This limits the number of AP classes that students can take. Let’s say your kid is a senior and want to do a pretty standard schedule.
AP English (full year)
Math then science (4x4)
Foreign language then history (4x4)
AP whatever (full year)

A student at Wilson will not be able to take more than two AP classes because they won’t be able to meet the other requirements.

I hope this makes sense. I’m a teacher at a HS that does not do 4x4 and this was the main argument we used to keep from going to do that schedule.

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, Wilson doesn't have enough math teachers for kids to double up on math classes.

And the issue of the 4x4 is not just the gap in instruction...there's also the pace of instruction. It's too fast for deep, conceptual learning.

So you’d recommend supplementing/enrichment rather than acceleration during the off semesters. People must do that. Who do they use?

Yeah, Wilson doesn't have enough math teachers for kids to double up on math classes.

And the issue of the 4x4 is not just the gap in instruction...there's also the pace of instruction. It's too fast for deep, conceptual learning.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people accelerate math by taking the semester-long courses back to back? I have a friend whose kid attends a hybrid 4x4 school in another region and she says this is what all the advanced kids do and, as a result, the 4x4 is really popular with the parents of the advanced kids (many of whom are engineers).

No. Wilson does not allow this, I believe because it throws off class sizes.

Huh. So for kids who love math, does DCPS actually ban them from taking their favorite subject for 8 months at a shot, or can they take it privately and test out of the DCPS courses?

Anonymous wrote:Do people accelerate math by taking the semester-long courses back to back? I have a friend whose kid attends a hybrid 4x4 school in another region and she says this is what all the advanced kids do and, as a result, the 4x4 is really popular with the parents of the advanced kids (many of whom are engineers).

No. Wilson does not allow this, I believe because it throws off class sizes.

Do people accelerate math by taking the semester-long courses back to back? I have a friend whose kid attends a hybrid 4x4 school in another region and she says this is what all the advanced kids do and, as a result, the 4x4 is really popular with the parents of the advanced kids (many of whom are engineers).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to this middle school parent the benefit of the 4x4 schedule? Why does the system want to use it? I can't think of any upside, but clearly I'm missing something.

The primary benefit of the 4x4 system according to DCPS is that it allows students who fail classes more opportunities to retake those classes, thereby boosting on-time HS graduation rates.

Wilson's graduation rate is 90%. Is that considered problematic? And are kids really failing classes because they aren't learning or aren't attending? (If the latter, how does taking a class again help?)

I suspect it’s problematic as a matter of raw numbers for DCPS given how big Wilson is.

Anonymous wrote:I'm guessing it was from this study that they took their cues:

https://www.k12dive.com/news/data-9th-grade-on-track-rates-trend-higher-in-4x4-scheduling-models/598517/#:~:text=In%20a%204x4%20scheduling%20model,per%20day%20over%20two%20semesters.

So many problems with that study:

1) They only compare the 4x4 to a "traditional" schedule (e.g., 45 minute classes), not other types of block schedules like Wilson's old A/B schedule, which has the longer periods and also year-long core classes;

2) It doesn't look at any critical metrics other than 9th graders being "on track"--where are the measures of actual student learning? test scores? grades? parent/teacher/student satisfaction?

3) How does the 4x4 compare to other interventions that don't have all the downsides?

I'm guessing it was from this study that they took their cues:

https://www.k12dive.com/news/data-9th-grade-on-track-rates-trend-higher-in-4x4-scheduling-models/598517/#:~:text=In%20a%204x4%20scheduling%20model,per%20day%20over%20two%20semesters.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to this middle school parent the benefit of the 4x4 schedule? Why does the system want to use it? I can't think of any upside, but clearly I'm missing something.

The primary benefit of the 4x4 system according to DCPS is that it allows students who fail classes more opportunities to retake those classes, thereby boosting on-time HS graduation rates.

Wilson's graduation rate is 90%. Is that considered problematic? And are kids really failing classes because they aren't learning or aren't attending? (If the latter, how does taking a class again help?)

Anonymous wrote:Math is a huge, huge problem. Ask any math teacher or educational expert on the consequences of gaps in instruction with math--huge learning loss. With the 4x4, kids can go more than a year without a math class. It is unconscionable for DCPS to mandate this. I can live with the other "core" classes, but not math (is it clear that foreign languages are exempt?)

I don't think it is. Per the post above: Non-core courses with a failure rate below 10% can be full year. Is that rate by school? teacher? 10% isn't that high and can result in a language being only offered on a 4 x 4. Plus - when do they calculate the 10% and how would a student know if they can sign up for a full year or only a half year class? Sounds like a logistical nightmare.

The issues of learning loss (due to long periods of time without instruction in classes like math and language) combined with the fast pace of instruction, combined with the impact of teacher vacancies make it a REAL problem. There have to be better ways to address kids failing classes...for one thing, I have to imagine that more kids fail in the first place because of this schedule. But why aren't they focused on developing supports to help kids not fail that don't have all these downsides????

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain to this middle school parent the benefit of the 4x4 schedule? Why does the system want to use it? I can't think of any upside, but clearly I'm missing something.

The primary benefit of the 4x4 system according to DCPS is that it allows students who fail classes more opportunities to retake those classes, thereby boosting on-time HS graduation rates.

Can someone explain to this middle school parent the benefit of the 4x4 schedule? Why does the system want to use it? I can't think of any upside, but clearly I'm missing something.

I think one problem is that we parents are having to implement at home decisions made by DCPS, and we understand very well the impact of these decisions because we live them every day.

In math, we have to stay on top of our student every single night to make sure s/he does not get behind, even for a single assignment, ever, even if s/he is unwell. Weekly quizzes, so have to make sure s/he goes to her teacher’s office hours, sometimes twice a week, plus tutoring on the side.

It’s the compressed schedule, but also the fact that my student went for a year without math.

This also has a negative impact on science classes. Figuring density seems like it would be pretty easy, but maybe not so automatic if you haven’t had math in a year. So more office hours tutoring needed, but no time.

All of this creates tension at home, and it doesn’t help student self image.

I understand this was maybe okay for the distance-learning year, but we’re half way through the second year of this, so not a “knee-jerk” reaction.