In conjunction with the 2017 Northshore School District (NSD) grade reconfiguration, the School Board is considering ending self-selected Challenge courses for middle school students.

In 2017, ninth grade will move from middle school facilities up to high schools, creating a sixth grade through eighth grade middle school.

The district currently allows students in middle school to take regular classes, test into advanced academic courses or optionally enroll in enhanced regular classes called Challenge courses, which are open to all students.

These Challenge courses utilize the same curriculum but explore the material more thoroughly.

But this self-selecting option has raised concerns from the Middle School Academic Sub-Committee appointed to study the curriculum and academic quality district-wide, as well as the teacher’s union.

A report released last month by the sub-committee states self-selected Challenge courses are unintentionally discriminating against certain students.

Hispanic, Native American and African American students enroll in Challenge courses at lower rates than other students, the report found.

“Although Challenge courses are self-select and parents and/or students can freely select into these more rigorous courses, there are unintended barriers that keep our families and students of color, of languages other than English, of disadvantaged and of disabilities from enrolling into these courses,” the report read.

The report attributed this disparity to white families generally having more financial and educational resources as well as more flexible schedules and more social and cultural knowledge about available resources for their students.

Consequently the sub-committee recommended that following the 2017 grade reconfiguration, all sixth through eighth grade English and language arts, social studies and science classes should teach on par with current Challenge courses, eliminating the special distinction for the classes.

Math classes would retain regular and Challenge paths.

During an April 26 School Board meeting the Northshore Education Association (NSEA), the NSD’s teacher union, strongly voiced their support for following the sub-committee’s recommendation.

“The teachers of Northshore School District collectively do not believe ability grouping teaches children how to successfully interact in the global economy and society of the 21st Century,” NSEA President Tim Brittell said.

Instead, teachers addressed the Board asking them to create homogeneous classrooms and do away with separate Challenge courses.

Teachers spoke to negative effects they had seen in their classrooms from Challenge courses, including students being shamed for not taking the courses and the feeling that many gifted students, particularly students of color, were not enrolling in Challenge courses.

“The current Challenge model is having the unintended consequence of institutionalizing segregation and reinforcing stereotypes,” Brittell said.

But some parents believe ending self-selected Challenge courses would cause more harm than good.

Nancy Chamberlain is a parent advocate and member of the grassroots Save Our Challenge Program group who released an independent review of the courses with data gathered from the state superintendent’s office, the Education Data Resource Center and district documents.

Chamberlain said the courses provide accelerated learning for students who want it, while not forcing struggling students to keep up or slow down classrooms.

“The Challenge program is about so much more than the curriculum, the books you use, the novels you read,” she said. “It is about the pace at which the class can go , because the students have chosen to go into a class that moves faster and can go into deeper depth with the curriculum.”

The district implemented Challenge courses around five years ago, Chamberlain said, in response to community pressure.

Merging Challenge and regular classrooms could result in a greater burden on teachers and staff, as well as not providing an adequate level of education and instruction for all students.

In response to equity concerns, Chamberlain said she thinks the time to address the achievement gap is in early elementary school by increased testing, monitoring and education.

“What we would like to see [is] addressing the achievement gap in elementary so that more kids are able to go with the faster pace,” she said. “We would also like to see the kids in junior high receive more supports.”

Increasing the number of students who feel encouraged to enroll in Challenge courses is preferable to the Middle School Academic Sub-Committee’s recommendation, she said.

Chamberlain is also concerned with what she said is a lack of student and parent input into the sub-committee’s recommendation. A district-wide survey last year did not include a question about parent and student preferences on the future of the courses.

The School Board sided with parents on that count at a May 4 meeting, directing the sub-committee to gather more community input.

At the same meeting, the Board also chose to pursue one of two directions: Making all 6th through 8th grade courses Challenge courses except math, or make only 6th grade classes Challenge courses with the exception of math while keeping the current model for 7th and 8th grade.

The School Board will continue to discuss the proposal and NSD spokesperson Leanna Albrecht said it must pass through two readings on May 10 and 24 before a vote can occur.