R-II school district outlines changes to alternative instruction days

By John Rohlf, Staff Writer
Posted 10/31/22

The Wright City R-II School District will use a modified plan this year if any “alternative methods of instruction” (AMI) days are needed in the 2022-2023 school year.

AMI days are …

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R-II school district outlines changes to alternative instruction days

Posted

The Wright City R-II School District will use a modified plan this year if any “alternative methods of instruction” (AMI) days are needed in the 2022-2023 school year.

AMI days are used whenever in-person classes need to be canceled, such as for snow days, and allow students to learn remotely from material provided by their teachers.

AMI days count as a day in class for the purpose of state education requirements. Last school year, the Wright City district used all five AMI days allowed by state law.

The district received positive feedback both informally and from a survey conducted last spring. Over 80% of survey respondents supported continuing to utilize AMI days, Assistant Superintendent Doug Smith said at last week’s regular school board meeting.

Although the responses were mostly positive, the district asked for feedback on ways to improve AMI days. The identified areas of improvement were from families who wanted more access to teachers; families and students who requested more meaningful work; and teachers who requested more meaningful expectations.

“Our teachers by and large … wanted more consistent expectations for all teachers,” Smith said. “They felt that perhaps teachers in some buildings or some grade levels were expected to do more. Or less was expected out of other ones. ‘I’m expected to get on video. Some were not.’ And so they really expressed a concern to have consistent expectations.”

The district is adjusting its requirements this year in response to the proposed changes from students, staff and families. Teachers are now required to dedicate two hours to meet with students through Zoom or Google Meet. They will also be available through office hours for at least two additional hours. The use of the additional hours will depend on the teacher’s needs and may include lesson plans, grading, curriculum, writing, testing or other activities assigned by building leadership.

School board President Austin Jones questioned whether the assignments the district will require students to complete are already decided or if they will be real-time assignments based on what the students are learning about at that time.

Smith said the district’s hope is to make the assignments as much about what they are studying at that time as possible. However, they cannot predict when they may have a snow day and use an AMI day.

“What we’re trying to do is create assignments and activities that are based on standards and based on the priority standards that we are covering throughout the year. … The priority standards are getting taught each quarter,” Smith said. “And so we’re creating activities that address those specific standards.”

Smith stressed that while the content may not be exactly aligned with what students are studying at the time, education standards will be covered in the activities utilized during the AMI days.

Responding to a public comment about recording lessons during AMI days, Smith said the district is not planning to implement that at this time. He does not think it is a bad idea, but it is not something that came up on the survey.
Board member Michael Bates said he sees benefits to recording class lessons during AMI days.

“I think if I’m at home as a parent trying to teach my kid, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to look at that again,” Bates said. “And say, ‘Oh, that’s kind of what they meant.’ So I think it’s a relearning tool.”

Board member Mary Groeper agreed with the benefits of recording the lessons and said it is worth looking into. However, she thinks there is a benefit to participating in class with the teacher and other students.

“I see the benefit of participating live on the Zoom and not depending on a recorded thing,” Groeper said. "Because it’s just like sitting in a classroom when you’re on Zoom. You’re with the other kids and you’re interacting. If you’re just watching the video, then you’re not getting some of the benefit.”

Jones added that teachers would need the proper technology in order to record lessons for AMI days.


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