Freshman and sophomores who wish to undertake more rigorous English classes at Mahomet Seymour High School have had the opportunity to do so this year.
MSHS began providing Honors English for 9th and 10th graders for the 2014-15 school year, and about 160 students have taken advantage of the addition, according to Jamie Colbert, MSHS English and Reading teacher and English and Library Division Chairperson.
“Honors English encompasses all components of English Language Arts,” said Colbert. “The same areas are covered in the standard English courses.”
“The curriculum isn’t drastically different than it was before,” added Shannon Cheek, MSHS principal. “What is different is the pace and the rigor of the material.”
The addition of Honors English “gives us more flexibility,” explained Cheek. “It allows to differentiate instruction even more and meet students where they are. We can stretch the students further.”
Students are eligible to take Honors English based on their performance at Mahomet Seymour Junior High School, LEXILE scores, and their score on MAP testing, explained Cheek. A LEXILE score is a numeric representation of how well a student can read materials and comprehend what is read. MAP testing stands for Measures of Academic Progress. It too is a numeric representation of how well a student reads and comprehends materials. In both cases, higher numbers mean higher reading and comprehension levels. Teacher input also feeds in to the equation, according to Cheek.
Students enrolled in the Honors English courses can choose to take Advanced Placement (AP) English their senior year.
“AP courses have the curriculum set by the College Board,” explained Cheek. “By the end of senior year, a student can take an exam and receive college credit for the course. The amount of credit varies by college, but some colleges offer up to 10 credit hours,” said Cheek.
For students, taking an AP course for college credit can mean a savings on college tuition. MSHS offers both AP and Honors courses in Math, Science, Social Sciences and English. AP courses are offered in World Languages.
The addition of Honors English classes took a lot of research and effort on the part of Colbert and of English department faculty, according to Cheek “Ms. Colbert contacted other schools with demographics similar to ours to see what they were doing. She gathered their perspectives and did a lot of research.”
“Researching other schools confirmed that other area high schools have more than one level of English per grade,” Colbert said. “Gathering information about how students were placed into those levels was the most informative part of the exchange.”
Cheek said MSHS will look at the data generated by Honors English over the course of the next several years. “We will look at ACT performance,” he said, noting the school tracks similar data with its Honors Math curriculum. “We have had the honors track in Math for a while and we can tell we are making gains across the board. The changes made there have impacted the whole.”
Colbert and Cheek agree the addition of Honors English benefits all students, not just the ones who take the courses.
“All students are benefiting from targeted instruction at their current level of ability,” said Colbert. “Providing regular and honors levels of required English courses allows us to best meet the needs of all students. When instruction is targeted to students’ needs, improvement in achievement will happen at all levels. This decision is about doing what’s best for learners. “
As a course, Honors English is evolving.
“English I and English II have been established for years. Within the department, we had to make distinctions between what the honors versions of those existing courses would look like. We were able to use the preexisting English III Honors course (junior level) to help inform curriculum decisions for English 1 Honors and English II Honors,” Colbert said. ‘Some of this work happened over the summer. Some of the work is ongoing,’ she added.
If a student meets the academic standards, he or she can take Honors English at any time during his or her high school career, according to Cheek.
“It is a fluid process. Some students move up in to Honors English at the semester,” Cheek stated. And there may be times where students need a less rigorous pace, he said. “This is our attempt to differentiate what we are offering students. We want to meet them at their current level, and then take them higher,” Cheek said.
