Schools trying redesign inspire calls for more
Encouraged by positive feedback from schools under redesign programs, the state Board of Education now wants to know how much it would cost taxpayers to fund similar curriculum changes eventually in all schools.
Principals from middle and high schools involved in grant-funded redesigns say they have been able to try new approaches to teaching that have improved relationships between teachers, students and parents and helped bring up test scores.
At Moanalua Middle School, for example, some of the changes included having students present their work to parents and creating teams of teachers and students who stay together from seventh to eighth grades, Principal Caroline Wong said yesterday at a BOE committee meeting.
"It has made a huge difference on how we are connecting to parents, because they get to know the teachers," she said. "It really does work ... and we want it to be implemented in every school."
Wong said that in October, 99 percent of parents showed up for the presentations by 860 students who put together portfolios. She believes this and other services set up at Moanalua through the redesign might have contributed to some students showing a 15 percent gain in math proficiency this year over 2005.
Roosevelt High School Principal Dennis Hokama told board members that the redesigns are an opportunity for schools to incorporate best practices in their curriculums, but he noted that more money will be needed to train teachers and staff and pay for support services, especially after grants expire.
"Unfortunately, when we look at the DOE (Department of Education's) operating budget, oftentimes we are looking at what is required to provide the standard operations today, which really doesn't meet doing what we need to do for most our students who are not proficient," he said.
Board member Maggie Cox of Kauai said schools need to put together individual budgets specifying how much money they would need to implement similar changes.
"The question is not whether it's working," she said of the redesigns. "The question is, What is the cost of these things?"
Cox said a recently created Hawaii High School Leadership Compact, which helps principals promote redesigns, could be used to identify services that schools need, as well as their costs.