The Summer Learning program is underway at Hayes High School, and Principal Dr. Ric Stranges has high hopes for it as the result of the school’s new standards-based grading system.
Stranges said the program is free to students to improve their grades over the next five weeks. He added because of the school’s new standards-based learning system, which emphasizes mastery over a set of skills, Summer Learning is more about improving specific things instead of redoing an entire class.
“It’s a better use of time for them,” Stranges said. “It’s definitely more personalized. (In the past) they had to do the whole year in five weeks. … We haven’t had success with that. It’s not doable or achievable. This, when you hone in on what skills that they need or what they didn’t master makes it all doable and achievable.”
Stranges said learning is hybrid with lessons taking place either in person or online, but all assessments must be completed in person. Stranges said students who passed a class can also enroll in Summer Learning to improve their grades further.
Math teacher Sam Jaffee said Thursday that he prefers Summer Learning to the previous summer school system because it’s easier to help students improve.
“It’s very individualized,” Jaffee said. “It’s not just me at the front reteaching literally everything. If this student struggled on these two units, just work on those two while this student struggled on two different units and they can work on those ones. In years past you had to sit through a lot of stuff you’d already done, and students would think,‘I’m just wasting time right now.’… The path is a lot easier to see.”
Stranges said since the grades are now based on standard assessments, not a variety of assignments, it’s easier for a teacher, their students, and the students’ parents to get on the same page with what needs to change to improve the grade.
“When it’s standards based, it makes it much easier to grow the student because we know exactly what they need to know,” Stranges said. “It adds clarity and transparency to see exactly what (the student) needs to do. You understand as a parent, the student understands what to do, and the teacher understands so all three of those entities are speaking the same language.”
Stranges said the school continues to see positive changes after adopting the new grading scale in more programs at the school.
“Making it more personalized helps all kids grow,” Stranges said. “What this group has done has never been done at the school before. It’s working. This will change our school. It’s the right thing to do for kids. I’ll never teach the old way again. Summer is an opportunity to not only recover but to improve their grade. Nobody is doing that.”
Stranges said earlier this year that the school plans to roll out its mastery-based grading system to freshman and sophomore classes when the 2023-2024 school year begins in August.
Glenn Battishill can be reached at 740-413-0903 or on Twitter @BattishillDG.
