Innovation Model brings changes, advancements
While OSD officially became a District of Innovation last year, some of the major changes are still to come.
One major change that takes effect next year is the district’s decision to transition from Mac- book computers to iPads.
“The biggest part of it is that we have the ability through iPads to meet the needs of more of our students in the district,” Assistant Superintendent Bradley Roberson said. “We will be able to provide iPads for students in grades three through 12, instead of computers in seven through 12. The students in those early grades obviously won’t take them home, but access daily is an opportunity they will have.”
According to Roberson, switching to iPads allows teachers and students to transform, be more creative with and experience learning in a different way that may take some people out of their comfort zones while also reducing the time that a student may be without a device due to updates or repairs since Apple handles iPad repairs in a different manner than computers.
“Right now, when something happens with your computer, you have to turn in the computer. You’ll have to get a loaner, if there are enough loaners to give. It may take a few days, and then, you are without a device,” Roberson said. “That process would be so much simpler with iPads. If you break your iPad, because of the way that Apple handles iPad repairs, we would just give you another one, and we send that one off. So, there is no true lag time to where you would be without a device. When a student is without their device, it can easily hinder their education because we rely on them a lot in our school district.”
However, a big question has been whether or not accessories would be provided in order to enhance and make sure the students have the tools they need to effectively use an iPad for school. While both Superintendent Brian Harvey and Roberson agreed that secondary students need the ability to type, Harvey and Roberson differed on their answers to what accessories would be provided. Harvey said that nothing had been finalized while Roberson was positive that cases with key- boards would be provided.
“Right now, our plan is to make sure that you have a case that has a keyboard with it, so you will be able to type,” Roberson said. “We’ve toyed around with the idea of having the Apple Pencils and things, but we, obviously, fear students constantly losing them.”
MacBook computers have been given to students for six years, so many students haven’t experienced learning without the assistance of a laptop.
“It will be a hard adjustment, but I think it’s a great idea to switch to iPads. There are many different applications on iPads that we can use to learn and study, and they will keep our backpacks from being heavy like they are now,” junior Caroline McCready said. “I’m eager to see how different using an iPad will be compared to a laptop. It may take me longer to complete projects, notes, and assignments on an iPad, but I’m sure I will get used to it fast.”
Another major change would come in the form of a completely modified calendar. According to Roberson, the details are still in discussion and won’t go into effect until at least the 2021-2022 school year. However, a modified calendar doesn’t necessarily mean year-round school like many think and provides benefits.
“We’re just dividing up the 180 days differently. You go a nine-week period; you, maybe, take a week or two break. You go another nine-week period,” Har- vey said. “Then, you use that time for the students to remediate, for those students that need help, rather than having a traditional summer school. Those students don’t get as far behind to begin with, and then, they have an opportunity to make up and get caught up before they actually fail.”
The decision has also been made to switch from the traditional grading scale to a standard based grading scale. While the high school will not be experiencing this change until the 2021- 2022 school year, the lower levels will begin using this scale next school year. Standard based grad- ing awards the student a score of zero through four, including halves, all depending on whether that student has shown that they have mastered that subject or skill.
“You wouldn’t see a home- work assignment. You wouldn’t see an extra credit assignment or a test grade. All of that is tracked by the teacher in the classroom, but then, eventually, they have to go and read that standard and say ‘Has the student mastered this standard?’ They have all of the evidence laid out in front of them to say whether or not you have mastered that standard, and at that point, they give you a zero, one, two, three or four,” Roberson said. “Teachers have to be able to justify the standard; they have to have the evidence to be able to justify whether or not you have mastered the standard or not. You are assessing the students all of the time. It is a formative process, not a summative process like now.”
Since high school students have to think about GPA and how AP classes will affect their GPA, a process is being made and will be used to transfer final grades back to a 100 point scale for the sake of calculating these things at the secondary level.
“We’re in the process of interpolating a scale. Once you get all of the scores for your standards, we take a vertical average of those standards, and you will have an average in between zero and four. Then, we interpolate that back to a 100 point scale,” Roberson said. “Those practices will be happen- ing in the classroom, but when you get your report card, you will get 100 point scale scores. It won’t be that different in the long run; it is really about the practices in the classroom that’s affected at the secondary level. It’s a new way of thinking about teaching and then learning and how we assess students.”
Standard based grading al- lows the students to have a better understanding of the information rather than just memorizing the information in order to do good on an assessment. According to sophomore Gracie Burkes, she has already experienced standard based grading in some of her classes, and it has been beneficial.
“I think that changing the grading scale to standard based grading has helped many students, including myself exponentially,” Burkes said. “It has created a curve in the grading that I wouldn’t have had before, and it has helped my grades in a positive way.”
According to Roberson, everything that has been done and will be done is in the best interest of the students.
“One thing I love about work- ing in this district and being a part of this community is that we have never settled for the status quo. We truly treat education as a liv- ing, breathing organism,” Roberson said. “We’re looking to grow, and to grow, a lot of times, takes change, and change isn’t easy. You have to do your research. You have to involve your stakeholders within the community to make sure that we are making the best decisions for the Oxford community as a whole.”