Schools trying some new techniques

Friday, Aug. 15, 2003 | 4:34 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION: August 17, 2003

When the new Liberty High School opens its doors Aug. 25, it will have high-tech computers, the newest software and the latest textbooks.

The school will also have students in uniforms, mandatory Latin classes and the chance to learn the basics of Greco-Roman athletics -- elements that won't be found at any of the district's other 30 high schools.

And Liberty is not the only Clark County school that is trying something different.

At Cheyenne High School, ninth graders at risk of failing mathematics and English will be be sent to single-sex classrooms, a plan based on research showing low-achieving students often improve when the boys and girls are separated.

And at Walker International Elementary School, where nearly every student comes from a home where English is the only language, all kindergarten and first grade students will spend half the day being taught in Spanish.

These are all examples of educational theories being put to the test in the Clark County School District. Just don't call them experiments.

"The word 'experiment' suggests students are somehow lab rats and that's absolutely not the case," said Agustin Orci, deputy superintendent of instruction for the district. "What we're doing is encouraging our teachers to try different techniques and approaches. That's how we all figure out what works and what doesn't."

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires schools to show "adequate yearly improvement" by all students, including subgroups broken down by ethnicity, gender, special education and non-native English speakers. That's putting new pressure on educators to make strides -- and make them quickly.

There are two basic routes for testing new theories -- either through a magnet program, where students are culled from regular classrooms to take part, or by instituting school-wide initiatives that apply to everyone.

For the most part, any initiative that would be mandatory for all students at a school must be approved in advance by the Clark County School Board.

"I support these kinds of innovations but I also support the idea of choice," said School Board President Sheila Moulton. "Some of these things should be a question for the parents to decide, not the school."

Five Henderson elementary schools are taking part in a pilot study, approved by the School Board, making student uniforms mandatory. But at Liberty students will only be "strongly encouraged" to forgo blue jeans in favor of khakis, and to wear shirts in the school's colors of red, white and navy blue.

At Cheyenne, Principal Ronan Matthew said he's prepared to transfer students to regular classrooms if their parents demand it. But he hopes most of the students will stay in the pilot program for the next two years, giving him a chance to track their standardized test scores.

"We're not the lowest-scoring in the district, but we're not the highest, either," Matthew said. "Every year we come up with the plan and it's always pretty much the same. This time I thought we should do something drastically different instead of just doing what we've always done and not getting results."

Standards still same

Regardless of the techniques or instructional methods being used in a particular classroom, all of the district's schools must meet the curriculum standards required by the Nevada Department of Education, Orci said. And all schools are measured using the same criteria -- test scores and overall achievement, he said.

To earn a diploma at Liberty, students will need to pass the same proficiency tests, and have the same minimum number of credits, as their peers at the new Shadow Ridge High School, opening in the district's northwest region.

What will differ, educators agree, is how that required material is taught.

Liberty teachers will follow the "Paideia method," a system developed in the early 1980s by educator Mortimer Adler to encourage a return to classical education.

Now being used at more than 100 schools in the United States, the system is based on direct instruction, intellectual coaching and frequent student seminars, according to the National Paideia Center.

The goal of the seminars is to have teachers act as facilitators, leaving the discussion up to the students, said Theresa Smith, a retired district principal who is serving as Liberty's Paideia consultant.

To launch the discussion, the teacher chooses a short text, such as a poem or story. The seminar is divided into three sections: identifying the main ideas of the text, analyzing the details and applying the ideas.

"At first it's going to be a struggle, because our students are used to looking for the right answer," said Smith who, along with members of Liberty's staff, visited the National Paideia Center in North Carolina for training. "This isn't about right or wrong answers, it's about having students take an active role in their own learning."

While districts across the country offer classical education magnet programs -- where students apply to participate -- Liberty appears to be the nation's only public high school that will require all students take part.

"Unfortunately some people see the classical education model as elitist, because usually only a select few get the opportunity," said Edward Goldman, superintendent of the district's southeast region, which includes Liberty. "With a new high school we can put those expectations in place from day one and show that every student can benefit."

So far fewer than a dozen students that would otherwise be enrolled at Liberty have requested zone variances to other high schools, and none of those cited either the standard school attire policy or the classical education theme as reasons, Goldman said.

