Sixth-grade math was a lesson in time management for Jonathan Swann.
His second-period advanced math class at Chesapeake Bay Middle School started about 9:40 or so. The teacher got everyone settled and engaged in the lesson, and about 40 minutes later, it was time for lunch. After eating, it was another 40 minutes of math.
"It's just boring to sit there for 86 minutes and just write stuff and listen," Jonathan said. "Everybody was just getting ready for lunch. [The teacher] was trying to write on the overhead and tell us something. No one was really concentrating."
Jonathan earned an A in the class. But his mother shared the concern of other parents, who have long complained about the school system's schedule for sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders.
Looking to remedy what many parents and activists have criticized as a barrier to achievement among middle school students, Anne Arundel County schools Superintendent Kevin M. Maxwell has proposed shortening lesson times and increasing the number of periods in the day, from four to six at the district's 19 middle schools.
Maxwell will present his proposal at today's school board meeting. His proposal calls for daily, year-round instruction in core subjects, and more teacher planning time, beginning in the 2009-2010 school year. The $7.4 million proposal will also require more teachers to be hired.
"It will be looked at very carefully and will be scrubbed very hard," said Robert C. Leib, special assistant to County Executive John R. Leopold, who has tussled with Maxwell in the past over budget issues.
Educating middle-schoolers has posed a challenge to educators, who point to factors such as the onset of puberty and social pressures that occur between the ages of 10 and 15. Seven of Anne Arundel County's 19 middle schools failed to meet federal standards under No Child Left Behind last year.
Among educators, there's not a clear consensus on what works best. In Baltimore's public schools, middle-schoolers have both so-called block scheduling, with four class periods per day, and the six-period format. Harford County gives its middle school students longer classes, though there is a push to change to shorter classes.
Parents in Anne Arundel County had lobbied for the past few years to change the schedule. Under the previous superintendent, middle school students had seven periods daily, which many said was too little class time.
