The Teacher Advisor

At Bishop Carroll High School, there are no classes, no bells, no semesters, no master schedule to which students and teacher must respond. In short, students make every decision that affects their progress through course objectives, including where to work, with whom to work, when to test, how long to take before moving on, etc. In order for students to experience success, they must exercise a considerable amount of responsibility.

However, students are not alone in their studies at Bishop Carroll. As educators we are responsible for extending every effort to support and facilitate each student’s learning. This responsibility falls firstly on the shoulders of the teacher advisor at Bishop Carroll.

Every student at Bishop Carroll is assigned a teacher advisor who remains with him or her throughout their entire high school career. The teacher advisor works individually with the student to construct an academic plan which reflects the unique needs and interests of each student. The teacher advisor must be knowledgeable of all facets of the student’s life in order to help facilitate such a plan.

Teacher advisors are given considerable time in their regularly scheduled day to fulfil their role. Teachers, on average, spend about one and one-half hours in their individual offices meeting with their advisees. These meetings are used to monitor progress, set goals, confer with parents, consult counsellors and set up meetings with subject areas in an effort to facilitate student progress. 

 

Independent Study

Dr. J. Lloyd Trump is credited with the simple wisdom that independent study is what students do when the teacher stops talking. It is this simple wisdom that guides the program delivery at Bishop Carroll.

Learning is an active process that occurs when students think and do for themselves. By making the students ultimately accountable for their learning, the students remain the active constructors of their knowledge rather than passive recipients of some other’s knowledge. 

Contrary to popular belief, however, independent study at Bishop Carroll does not mean study apart from direction by adults. Teacher advisors, subject area specialists and instructional assistants all contribute their expertise to facilitate and support Bishop Carroll students in their journey towards a high school diploma. This contribution is provided in a number of ways:

1. Teacher-advisors take an active role in the goal setting and monitoring of student progress. In getting to know their advisees’ needs, interests and academic and personal history, the teacher advisor becomes a student advocate. As the student’s advocate, the teacher advisor is actively involved with subject areas, administration and parents in helping the student find the resources he or she needs to be successful. 

2. Subject area specialists develop learning guides which are the first level of engagement between students and the content of the subject areas. Learning guides lay out suggested learning activities in which students may become involved in order to meet course objectives. These learning activities use a wide range of media. Many learning guides suggest several options that students may choose from or may allow the student to meet with a subject area specialist to negotiate an activity which will meet the objectives. Students are evaluated on their ability to exhibit mastery of objectives and not on their progress after a pre-set time. The subject area specialist not only acts as an architect for learning guides but also as a resource for students to utilize if they require assistance in meeting objectives. 

3. Instructional assistants are non-certified personnel (see Differentiated Staffing) who possess expertise and training in a subject area field. They offer one-to-one assistance to students in their area of expertise. All subject specific human and material resources reside in large resource centres. Students who require assistance from an instructional assistant receive it in a subject area resource centre. 

The ultimate goal of independent study is to foster a sense of ownership in knowledge gained. If successful, a student learns a valuable lesson which is difficult to convey in a teacher controlled environment. That is, the student learns how to learn. Bishop Carroll students learn how to use resources that are available to them in meeting their needs.

It is hoped that the Bishop Carroll experience will lead the student towards life-long learning. At the very least, the Bishop Carroll graduate can receive their high school diploma after three years with a sense of personal accomplishment. 

 

 

Individualized Scheduling

Individualized scheduling at Bishop Carroll is quite different than the flexible scheduling of the traditional school environment. There are many cases of schools allowing a student, usually talented students, to “buy” time out of a scheduled class to pursue projects of interest. Other schools set periods of various lengths that occur in semesters or quarters or trimesters, each of which offers its unique opportunities to students and teachers as they build their schedules. The common denominator to any of these approaches is the master schedule, set by administration. However, teachers and students must adhere to this master schedule while attempting to design a personal schedule which is suited to their unique needs.

At Bishop Carroll there is no master schedule. Instead the teacher advisors and students, in consultation with the parents, design a schedule that meets the student’s unique interests and needs. In essence, this means that there exists not one master schedule but 1150 schedules, one for each student at Bishop Carroll.

The individualized schedule is extremely fluid in nature. Students’ needs change as they become engaged in learning activities and their schedules must change to meet these needs. However, changes in schedules are not at the sole discretion of the student. The teacher advisor is consulted every step of the way insuring that the student remains accountable for the goals that are set to meet course objectives.

The flexibility of individualized scheduling allows the student to pursue learning opportunities off campus. Mentoring programs with the university or workplace, co-operative education and field trips can all occur without the threat of a student missing “that important class” or “that scheduled test”. Individualized scheduling necessitates student choice and decision making process and is there to keep the students accountable for the choices that they make.

