The Niles North and Niles West Parent Advisory Councils (PAC) are hosting a Town Hall Meeting Nov. 8 to discuss this year’s Annual Review of Programs (ARP). The Town Hall forum will be held at Niles North at 7:00 PM.
The ARP is designed “to ensure that curricular programs are aligned with the Board of Education’s mission statement and goals […] in a fiscally responsible manner” according to the document’s introduction. The ARP for the 2013-2014 school year was posted on the District’s website in late August. This is the District’s third year of conducting the review.
“We believe it is important for everyone – the Board members, our parents, our students, and teachers – to see the details of the new courses that the administration is recommending,” Anne Roloff, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, said in an email to all D219 teachers and support staff.
Proposals made in this year’s ARP range from large, overarching changes like altering the school year calendar to specific course tweaks such as removing the lab portion of Advanced Studio Art in order to increase enrollment.
“The course proposals have been open for public comment and discussion at department and building meetings, CSSI, feeder [school] PTA meetings, community meetings [and] the online survey,” Roloff said.
All comments made on the ARP will be taken into consideration by the Board before making the final decision on what to offer students during the 2013-2014 school year. The Board will vote to finalize the proposals detailed in the document at their board meeting on Dec. 17.
To view the complete ARP, click here. After reviewing the document, click here to leave feedback for the Board. You may also leave feedback in our comment section below.
Ben Marks • Nov 1, 2012 at 9:04 pm
I think the new school year schedule is good, and I like how summer school is being expanded to allow for the high level students to take extra classes. I like how math modeling is being added to Niles North, as I would have really liked to take this class.
However, there are several things that I disagree with in this proposal. One of these is considering removing the Level 5 status of Accounting. As a college student enrolled in Accounting 101, I can say that Mr. Kelley’s Financial Accounting class has taught at least 90% of what is covered in my current class, in addition to several topics that are not covered. It is certainly a college level class and, as such, should retain the Level 5 status.
Another problem that I have with this proposal is with the dramatic increase they expect to have in AP class enrollment. This is not a reasonable expectation, especially in the short time frame that they propose. Most high school students are not ready for college level classes while they are in high school. They are simply not at the level required for an accelerated class. Adding students who are not ready for AP classes would simply cause them to not do well in the class or on the test. Right now, the district has a fantastic rate of threes, fours, and fives on the tests. If there are students who are not ready in the class who take the test, the average scores would drop drastically. This is not something the district wants.
A final objection I have is to the growing standardization of IIC. For many students enrolled in an IIC, an IIC teacher is a great resource to help them with their classes. However, there are several students in there who do not benefit from such a structured environment and use the time to catch up on homework and meet with their teachers. The district is implementing new programs such as Star reading and Star math, where instead of trying to help students get their grades up and graduate, students in IIC are required to take standardized tests that most students and several teachers do not support.
While this proposal is significantly better than last year’s, it still needs some work. I’m sorry for such a long comment, but I felt that I needed to comment.
Steffie Drucker • Nov 1, 2012 at 9:19 pm
Don’t worry about the length of your comment! Thanks for taking the time to give your input.