It may be possible to schedule a teacher into both non-semestered and semestered courses if they taught four non-semestered courses in one half of the day and two semestered courses in the other half of the day. However, the likelihood of aligning teacher qualifications, course selections, and scheduling would make this difficult to realize for more than a handful of teachers. 7. Can you help me understand how school events and extra-curricular activities would be adversely affected by having some students semestered and some not? If a school operated both semestered and non-semestered programs, the assessment and exam periods would be different. This puts students and staff on different reporting cycles. As a result, it becomes more challenging to schedule school events such as assemblies, celebrations, and other activities. In addition, student interaction would be limited to out of class activities. This can adversely impact extra-curriculars and the sense of school community. 8. Can you ballpark the incremental costs? Is there simply not enough space? What is the dollar value? From a financial perspective, the biggest risk factors for cost increase are staffing overlays and the need for additional classroom space. In addition to the risk of increasing teacher overlays, a number of staff may not be able to have a full-time teaching schedule within their qualifications (depending on number of students, teacher qualifications and student course selections). Every teacher overlay costs approximately $105,000 per FTE; the operating costs of an individual portable are not that significant, approximately $10,000. The largest cost is moving and installation where costs can range from $25 to $50,000 per move depending on the number of portables required. • Even if only 2 FTE and 2 portables were required, the additional operating cost would be approximately $230,000 per year. This incremental cost is manageable as a transition expense, but is not sustainable as a permanent delivery model. ____________________________________________________________________________________4 Questions and Answers – International Baccalaureate at Merivale High School 9. Is staff recommending desemestering all of our schools and if not why not? Will Semesterd or non-semestered be accepted as reason to transfer just as course offerings currently are? No, staff is making a recommendation for Merivale High School based on the offering of the OSSD (Ontario Curriculum) and IB programs. There are advantages and disadvantages to both semestered and non-semestered for the OSSD (Ontario Curriculum). However, IB values concurrency of learning which is more aligned with the non-semestered model. In addition, there is value in offering both IB programs in our District in the same way to avoid questions about program quality, consistency, equity. Our commitment is to offer two high quality IB programs in the District. Staff would be happy to answer any other questions at the meeting. ____________________________________________________________________________________5 Questions and Answers – International Baccalaureate at Merivale High School