Goldman said he's had more calls from parents and students inquiring about attending Liberty than complaints.

When Buddy Radke heard about Liberty, he immediately began investigating whether he could transfer from Chaparral High School and spend his junior and senior years at the new school instead.

"There's nowhere else you can take Latin, and that's something that can help you learn other languages later on," Radke said. "I'm actually really excited for school to start. I want to see how this all comes together."

He'll be joined on the first day by his sister, Brandy, who was supposed to be a sophomore at Chaparral. The two will commute 30 minutes each way -- twice the time it took them to travel to school last year.

"It's going to be worth it," Brandy said. "Some of my friends thought I was crazy when they heard about the Latin and the uniforms, but I don't want to have to worry about what to wear every morning."

Both Brandy and Buddy believe the dress code, while not mandatory, will catch on.

"This is going to be different than the rest of the schools, and that's what makes it fun," Brandy said. "The uniforms, the classical education classes, it's all unique."

Under the microscope

Robert McCord, assistant professor of educational leadership at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said of all the new programs coming to the district this year, Liberty is the one most people will be watching.

"They have a real challenge in front of them," said McCord, a former district principal. "No one's really tried the classical model on this kind of scale, so it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out.

"Having a theme, a standout strength you're particularly proud of, that's what can turn a school into a community. Ultimately, the programs are built around people, and as a principal you have to nurture the teachers if you want to encourage those programs."

Another factor, McCord said, is Clark County's size. With more than 265,000 students expected this year, it's the nation's sixth-largest school district.

"In smaller districts, they just don't have the critical mass for these kinds of experiments," McCord said. "Clark County is big enough, and diverse enough, that there are plenty of chances to try out a new program and decide if there's enough interest to support it."

Two examples of initiatives that worked are Silverado High School's environmental sciences program and Las Vegas Academy, McCord said.

Silverado's program grew from a single science class to a program that's won national recognition and is considered a model for the rest of the country, McCord said. And when educators first suggested a magnet high school for the performing arts, there were plenty who thought it would never get off the ground, he said.

"Now it's a (U.S. Department of Education) Blue Ribbon school with a waiting list," McCord said.

There should be more cases of "educational kleptomania" in Clark County, where teachers take someone else's successful formula and replicate it in their own classroom, he said.

"There are times when I visit a classroom and just think to myself, 'My goodness, this is really good stuff,' ' McCord said. "We should all be looking over the shoulders of teachers like that."

Since the reorganization of the district into five regions, administrators appear to be doing a better job of spreading the word when they come across a program that's working particularly well, McCord said.

At the same time, administrators need to be willing to pull the plug on programs that fall short of goals, he said.

"There's a time to say, 'Good try, but this isn't quite what we hoped for," McCord said. "Not every attempt is going to be a home run."

Whether its purchasing a single CD-Rom of a new software program to help children learn to read or hiring a consultant to show teachers a better way of teaching math, testing educational theories can cost money.

In some cases, the district picks up the tab for new initiatives. All new schools are allocated money for teacher training, for example. Liberty used its portion of that money to pay for the trip to the Paideia Center, Goldman said.

Schools also regularly apply for grants to cover expenses, either at the local or national level. The Clark County Public Education Foundation, a private nonprofit organization, awarded more than $50,000 in grants last year, said spokeswoman JoAnn Kittrell.

Improved skills

Cunningham Elementary School received $1,541 for a project pairing kindergarten students with fourth graders for a series of academic projects. At the end of the year, the kindergarten students had improved in recognizing letters of the alphabet and counting, while the fourth graders had improved their communication skills, Kittrell said.

At Mojave High School, teachers realized some students were missing extracurricular activities and tutoring sessions because they relied on the school bus for transportation -- a problem common at many district campuses.

A $5,000, two-year grant from the foundation has helped pay for bus tokens, allowing more students to take part in everything from football to the chess club. There's also been improved attendance and a better overall attitude toward learning, said Mojave Principal Andre Denson.

"We have more kids getting involved in clubs and activities. That's definitely been a plus for the overall school environment," Denson said. "From an academic standpoint we're hoping the big jump in students coming to tutorials will mean better grades and test scores."

Kittrell was not surprised to hear of Mojave's success.

"These are projects that are having a direct, positive effect on our students. The range of creative thinking going on out there is amazing."