Collaborative Time Early Dismissal Days

Davenport Community Schools will dismiss one hour early on each Wednesday during the 2005-06 school year to provide collaborative time for teachers.

1. Why do teachers need more time?  Research has shown the value of professional development and its direct correlation to student achievement and improved school climate.  Just as with other professions and organizations, teaching staff needs to work collectively on a regular basis to learn new instructional practices and strategies.  They also need a forum for discussing student issues and “best practices” – sharing what is working well in their classrooms and having an opportunity to provide on-going feedback on new programs, services, instructional materials, etc.  No Child Left Behind also instituted new standards regarding the use of scientific-based models for instructional practices and strategy.  These models require time for research, practice, assessment and adjustment. There’s also an increasing need for time to analyze and review student-specific data as it relates to instructional practices, student achievement and NCLB accountability targets
    

2. What are teachers going to do with this time?  Although this may vary by building based on grade level, student needs and even student demographics, schools will primarily use this collaborative time to focus on their individual school improvement plans, which are a subset of the district’s Comprehensive School Improvement Plan.  Teachers may work at grade level, subject level or even across grade and subject levels on a range of curricular and instructional issues.  This could mean focusing on the reading or math curriculum or discussing ways that reading and math concepts can be integrated into other classes like art and social studies.  Buildings could use the time to talk about their building environment and ways to help students feel more connected and supported in school.  Groups of teachers could review research or model teaching practices, getting feedback and suggestions.  The time will also likely be used to analyze specific student data – everything from ITED and ITBS scores to other assessments, grades, attendance and disciplinary referrals – to help building staff make better identify students problems and solutions.  Accountability for this time – measurable goals, progress reports, minutes from meetings, updates to parents on important achievement issues – is being built into the collaborative time schedules.  This is about teachers working and learning together how to best meet student needs.
    

3. Why an early dismissal instead of a late start?  The early dismissal schedule is already a successful model at a number of other schools in our district who are currently using it.   The early dismissal is an easier model to accommodate from a bus transportation standpoint and seemed to be preferred over a late start by parents.  The district feels a strong need to keep the measure of providing more collaborative time for teachers budget-neutral and therefore not add hours to the teacher day.  In past experience, an early dismissal is less disruptive to student routine than a late start.  In addition, a group of other local school districts (Bettendorf, Muscatine and Iowa City) have successfully used an early dismissal model in recent years.
    

4. Why all schools?    Teachers at all grade levels and buildings can benefit from additional time for working together on instructional strategies and solutions for meeting student needs.  Currently, schools representing all grade levels in our district participate in schedules that create more collaborative time (two high schools, one intermediate and five elementary schools).  Several more schools were requesting the early dismissal schedule for next school year.  This created a “critical mass” in terms of the complexity of the coordination of bus transportation and the 101 routes currently used to transport students.  The district felt compelled to minimize the significantly increased costs of providing additional bus routes/driver hours that would have resulted if not all 31 schools were on the same dismissal schedule.
    

5. Why one hour a week?  Why not another configuration once a month or every other week?  Schools need more than just two hours a month for this type of teaming; once a month doesn’t provide the same continuity between collaborative sessions.  Feedback from parents has also indicated that once a month is easier to forget or lose track of in comparison to a set weekly schedule.  The schools in the district who currently use this one hour per week model are also very supportive of this schedule, as are the parents at these buildings
    

6. Has the district considered options for providing building-based, supervised afterschool activities for students?  Yes.  The district is currently working with several community partners and organizations to provide increased access to afterschool programming across the district, particularly at our K-8 schools.  These programs would offer school-based supervised, quality learning activities on early out days and tie directly into the successful afterschool programs already in place at several of our buildings.   The district is exploring several alternatives for funding these programs – including a possible fee-based model that would offer “scholarship” support for low income families.

7. When will this decision be made?  Depending on Board approval, we are hoping the decision to go to an early dismissal for next school year will be made by April 4^th.  This would allow planning to begin for both district staff and parents while school is still in session this year, offering increased opportunities for communication and input.  Another advantage would be the ability to use end of year report cards and the summer-based registration process as additional opportunities for communication with parents.

TO SHARE YOUR COMMENTS ON THE EARLY DISMISSAL PROPOSAL, PLEASE CLICK HERE:  feedback@davenportschools.org

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE  CLICK HERE