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Program Brings Fun To Schools

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By MARILYN BROWN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 6, 2008

TAMPA - Hillsborough County's schools are heading into a major change in the way reading and math are taught to more than 85,000 middle and high school students.

Starting in August, students will see more video clips, read more short passages and fewer books, play more games and combine drama and new media in their lessons.

More fun, more learning - who could resist?

Not Hillsborough County - the nation's eighth-largest school district, which has a majority of minority students with about half its 191,000 students coming from families poor enough to qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

The district is plunging headfirst, clutching more than $30 million in federal grant money, into a new program called EXCELerator, hoping it will push more students toward college.

"This is what we should have been doing already," said Eric Bergholm, the district's general director in charge of the program. "The top end teachers have already been doing it." The school board will receive an update today on the program.

Had Hillsborough waited to expand the program, it may have lost the $30 million in federal grant money to implant the program, Bergholm said.

The College Board, with 2007 annual sales of $485 million, boasts that its program offers the "rigor and high expectations" necessary to open college doors to students who would not have considered that an option.

For those already on a college track, it promises earlier preparation in middle schools.

And, for students who lag behind, themed units with interactivity replacing lectures is hoped to be enough to keep them in school.

If the program does all that, Hillsborough, the first in the nation to go districtwide with the program, will be the envy of every district in the nation. All face the same hurdle of students turning off to school.

Teachers Wary Of New Program

Hillsborough faces its own hurdle, however, in getting its 1,800 or so middle and high school English and math teachers on board to teach a new way by August. Four days of summer training are planned, but teachers are apprehensive.

"Most of my co-teachers are concerned and nervous," said Yvonne Meadows, an English teacher at Sickles High School. "Others are outright terrified."

In her 28th year of teaching, Meadows has hope for the program. She sees the need, even in her honors classes: "They've lost their ability to reason."

"I really love the concept," she said. But, "this is not a curriculum you can walk in and take over. It's a different approach to education."

EXCELerator has had a bumpy trial in four Hillsborough high schools this school year.

Veteran teachers had to substitute years of lesson plans and adhere to about 175 days of SpringBoard lessons at East Bay, Leto, Middleton and Plant City high schools. Teachers resented not being asked what they thought about switching to the program.

"In the beginning, we kept hearing, 'We need more training, we need more training,'" said Carl Green, principal at Middleton High School, where pushing many students to aim for college is a tough sell.

Although College Board doesn't require 175 days of SpringBoard lessons, the 16 teachers from the schools that piloted the program this year decided last summer to do that much anyway, Bergholm said.

"We were doing the full Monty," Bergholm said. "Then the teachers came back and said, 'This is too much.'"

For the coming year, Bergholm figures a maximum of 90 days of SpringBoard lessons will suffice. Teacher representatives will decide this summer.

EXCELerator repackaged reforms educators have said they were practicing for more than a decade: interactive, engaging activities that relate to students' lives, group projects, higher-order problem solving and online access to resources around the globe.

In English, students read more novels in depth. They learn about perspective by watching film clips from movies such as "Rear Window" and reading passages from literature.

And, they talk about the world in terms students understand.

"We had a whole debate on rap: Is it good for our country?" said Deborah Prill, a 25-year veteran English teacher at Leto High School who has embraced EXCELerator.

Prill and others said they figured out how to salvage their favorite lessons and agreed the prepared lessons can make planning easier for new teachers.

The difference in this program and the ones tried before is, "We're doing this one," said Sharon Morris, principal at East Bay High School. The advantage for teachers, she said, is, "It makes students responsible for their learning."

Bergholm stressed that, "Rigorous is not more work," but involves developing higher-order thinking and analyzing skills.

Lessons Can Be Fun, More Difficult

Students in SpringBoard classes at three schools said the lessons are fun. Some said they are harder, others said they are easier than traditional classes.

Group work is both good and bad, said Matt Ward, 16, a junior at Middleton High. "When you're focused, it's better - but you're more likely to get off task."

Matthew Hanson, 16, a sophomore at Leto High, said that where he really saw a difference was taking an advanced placement world history class. There are "a lot more notes, a lot more writing ... It's been pretty tough."

He's given up time "hanging out with my friends," he said, but, "They said it would be better for college."

In mid-February the Hillsborough School Board voted to expand the EXCELerator program to middle and high schools in 2008-09. Board members questioned whether the curriculum was too condensed and whether the methods would rob teachers of their creativity. Some board members continue to question that decision, and a workshop is planned to discuss the program.

Board member April Griffin, who had concerns in February but still voted to expand the program, said Monday that she is still hearing from worried teachers.

"With the emphasis on AP placement, what is happening in career and technical programs?" she asked. "I'm still undecided whether or not we are moving too fast."

Reporter Marilyn Brown can be reached at mbrown@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-8069.

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