By Kendal Bazerman
Talon Staff
For a year now, a “hot topic” here in the Barrington High School learning community has been on the restructuring of the Program of Studies and the implementation of honors distinction. Instead of continuing to have separate, tiered academic classes, the school “deleveled” its 9th grade Language & Literature and 10th grade American Literature classes (including American Studies) into single courses.
These courses now include optional semester-long projects which aim to deepen students’ understanding of the curriculum and demonstrate mastery of skills. Upon the successful completion of these projects and achievement of enhanced requirements and “mastery indicators,” students earn an honors distinction for that semester of the class.
Personally, my strength has always been in English language arts (ELA) and I have excelled in those classes. Throughout middle school, I was excited about the prospect of more “advanced” classes with peers who had similar passion when I entered high school this year. Upon learning about the restructured curriculum, I was disappointed. I was left with a plan to complete the ELA projects for the honors distinction this year, and then take AP English classes later in my high school career.
Fast forward to November 2021 and Lang & Lit, when given the choice, I opted to participate in the project for this honors distinction. All freshmen interested in engaging in this opportunity were given the choice between two sets of short stories with which to work. We were instructed to annotate these texts over the course of two months and then partake in a Socratic seminar at the end of the semester to discuss overarching questions addressed within these stories.
I divided up the work and annotated each story at different points during this time, showed my teacher evidence that I completed that part of the assignment, and then participated in my seminar and proudly received the distinction.
However, now that I have been through the process and the learning community continues to consider the efficacy of this addition to the curriculum, I am reflecting upon this experience. My understanding of the goal of these projects was for students to come away with a deeper understanding of the class content and to further their learning. Was that what the project did for me? I enjoyed the readings and the conversation during the seminar, but did I really come away with a sense of enriched knowledge and skills?
While I spread out the annotations and preparation process because I was given the time, it really was not a semester-long project and certainly did not require two months to complete. To me, it felt almost like a normal class assignment, not something that would be worthy of an honors distinction. I neither feel like I took a much deeper dive than my classmates who chose not to opt into this project, nor do I feel that my understanding of our curriculum surpassed theirs.
Of course, this was my experience. Other classes had different projects, and other people had different impressions; no doubt, other freshmen may have myriad opinions on this process.
My seminar question was focused on how perspective shapes our understanding, and so I will end with this: my perspective and experience is unique, as is that of everyone else who did or did not participate in these honors distinction projects.
It is crucial that any evaluation of these processes thus far include opportunities, such as focus groups and surveys, for students to share their feedback. If we do not listen to student voices on this issue, we will never know how we, as a school, can truly help students succeed.
And in the end, that is the goal: for all students to be empowered and excel to the best of their ability… with or without honors.
ADVISOR’S NOTE: The BHS School Improvement Team (SIT), of which Ms. Bazerman is a member, will conduct focus groups this week with freshmen and sophomores who did achieve honors distinction, opted out of the process after expressing initial interest or who did not express interest in pursuing honors distinction. The SIT along with the teachers in the English and social studies departments will advise school leadership on their recommendations for continuing honors distinction in the future. The 2022-2023 Program of Studies will be published later this month.