Based on the unanimous support of the trimester schedule in the March 30 HSST vote, members of the Homestead faculty were recently given the opportunity to share their feedback about the possible schedule change.
From April 11-13, all faculty members scheduled to return to HHS in the 2011-2012 school year (faculty members who announced their retirement this year or who are teaching on a one-year contract were not allowed to vote) were given the chance to endorse or reject the trimester concept via a blind ballot.
Before casting their vote, faculty members were asked to consider their level of commitment to the schedule as a framework for teaching and learning as well as to the work necessary to bring it from concept to successfully-implemented reality. Further, they were asked to consider whether or not they believed a move from our current schedule to the trimester represented a step toward or away from meeting our school mission: to equip all students with transferrable skills, promote academic independence, foster social responsibility, and inspire a passion for learning.
The ballot distributed to faculty members contained the following language:
The trimester schedule at Homestead High School would be developed based on the following parameters/drivers:
- Students are required to enroll in at least four classes per trimester.
- Teachers teach four classes per trimester.
- Three-trimester courses are limited to preserve student choice, maintain financial neutrality, and manage class sizes; administrators determine the length of courses with input and feedback from instructors; music courses run for three trimesters.
- Flex time is included in the schedule; the frequency, length and timing of flex periods will be determined at a later date.
- Available hours beyond the DPI requirement of 1,137 are used to provide flex time in the schedule and to provide release time during final exams as available.
- As a rule and not an exception, teachers are expected to provide three unique interactions with content in a given period; at least one of those interactions must require class-wide verbal participation from students.
- Curricula are reviewed and revised prior to implementation of the trimester to ensure their viability in the trimester arrangement.
- Teachers collaborate with peers and administrators prior to implementation of the trimester to increase alignment of outcomes and expectations for courses taught by multiple teachers; alignment of curricula and course expectations is a requirement, not a suggestion or recommendation.
- Early release, faculty learning, and available MTAP and summer curriculum time in the summer of 2011, throughout the 2011-12 school year, and in the summer of 2012 are dedicated to curriculum, instruction and assessment review and revision.
I am committed to the trimester concept as outlined above and believe that the schedule should be implemented beginning in the 2012-2013 school year.
______ Yes
______ No
The results of the faculty feedback vote are as follows:
Committed to implementing the trimester schedule in 2012-2013: 66
Not committed to implementing the trimester schedule in 2012-2013: 7
So, just over 90% of all eligible faculty who chose to vote endorse a move to the trimester.
This information will be taken into consideration when Eric Dimmitt and I draft our report to the School Board that will be presented on May 16.
