Wednesday, July 14, 1999
Schools taking time-outs to help educators improve
BY MIRIAM SMITH
The Cincinnati Enquirer
DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP — Some Tristate teachers are taking a time-out this fall. Not from education, but to devote more time to becoming better educators.
Teachers often don't have the time to address the bigger curricular issues, local educators said. And increased standards and state mandates are putting more demands on them.
So administrators this fall at Kings Local Schools will release students an hour early on Wednesdays to participate in “structured time” to work on specific concerns, said Superintendent David Query.
“If we want teachers to have the opportunity to share with each other and have structured work done, there's no time to do that,” he said.
Administrators will be leading the weekly discussions, Mr. Query said.
“It will allow more communication and teamwork. It will allow sharing of ideas and materials. It will allow for more frequent assessment of student progress.”
Other area districts have similar in-service training.
Talawanda in Butler County has released students early on Wednesdays for 20 years so teachers can address specific curriculum concerns. Don Gloeckner, a sixth-grade math teacher at Talawanda Middle School, said teachers already devote much of their free time to students.
It helps that students are released about 40 minutes early on Wednesdays, when teachers are able to devote 11/2 hours to specific issues.
“A lot of teachers use their planning time and lunch time with students,” he said. “The work day is a stressful time, where a lot of times teachers don't sit down. Those times are needed just to get together and work on curriculum, set goals for the department, things like that.”
In Mason, high school students are released an hour early Wednesdays so teachers can participate in “prime time” professional development, said spokeswoman Shelly Benesh.
At Lakota, officials used to have an early release for staff development 11 times a year.
“We changed that because it got to the point where an hour wasn't long enough,” said spokesman Jon Weidlich.
This year, the district plans to either release children half a day earlier or start classes a half-day later four times for staff development sessions. The district had to receive a special variance from the state to do so, Mr. Weidlich said.
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