6 (page 71) of this book details some scheduling solutions.
Seat Time Requirements
Before various types of testing became state or federal mandates, schools and systems designated scheduled times in class as the constant factor. In many schools, students are expected to meet the scheduled seat time requirements—a specified number of hours in class and days in school (Great Schools Partnership, 2014). In this arrangement, a student cannot earn credit unless that student meets the established seat time requirements, regardless of the prior knowledge he or she brings to class. In the United States, the seat time variable required to earn a course credit varies from 108 to 140 clock hours (Carnegie Unit and Student Hour, n.d.). Seat time worship leads to punitive attendance policies, which harm some students more than others. (Chapter 3, page 29, talks more about the students who are at higher risk.) If schools do not allow students to make up work when absent, they will receive low grades. That ultimately leads to an average grade that is impossible to overcome, discouraging and defeating those who often then miss more school.
Seat time requirements partially explain why the factor of school attendance is highly associated with dropout rates. Indeed, attendance is a critical factor in identifying which students are unlikely to earn high school diplomas (Heppen & Therriault, 2008). Many states have established various policies to free schools from the traditional seat time requirements, which the Carnegie Unit system dictates, to address such issues (Great Schools Partnership, 2014). Such policies “allow districts or schools to provide credits based on students’ proving proficiency in a subject, rather than the time they physically spend in a traditional classroom setting” (Cavanagh, 2012). Removing seat time requirements can “make it easier for struggling students to catch up, exceptional students to race ahead, and students who face geographic and scheduling problems to take courses required for graduation” (Cavanagh, 2012). However, the issue is not yet entirely resolved, because some state policies, including those in Illinois and Massachusetts, prohibit or restrict alternative methods of awarding credit for actual student proficiency (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching [CFAT], 2014). And in nearly all states, rigid funding formulas work against implementing flexible policies for awarding credit because funding formulas are based on hours spent in class, not mastery of content (NGA, 2012).
When schools relax seat time requirements and move to standards-based grading systems, mastery of required material is emphasized, not just time spent learning the material. The issue becomes what the student can demonstrate in terms of subject mastery rather than whether he or she spent sufficient seat time in class. Therefore, if we consider learning as the constant factor and time as the variable, the equation is turned around.
Most states have already moved in this direction by permitting schools to offer flexible credits, primarily through state-approved testing options and online offerings. Such flexibility may not be granted to students, however, until they first have met the seat time requirements and failed the course at least once (CFAT, 2014). These requirements add to the problem of collecting large numbers of overage and under-credited students in high schools. Chapter 6 (page 71) outlines alternatives to seat time requirements via elementary, middle, high, and alternative school schedules that make time for students who need additional help. Now is the time to revise seat time requirements so schools can focus on flexible efforts to ensure students gain the necessary skills to be college or career ready.
Formative and Summative Assessment Weaknesses
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