MANCHESTER, N.H. – Members of the Manchester Board of School Committee’s Committee on Teaching and Learning received an overview of upcoming modifications to the Manchester School District following recent changes to Chapter 306 of the New Hampshire Department of Education’s administrative rules.
Chapter 306 sets minimum standards for public school districts, with members of the Manchester Board of School Committee expressing concern during the recent process where these standards were updated.
Manchester School District Assistant Superintendent Nichole Doherty led a team of district staff with an informational presentation regarding the changes (see page by page screenshots of presentation below), with more detailed proposals surrounding the 306 updates expected in the future.
Ward 1 Board of School Committee Member Julie Turner asked the team about changes to the social studies requirements, with “American History” officially being split into “U.S. History” and “New Hampshire History,” hearing that the primary impact would come for a currently required high school freshman class that focuses on “History of U.S. and New Hampshire Government.”
Turner also expressed support for the unofficial support for play-based learning for kindergarteners in the 306 changes as well as the likely jump in required jump in credits for high school graduation to either 24 or 25 credits. Currently, 22.5 credits are needed for a student to graduate from a high school in the Manchester School District.
Ward 5 Board of School Committee Member Jason Bonilla also supported an increased number of credits for graduation, but requested information on how that may impact dropout rates.
Student Representative Deepasha Giri of Manchester West High School hoped that greater efforts could be made to help middle schoolers acclimate into high schools as well as increased avenues for student input in teacher assessment. Regarding teacher assessment, Giri felt that current observation of teachers’ classroom methods were not adequate and student engagement needed to improve.
Ward 3 Board of School Committee Member Karen Soule said that the rule changes were not significantly different than past 306 changes, but believed that the New Hampshire Department of Education would help implement any remaining courses that do not have competency-based student assessment. The Manchester School District has been attempting to migrate to competency-based assessments, where students are judged on their ability to comprehend content and not just their ability to pass tests.
Soule said teachers just needed to remember regarding the shift to competency-based curricula that they should “focus on whatever they want a student to remember about that class five years from now.”
