Submitted by Troy Faulkner, Math Department Head
Note: The information in this profile represents 2012-13 unless otherwise indicated.
School Overview
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School Description
In January 2010 the Byron High School Mathematics Department had the perfect mathematical storm. The school had old books that were falling apart and didn’t have the money for new books because of budget cuts. Also, students never read and only used the books for homework problems. The school and mathematics department were looking for ways to improve and decided to stop using textbooks and start writing their own curriculum. Knowing that parents and students would need resources to use at home, the school choose to record math lessons and put them online for students and parents to use. In the fall of 2010, Math Department Head Troy Faulkner decided to pilot the flipped classroom model. Students liked the model and Faulkner saw an increase in student engagement and test scores, so he continued to implement the flipped classroom and the rest of his department soon followed suit.
Blended Learning Program
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Program Model
Program model: Flipped Classroom
Model description
For math classes only, students at Byron High School receive online teacher-recorded lectures and online instruction remotely – primarily at home during the evening – and engage in teacher-guided practice on campus during the school day.
Program Description
How much time do students spend on campus in this blended-learning program? How much of this time do students spend learning online or with educational software?
Students estimate that they spend between a half-hour and an hour learning online or using educational software off-campus each night. When students are on campus, they engage in offline, teacher-guided practice.
Briefly describe the offline components of this blended-learning program.
The offline components of the blended-learning program at Byron High School are usually completed in class, during the school day. Typically, students come to class and find three or four math questions on the SMART Board that are based on the online instruction videos students were assigned to view the night before. Students work on the questions individually and then share their answer with the teacher. Students then discuss their answers, and typically those students who have solved the problem correctly are able to convince their peers of the right answer and explain why. Finally, the students share their final answer with the teacher. At that point the teacher reviews the responses and decides if the students understand the material sufficiently or if further instruction and support is needed.
How does this blended-learning program fit into the rest of the students’ school day?
The flipped classroom model at Byron High School is only used in math classes and since most of the formal instruction is delivered online and remotely, the flipped-classroom model fits seamlessly into the rest of the school day. Byron High School operates on what is called an “intensive block schedule” which is essentially four 90-minute class periods, one of which is a flipped math class. Students’ schedules are the same every day and do not rotate, so the flipped math class fits into the schedule the same way any other class does.
What are the teachers’ roles and responsibilities in both the online and offline components of this blended-learning program?
Teachers are able to provide one-on-one face-to-face instruction, something that rarely happened in the traditional lecture model, this allows the students and the teacher to develop a much better relationship. Teachers’ online responsibilities include combining online lectures with in-class, face-to-face assignments, recording the video lectures, posting the videos to the class Moodle, monitoring student progress, answering nightly student e-mails and assigning online homework. Their offline responsibilities include setting up practice problems, assigning pencil-and-paper assignments or in-class worksheets, and developing the course schedule for the course.
What other adults are involved in this blended-learning program (e.g., paraprofessionals, learning coaches, counselors) and what are their roles and responsibilities?
The school employs technology support professionals who help teachers with technology issues and the school district employs digital learning coaches who are fellow Byron Public School District teachers responsible for helping teachers and administrators make proper use of the digital learning platforms and tools.
Briefly describe the set-up of physical space for this blended-learning program.
The flipped math classrooms at Byron High School are traditional classrooms complete with groups of desks for students and tables that are used for group work. However, the desks do not face the front of the room since the teacher does not lecture. The center of attention is the students, rather than the teacher, and because of this, the classrooms look a bit different from most.
How are students grouped within this blended-learning program?
Students are grouped together by math course only.
Do students have some element of control over the pacing of their learning? Are students tied to a semester-based course schedule or can they complete courses at any time? Briefly describe any requirements or benchmarks in place to ensure student progress.
Students have some control over the pacing of their learning, but they are also tied to a semester-based schedule and the school district requires teachers to submit student grades at the end of each quarter. While students don’t have the option to extend the course if they don’t understand the material, they do have the ability to move ahead of the rest of the class or take extra time to master a certain unit, provided that they still take assessments with the rest of their class.
Describe the academic results of the program, using quantitative data where possible.
Byron High School has compared student proficiency in traditional classes to student proficiency in flipped classrooms and has seen positive results. Calculus test proficiency increased 12.1 percent compared to the traditional lecture model. Pre-Calculus test proficiency increased by 10.9 percent compared to the traditional lecture model. Accelerated Algebra 2 and trigonometry test proficiency increased 11.8 percent compared to the traditional lecture model.
(Note that the school describes proficiency as scoring 80 percent or better on a given assignment)
Additionally, in surveys administered by Byron High School math teachers, 84 percent of parents and 95 percent of students said that they preferred flipped learning to the traditional lecture format.
Describe any financial impact this blended-learning program has had on your cost of operations. Use numbers when possible.
The actual numbers are unavailable, but the school did recently invest a sizable chunk of money to increase broadband speed and coverage for the school, in part to better accommodate the flipped classroom model.
What have been the biggest obstacles in implementing this blended-learning program? What has needed adjustment along the way?
The biggest obstacle in implementing the blended-learning program at Byron High School has been the amount of time teachers spend recording their lessons. It takes time to not only plan the lecture recording, but also record the lecture itself, especially because mistakes require starting all over. Teachers are experimenting with making shorter videos in higher quantity, so that mistakes aren’t as time-consuming.
Have you or are you planning to scale your program model to more/other schools?
There is no formal plan in place to scale the program model to the rest of the school. Teachers in all subjects and grade levels are encouraged to try the flipped-classroom model but they are not pushed to do so. Teachers in other subjects are experimenting with the flipped-classroom model and may decide to implement the model in future school years.
Contact Information
Name: Troy Faulkner
Title: Math Department Head
Email: [email protected]
Website: sites.google.com/a/byron.k12.mn.us