NATCHITOCHES, La. (KALB) - Students in Natchitoches Parish will stay in the same classes for the full school year starting next year, instead of switching halfway through.
Leaders said the change should give students more time to learn the material and be better prepared for end-of-year tests. In the current school year, students are taking four classes each semester in fall and spring. The new schedule change would allow students to take all eight classes instead of four classes each semester, according to the Natchitoches Parish School Board.
“The biggest change that we expect to see is the length of time that students will spend in a particular course,” said Jamie Gilmore, supervisor of teaching and learning. “Currently, they’re only in there for the fall or the spring, but this change is going to allow them to spread out their learning over the entire school year and expose them to content for a longer period of time and better prepare them for the exams that they’ll be taking at the end of the year.”
Leaders from the Natchitoches Parish School Board said they have been looking at data from other districts that have already made this change.
“We look at data from these other districts that are doing it, and it is going to give students a much better chance to meet their graduation requirements, specifically in response to the comprehensive exam change from the state,” said Grant Eloi, Superintendent of Grant Parish Public Schools.
The school board said the change is better for state testing.
Nathan Corley, secondary academics director for Central Community School System, said the change works across the state because it aligns testing with learning.
“I think it just makes logical sense what’s best for kids is for the test to be as soon after finishing the learning as possible, and the only way to make sure that happens is to teach those courses over a full year so that they take two, so they get one class in one year, the second class the second year, take the test, rather than class, class, wait a year, take a test,” Corley said.
The district said the change is about helping students succeed when testing.