CALABASAS : Teachers Withdraw Honors English Plan

English teachers in the Las Virgenes Unified School District have withdrawn a controversial proposal to eliminate traditional ninth-grade honors English classes and put bright students in regular classes.

Instead of attending honors classes, the proposal called for bright students to volunteer for more challenging work for extra credit.

The teachers also withdrew an accompanying proposal to revamp a program in which class sizes have been reduced for 11th-grade English students. Under the proposal, class sizes would be reduced instead for ninth-graders to give incoming students more personal attention.

“It’s my understanding that after many of the concerns had been reviewed and discussed, the English Department felt it would be best to withdraw the proposal to see if they could come up with a different approach,” said Donald Zimring, the district’s assistant superintendent.

The proposal to eliminate honors courses fueled debate between educators and community representatives, who argued that bright students would lose their motivation if they were lumped in with average students. In a statement opposing the plan, community representatives said parents should have the final say.

“The decisions should rest with the parents and should not be delegated to the ninth-grade high school English teachers,” the community representatives wrote in a statement opposing the plan.

Neal Baker, Sheryl Burnam, Becca Hoover and Janet Nungester, who signed the statement, are members of the district’s Curriculum Council, a committee of parents and educators formed to improve the district’s educational programs. The council split over the honors program issue.

Both proposals were part of a two-year pilot program drawn up by the district’s secondary schools’ English department.

Under the department’s plan, ninth-graders who wanted more of a challenge would be given more advanced assignments for which they would earn extra credit, called challenge units. Before being allowed to enroll in 10th-grade honors programs, students would have to receive A grades in their ninth-grade English classes, complete four challenge units and pass a placement exam.

The English Department says average students would get a better education if they were grouped with above-average students. And with the challenge units, the department argues, it would be easier to determine whether a student is capable of moving on to honors level work.