‘Alternative’ instruction plan to help Fort Smith students avoid making up snow days

Fort Smith Public Schools has a plan that will allow students to avoid those dreaded snow day make up days at the end of the school year. Dr. Barry Owen, FSPS chief academic officer, told the School Board of the district’s plan for Alternative Methods of Instruction (AMI).

The Arkansas Department of Education recently approved the district’s AMI plan, and the district intends to have it ready to go for the second semester, Owen said during the board’s November work session held Monday night (Nov. 12).

“This plan allows districts to develop contingencies in response to the threat of inclement weather. As a result of modern forecast methods, meteorologists are able to predict with a higher degree of accuracy the probability of winter weather. When those predictions are made, districts who are approved to utilize their AMI are able to assign student work ahead of time, thus eliminating the need to make up missed days at the end of the school year,” stated a memo on the plan included in the board meeting information packet.

The kindergarten through sixth-grade plan will depend on family involvement and have everyone reading the same book. The chosen book will fall in the third- through fifth-grade level and will include grade-appropriate exercises, said Dr. Mary Ann Johns, director of elementary education.

All students will have a copy of the book and all exercise materials will be available in print and online, Johns said.

“The materials can be loaded to the computers, so we won’t have to worry about a student having internet access,” Johns said.

Activities may incorporate math and sciences as well as literacy, she added. Teachers will use the day as a work day and will be available to students and parents through email, phone and social media from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Students will have three days, counting the day they return from the snow day, to turn in the assignments in order to receive credit for the missed the day. Each day’s work will include five separate activities, and a committee is working on putting together 10 days’ worth of activities, Johns said.

“If teachers know about the possibility of snow, they will send the packet home with students. Then if school is cancelled, the students have their work. If school isn’t cancelled, if the weather doesn’t hit, they just bring back the packet the next day,” she said.

At the seventh- through ninth-grade level, the AMI plan calls for the use of Project Essay Grade (PEG), a program that allows students to fine tune their writing skills and develop essays across curriculums, Owen said. Students will be given writing prompts. They will write their persuasive essay and then upload it to PEG, which will help students craft and fine tune the essay, Owen said. Again, students will have three days to turn in their assignment.

“If for some reason they forget their computers or they don’t have (online) connectivity at home, they can rough out their essay at home and upload it to the computer once they are back at school. Then they can run the program. They will have three days to turn it in,” Owen said.

At the senior high (10th through 12th grade level), the plan calls for students to complete ACT prep assignments.

“I think both this (ACT prep assignments) will be very beneficial for the students. Depending on the amount of days, they could work in all four of the tested content areas,” Owen said. “This is definitely a very good opportunity for our students. We may or may not use it. Weather is an unsure entity, but we will be ready.”

State legislation allowed schools to start using AMI beginning with the 2017-18 school years. Some area schools such as Van Buren, Greenwood and Booneville are already using it and were helpful in FSPS developing its plan, Owen said.