There are many students who choose to attend Bishop Carroll because of the flexibility of individualized scheduling. Elite athletes, students living independently, students with medical concerns and students involved in high level artistic ventures are often attracted to Bishop Carroll because their involvement out of school would lessen their chances of success in a school with a set schedule. The teacher advisor of these students is charged with the responsibility of helping them balance their out-of school commitments with in-school expectations to facilitate a successful realization of all of their goals.

The most significant gain in individualized scheduling is that it enables pupils and teachers to relate to each other when there is reason. When pupils plan their interactions with human resources the probability is that the student-teacher interaction is purposeful and, most importantly, initiated by the student. Individualized control of their learning keeps them accountable for their learning. However, the input of the teacher advisor in the construction of the schedule gives the student the security that the process is overseen by someone who really cares. 

 

Continous Progress

Traditionally, time and course credits are inextricably linked. The Carnegie unit established the parameters for completion of objectives in course work including the time of study. It is response to the Carnegie unit that precipitates master schedules and other time structures in traditional schools. At Bishop Carroll the Carnegie unit has no meaning. Students are given the freedom to approach their learning activities giving full consideration for their unique needs and talents. It is recognized that no two students will take the same amount of time to complete their course objectives.

Independent study and individualized instruction are strengthened through continuous progress. Simply put, continuous progress insures that students have open access to all learning activities at any time throughout their high school career. Although the student is faced with an expectation to complete their high school diploma within a three year period, the students are free, with the guidance of their teacher advisors, to plan a program of studies that meets their needs.

Continuous progress has a profound impact on the structure and organization of programs in the various subject areas. All learning activities must be available at any time. This means that if there are compulsory group meetings to meet course objectives these meetings must be offered on a rotating basis throughout the school calendar. In doing so, students are able to start and finish courses at any time.

Beyond respecting the individual needs of students, there are many benefits to a continuous progress approach to curriculum delivery. Firstly, continuous progress insures that students remain in constant contact with all areas of study throughout their high school career. There is power in learning the connectedness of the various disciplines. Semester approaches to scheduling detract from the students’ abilities to discover connections in their programs of studies. Teacher advisors work with their students to plan progress through all of their course at all times.

Continuous progress also allows students to take the time which they need to master course objectives. Students at Bishop Carroll are not waiting for a teacher to finish teaching an objective that they may have already mastered nor are they being tested on an objective for which they are not prepared. Although expectations for completion of objectives are laid out by the teacher advisor, these expectations are communicated with the full knowledge of the students’ entire academic and personal profiles. Through a continuous progress approach to course objectives students get a true sense of their own strengths and weaknesses and are given the power to plan their programs with these in mind.

Continuous progress also enhances the purposeful interaction between student and teacher. If students are not mandated to react to time constraints that are imposed by the school (classes, semesters, etc.) then students will approach resources with a sense of purpose and a personal goal.As an alternative to equating time with credit, continuous progress equates progress through course objectives with credit. Continuous progress removes chronological barriers and places students, instead, in a sequence of learning activities that remains in the control of the learner. Students gain a sense of accomplishment by mastering objectives and not from “putting in time”.

 

 

Differentiated Staffing

One of the major objectives of the Model Schools Project was to professionalize the teaching role. In an effort to meet this objective, Bishop Carroll’s human resources are designed with a philosophy of differentiated staffing. A school of 1150 pupils gains our school (by District policies) a right to approximately 52 full-time certified teachers. Only a portion of these available positions have been filled with certified staff (49 at the time of writing). the remainder of the positions have been used to “buy back” support staff. Non-professional staff exists at Bishop Carroll to supply support in the following three areas:

1. Instruction assistants provide one-to-one assistance to students in resource centres. These positions are filled by individuals with at least one year of post-secondary training in the subject area. Many of the instructional assistants possess university degrees. 

2. Clerical assistants are individuals trained to provide clerical support to the community. They assume the duties of word-processing, duplication of print resources, phone communication with parents, support of attendance procedures and a number of other tasks related to the management of student records. 

3. General assistants are individuals who assume the role of many of the record keeping tasks and management of text and material resources related to the instruction of students in resource centres. These individuals do not necessarily possess clerical expertise. 

With the addition of support staff there are approximately 115 adults in the school supplying support to the instruction and management of students. Needless to say, this means that the adult to student ratio at Bishop Carroll is about one-half greater than that which is found in a traditional school environment.

Since the non-certified support staff is responsible for services otherwise allotted to teachers, the teachers are free to utilize their time to perform duties which enhance their professional role: diagnosis, prescription, evaluation and counselling of students along with the responsibility to develop curriculum. Differentiation also applies to the certified staff. Teachers, like students, possess unique talents and expertise. 

Differentiated staffing and the flexibility of individualized scheduling allow teachers to pursue their interests and expertise.Differentiated staffing provides more student access to adults as well as better use of professional resources to enhance the learning outcomes of our students.

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