CRLS Hopes to Promote Equity, “Levels Up” English 9

Starting this semester, all CRLS ninth grade English classes will be taught at the Honors (HN) level. The CRLS administration is implementing this “level up” initiative in an effort to eliminate the achievement gap—the common disparity in educational performance between students of different socioeconomic status.

In the past, ninth graders would take either College Preparatory (CP) or HN English, but now all freshmen will experience the same HN English curriculum.

“All ninth graders are going to be participating in the same assessments so that we can ensure that it’s still a rigorous HN curriculum,” explained Dean of ELA Curriculum and Program Jennifer Hamilton. Four grade-wide assessments throughout the year will be used to ensure that all students are reaching Massachusetts ELA benchmarks.

Why “Level Up”

Addressing the achievement gap and attaining equity is not a new goal for the CRLS community. Dean Hamilton, as well as other English teachers, referred to regular trends in the makeup of HN and CP classes; HN classes have consistently been made up of mostly upper-middle class students, while CP classes often consist of minority and lower-income groups.

“Bridging Educational Equity and Excellence,” a 2015 Cambridge Public Schools report that outlined plans to promote equity and achievement, stated, “Inequity is worsened when curriculum and instruction are delivered inconsistently across schools and vary across student subpopulations.” Leveled courses have been seen as a major cause of this issue.

CRLS went through a similar “leveling up” process 18 years ago, when then-Principal Paula Evans eliminated levels for all ninth and tenth grade English, history, and science classes. This initiative was reversed a few years later for all classes except Physics, which is now a CP course with HN option. The system used for Physics is different from the one being implemented currently, however; in Physics, students can opt in or out of taking the class for HN credit, but with “leveling up,” everyone is expected to complete all assignments at an HN level.

According to the 2017-2020 Cambridge Public Schools District Plan, CPS hopes to “provide all students with access to challenging curriculum and technology, such as the Grade 9 Level Up and CRLS 1:1 programs.”

In the spring of 2015, CPS developed the plan to “level up” both freshmen English and World History classes and push for more coordinated English and World History curriculums—a key component of this plan being that English and history classes would be year long and  alternate with each other on Black and Silver Days. Ideas were further developed by teachers and administrative staff after visiting other schools, including Evanston Township High School in Illinois, and observing their methods for “leveling up.”

The initiative, which was originally planned to begin in the fall of 2016, was delayed and split into two phases by Superintendent Salim when he joined CPSD in July 2016. English 9 “leveled up” this year, and World History is slated to “level up” in the 2018-2019 school year.

Since World History has not “leveled up” yet, this year’s ninth grade students will alternate between English class and Physical Education, a course that had already alternated on Black and Silver Days.

Students and Faculty Respond to Changes

The main goal behind restructuring English 9 is to address and decrease the effects of the achievement gap while strengthening the CRLS community. “Now that [English] is actually one class, it will promote community, integration, and inclusion,” said freshman Ishan Grewal, describing the effect of offering only one level of ninth grade English.

“It’s nice, when I walk into a classroom, … not [to] be slapped in the face that ‘this is an HN class,’ ‘this is a CP class,’” commented Dean Hamilton.

English teacher Mr. M-G added, “I think any experience that you have with someone that you’re not familiar with, or [with] a type of person, or a characteristic, or a different culture, or different background, is a learning experience for the teachers and for the rest of the students.”

The English Department is also hoping that the “leveling up” initiative will give equal opportunities to all students, regardless of their learning abilities. “The research that they did specific to the opportunity gap was really what they were trying to address with this class [English 9], where we are providing enough opportunity for every student coming through the door,” said Mr. M-G.

Though the “leveling up” initiative has been applauded by many, some express concern  that students originally planning to take CP English 9 may not be prepared for HN level work. “I think it’s helpful that all students are put into the same class no matter their background,” began freshman Nora Iammarino, “but [that] doesn’t change the fact that people need help reading and writing regardless of their background.”

One of the ways that the CRLS faculty is currently attempting to address these concerns is by incorporating a special education teacher into every English classroom. According to English 9 teacher Ms. Hogue, “The school has invested a ton of money to make sure that every student is getting all the support they need by putting two teachers in every class.”

A ninth grade ELA seminar has also been introduced to help students adjust to the change. Students were placed into this class based on eighth grade teacher recommendations, test scores, grades, and Scholastic Reading Inventory scores. “The goal of [the seminar] is to build the skills that [struggling] students need so that they choose to take and be successful in HN classes moving forward [after English 9],” explained Dean Hamilton. These seminars occur on the days when English classes do not meet, in place of P.E., which takes the spot of a semester-long class.

This shift may be a challenge, but it will especially help students who may have considered “leveling up” to HN on their own. Senior Jon Fitzgerald is a student who transitioned from CP to HN before the “level up” initiative. According to Fitzgerald, switching mindsets was one of the hardest aspects of making the shift alone. “The workload increased along with the pace, making units that would have been spread out in CP condensed into what could be a week [in HN],” he explained.

With the “level up” initiative and the support that comes with it, however, these difficulties may drastically subside for today’s ninth graders. “This [initiative] is totally something that I wish I had in my freshman year, and I’m glad they’re instituting it,” said Fitzgerald.

What to Know about English 9 This Year

This year’s change in scheduling requires both teachers and students to adjust regular patterns of organization and behavior. “It’s hard as a teacher to remember each group and what you did with them. It’s hard for students to remember their homework,” said Ms. Hogue. “But we’re trying to help create continuity for the students so that they can make a connection between what we did one day and what we did a few days before,” she continued.

This year, the “leveling up” process has only been put into place for English 9, with the hope that more students will choose HN level courses when they choose their classes for next year and beyond.

Though there is a great possibility that students will feel more capable to “level up” in the future, some worry that there is also a risk that the challenges of the new English 9 will discourage them. “I think some people will take more CP classes, depending on how challenged they feel by the current HN situation,” said freshman Peter Leiker. In hopes to prevent this from happening, the English Department is committed to aiding both students and teachers with the transition in order to support the needs of all students.

“There will be some challenges, but I think it’s worth it. I think it’s worth us figuring them out as they come up,” said Ms. Hogue. “The goal of ‘level up’ is true equity—which means excellent educational experiences and outcomes for everyone. If excellence is only for some, that is elitism. Equity has long been a goal of the Cambridge Public Schools, but it continues to elude us. We need to do the hard work of changing the very structure of the system as well as many ingrained habits and attitudes to reach our goal.”

This piece also appears in our September print edition.