October 26, 2010 | Volume 23, Issue 2 Districts Realigned, p. 5
Budget cuts revive ‘Dick’sfamiliar Chicks’: The last generation, p. 4 3 Marching Band tunes, p.
Curriculum caught in legal limbo College credit for fourth year language courses at stake
As a result of a new interpretation of an Iowa educational standard, students’ opportunity to receive college credit for their work in college-level classes may cease to exist. The standard affecting foreign language curriculum here, is Iowa Chapter 12 General Education Standard 12.5(5). This standard states in section “H” that, “The foreign language program shall be a four-unit sequence of uninterrupted study in at least one language…” Four years of two foreign languages, French and Spanish, is offered here. The fourth years are worth college credit. The state will not acknowledge the fourth year as part of the four-unit sequence of uninterrupted study and will not de-
fine the offerings as complete because within a new interpretation of the standard, college credit courses are seen as an interruption to the four year sequence. Graduate Aaron “The rule is solely based upon the number of course offerings the district must have in Smith enters the regard to foreign language,” said curriculum political sphere, director Lowell Ernst, “Only one language is pp. 6-7 required to offer four consecutive years, but as defined by the state, college credit courses do not count as one of the four consecutive years. In order for a student to take a foreign language as a college credit course, five years would need to be offered. This would eliminate the chance for any current high school students to take a foreign language towards college credit and cause future seventh grade classes to make a large decision.” During March, Ernst learned that the curriculum here was not in compliance with the standard’s requirements. This discovery was made while Ernst was shadowing a state site visit, a process where state officials assess all aspects of a school district to make sure schools are reaching and complying with Iowa educ a t i o n a l standards. The school being evaluated had a similar foreign language curriculum and was cited as out of compliance with the standard. If a school is found to be out of compliance in any areas, plans must be made to correct the error before the next school year begins. If a school fails to change the error, state accreditation may be revoked, and the school would cease to exist. This standard holds new importance in relation to foreign language curriculum “The law is out of touch with reality because [the students] have worked because the school will be undergoing a state site visit so hard to be able to succeed at a college credit level. Whenever people from this February. DMACC come and look at my curriculum, it is actually harder than what Upon return, Ernst notified other administrators of the situation they would do at the college level.” and began work to decide what action •College Spanish teacher Gretchen Klein. would be taken to prepare for the upcom-
ing evaluation. After discussion, administrators felt that the new interpretation did not improve children’s educational opportunities compared to the current curriculum. If the school was to fully comply with the standard, college credit courses would no longer be available for students who begin foreign language courses in high school. This change would begin affecting students next year. The students currently taking college foreign language courses will receive the college credit offered by the course. “We feel that this law takes a valuable opportunity away from our students. We also do not see it [the current course offerings] as taking away any opportunity from our current students. We do not disadvantage any students by what we are currently doing,” said Ernst. In efforts to retain the current curriculum, Ernst and Superintendent Mark Wittmer have contacted numerous legislators. Senator Paul McKinley listened to their concerns and has begun work to draft new language of the standard. “I am so impressed with the Pella education system, and if students work hard and [the school ] offers the kind of rigor where you have and you [students] are learning at aGaiser college •Photo by Marielle level, you should be able to go to college and that should be treated like college level,” said McKinley. “We are trying to work legislatively that if you have that rigor, if you meet the requirements of a college level course then you should get college credit for that [during the fourth year]… The teacher is there. The teacher is paid for, so it is great for students to have that level of rigor. You should receive credit for that [college level work] as well,” he said. The earliest the proposed legislature would be debated is January 2011. A bill would be drafted then be assigned to the education committee. Before reaching the House or Senate, the bill would need the endorsement of the Iowa State Education Association, Iowa School Board Association, School Administrators of Iowa and the Department of Education. If passed, the bill would continue on to the governor for signing. The earliest this piece of legislature would affect students is the beginning of the 2012 school year. •Jessica Salpor (js.pelladium@gmail.com)
District hopes for reduced paper usage, lacks benchmarks Every tree is equivalent to 24 reams of paper, while a single ream includes about 500 individual sheets. With an average use of 4,232,846 sheets per year by the district, approximately 353 trees are sacrificed each year for hall posters, locker signs and rubrics. In a hope to not only cut down on paper and printing costs, but to also create a “greener” school environment, a 25% paper reduction has been implemented for the current school year. As the first two months have come and gone, the question still stands: is the district on track to meet its goal? An idea first imagined by the administrative team, which includes the principals, curriculum director, board
secretary and superintendent, a 25% reduction of paper usage was just one of many possible cuts for the following year. Caught in a 10% across-the-board situation, the school board readily agreed to this alternative as a means to save money without cutting positions. As a result, the number of printers around the district decreased drastically, with those removed either being redistributed around the district or stored for later use, though none have been resold to bring in a profit. In the high school alone, the number of printers went from 31 to 15. The middle school now only consists of three printers for all students and staff. With such a large number of printers
being eliminated, it would be assumed that the district is dramatically decreasing its paper usage as well. “I haven’t monitored our paper use this year. I think I may just check it now and then for curiosity, but the main purpose of this reduction was just to reinforce the teachers’ willingness to educate in other ways,” said Principal Eric Nelson. Of the three principals interviewed in regards to the reduction of paper, not one has actually used the available technology to establish how much paper their school has been using so far this year. While their established goal will require the district to eliminate about 2000 reams of paper by the end of the
year, as of now, no particular person seems to be in charge of maintaining a constant collection of data over how much paper is used each week or if this amount is below or above average as compared to last year. While Superintendent Mark Wittmer maintains that their goal is not adjustable, and that a monthly printout will be used eventually to determine individual monitoring, the time when all schools will be updated to this monitoring system has not been determined. Wittmer believes that achieving the 25% reduction will be undoubtedly doable, though no benchmarks have been set into place. See: Paper, p. 2