The Santa Barbara Unified School District is exploring a new program that places honors and college preparatory students in the same classrooms, a move intended to be more inclusive of students’ capabilities and potential.
“We are in the midst of visioning a change to our courses in the secondary setting, which have traditionally been designated as honors or college prep courses,” said Shawn Carey, assistant superintendent of secondary education for the district.
In the past, students would decide whether to sign up for college preparatory classes or honors classes. Under the new plan, students would be in the same classrooms but remain on different rosters for the teacher to see. The teachers still would offer differentiated instruction to the students.
“A teacher can see, these are the students who signed up for honors, and these are the students who signed up for college prep,” Carey said.
Honors classes are typically for students who exceed the grade level, while college preparatory classes are generally for students at grade level or below.
It is not a science, however, and some parents advocate heavily for students to be in honors. Other students in college prep courses might be qualified for honors classes but for whatever reason did not sign up for those classes.
Carey said there will be different types of assignments within the four walls of each classroom. The idea is that there are students in college preparatory classes who might not have signed up for honors but are qualified to be in those honors classes. The new format, Carey said, would allow the teachers to assess whether a student should be moved into honors.
“Students who initially signed up for college prep, but appropriately should be receiving honors credit, would be able to make that switch,” Carey said. “We would not be demoting anyone who signed up for honors into college prep and taking that away from them.”
Carey said part of the change is because of system barriers in education.
“We see data that tells us that there are some systemic barriers to all students having appropriate and equitable access to learning that is rigorous and differentiated,” Carey said.
According to school district data, about 52% of students of color (not including Asian), were enrolled in advanced courses in high school. Including Asians, the number jumps to 86%. (The district breaks out its numbers to include Asians and non-Asians within students of color demographic.)
About 85% of white students are enrolled in advanced classes in high schools.
Carey said the district has seen an improvement in the achievement gap during the past few years, but that it has reached a plateau.
“For various reasons, students are selecting honors or they are selecting college prep,” Carey said.
Even though students and parents have the choice to take honors or college preparatory classes, students end up on a tract system that isn’t always in step with their skills abilities, she said.
“We have identified some inequity that breaks down along demographic lines,” Carey said.
She also noted that students in elementary school are all grouped together, but when they enter junior high school they have the opportunity to take courses that put them on separate tracts.
“We really believe that the tract system, where students are separated into different classes, is part of that barrier,” Carey said.
The program is in various stages of piloting at campuses, based on the school board’s direction to address systems of inequity. Beginning next fall, the program will be implemented in the junior high schools.
Board member Virginia Alvarez said the concept in theory sounds good because she, too, wants to create more opportunities. However, she wants to be “very cautious” and make sure that the change is going to have a positive result.
“The intent is noble. At the same time, we want to make sure what we are getting into is going to be successful,” Alvarez said.
The issue arose at an October board meeting, and Alvarez said she wants to see the topic return to the full board again for discussion.
She also wants a pilot program across the district, not just at one school, because every district has its own personality, and she wants to hear formally from teachers about the plan.
“My concern is that I personally do not feel there’s enough information to make a decision,” Alvarez. “I want to see the data broken down.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
