Curriculum Change Considered

ROGERS SCHOOLS LOOK AT ADDING MORE ADVANCED CLASSES

By Caleb Fort

Posted: November 13, 2009 at 4:28 a.m.

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ROGERS — Students at Rogers high schools will have a diff erent choice of classes next year if the school board approves proposed changes to the curriculum.

The changes include eliminating some classes and changing the prerequisites and descriptions for others. School officials are also proposing adding some classes.

The board discussed the changes Thursday and will consider the changes at a meeting Tuesday.

Many of the changes are meant to make high school more rigorous, especially in math and science, said Phil Eickstaedt, executive director of secondary curriculum.

“We’re trying to give it less breadth and more depth,” Eickstaedt said.

The proposal includes eliminating introduction to genetics, zoology and ecology, and only offering astronomy and geology in alternative schools.

Board member Cathy Allen said it’s important for students to get a serious science education.

“We can’t shortchange them in high school just because science sounds kind of hard in high school,” she said.

The district also wants to encourage more students to take rigorous math and science classes such as Advanced Placement biology.

The proposal includes loosening prerequisites for several classes. For example, pre-AP Biology currently requires the students to receive a B in their previous science course. The proposal would change that to a recommendation.

“More students can be successful in these courses than we would imagine,” Eickstaedt said.

Many of the changes came from recommendations from the Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Sciences, part of a national effort to improve math and science education.

This is the first year Rogers has participated in the program, said Tommie Sue Anthony, president of the initiative.

The initiative is set to put up to $230,000 this year toward improving math and science education at Rogers High School and Heritage High School, she said. That money would go toward supplies, training and student and teacher incentives for students who do well on Advanced Placement tests, she said.

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