Running head: RESTRUCTURE OF FLEX BLOCK

Restructuring the FLEX Block for Increased Benefits to Stakeholders

Sheila Sillery
City University of Seattle
EEA 539: Supervision of Instruction
Dr. Dave Khatib
May 24, 2015

RESTRUCTURE OF FLEX BLOCK

Restructuring the FLEX Block for Increased Benefits to Stakeholders

Hunting Hills High School services 1350 students with a staff of 107 (including
70 teachers and 4 administrators) (Hunting Hills High School, 2014a). In light of strong
student data illustrating high levels of student anxiety and stress, Hunting Hills High
School has implemented a FLEX block that offers choice to students and provides
learning opportunities beyond the classroom walls (Alberta Education, 2015; Hunting
Hills High School, 2014b). The current FLEX block structure began in February 2015 on
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for fifty-five minutes before lunch. Initially, students
were required to sign-up for sessions through PowerSchool, and bring their ID card so
they could sign in and out of sessions. FLEX blocks were loosely assigned to each staff
member based on their full time equivalent and availability of classes/facilities.
The FLEX block is aligned with the district (RDPSD) and schools improvement
plans by helping to meet the outcomes goals of equity and high school completion
(Hunting Hills High School, 2014a; Red Deer Public School District, 2015a). FLEX
addresses equity by providing environments that meet the diverse needs of all learners so
students can access the supports and services they need to experience success (Hunting
Hills High School, 2014a). In turn, FLEX then addresses high school completion by
helping students acquire the competencies needed to transition as lifelong learners to
careers and active citizenship (Hunting Hills High School, 2014a). Furthermore, FLEX
will help Hunting Hills to adopt the Response to Intervention initiative RDPSD has set
for 2015 (Administration council, personal communication, May 13, 2015). Idyllically,
the FLEX block will also assist Hunting Hills in becoming a high performing schools by
creating high standards and expectations for all students, providing opportunity for high

RESTRUCTURE OF FLEX BLOCK

levels of collaboration and communication and creating a supportive learning

environment (Shannon & Bylsma, 2007).
As expected, the implementation of FLEX at Hunting Hills has provided benefits
to students. Hunting Hills conducted two sets of school wide surveys of the teachers and
students, one at the onset of FLEX and one in April. Since its inception, FLEX has helped
to increase student happiness at school, 73.1% of students feel it benefits them (with
14.7% undecided) and 77.1% say that they would like to see FLEX continue (with 13.6%
undecided) (Hunting Hills High School, 2015a). Arguably, the smaller personalized
learning environments contribute highly to the positive student experience of FLEX
(Shannon & Bylsma, 2007). 69.1% of students reported that FLEX makes balancing their
school workload and personal interests more manageable, contributing to the high
standards and expectations set for all students by providing students with choice and
responsibility (Hunting Hills High School, 2015a; Shannon & Bylsma, 2007).
As identified by administration council, and teacher survey results, the three
biggest areas of improvement for FLEX are attendance, schedule confusion and the
teacher experience. Due to the logistical constraints of this system, the FLEX block signups and attendance has fallen significantly. The sign up is frustrating due to the
framework of PowerSchool and the unpredictability of the schools Wi-Fi network.
Hence, a large portion of the student body is leaving the learning environment
completely. Where FLEX provides opportunities to students, who require intervention
supports and progress monitoring (especially important to the 15%-20% who are not
meeting learning targets) they must attend for this to be true (Johnson & Smith, 2011).

RESTRUCTURE OF FLEX BLOCK

The implementation of FLEX as a three-day schedule has created much confusion

at Hunting Hills. With the inclusion of FLEX, Hunting Hills have moved from two class
schedules to six. This has worked against creating a supportive learning environment due
to the lack of structure and consistency (Shannon & Bylsma, 2007). With collaboration
and communication by the wayside, stakeholders are struggling to find time to develop
relationships, do joint work and share in a positive learning community (Shannon &
Bylsma, 2007).
The teacher experience of FLEX has not experienced the success expected. More
than a third of the teachers at Hunting Hills reported that they rarely/never have time for
themselves for a break, lunch or quiet time on FLEX days (Hunting Hills High School,
2015b). 47.8% report that FLEX does not help make balancing their own interests and
workload more manageable (28.3% undecided) (Hunting Hills High School, 2015b). For
collaboration and communication, teachers must exist in a caring and productive
environment where they can embrace positive attitudes and develop positive relationships
with all stakeholders (Shannon & Bylsma, 2007). 63.1% of the teachers disagree that
FLEX has helped to reduce their homework and 44.6% of them feel they have not
strengthened their connection with colleagues through FLEX (with 41.3% undecided)
(Hunting Hills High School, 2015b). The survivalist nature of these results bring into
question the ability of teachers to find balance while still striving for effort-based ability
(helping students to achieve to his/her ability) (Shannon & Bylsma, 2007).
The great need to restructure FLEX to address the discrepancies in attendance,

scheduling and teacher experience is evident. While the benefits of offering students
choice are clear, more guidance is needed to help students use the time effectively. As a

RESTRUCTURE OF FLEX BLOCK

school, Hunting Hills needs to move away from a model of entitlement to a model of
privilege (Administration council, personal communication, May 13, 2015). Until the
environment of FLEX is an established culture, the FLEX block must have an
accountability piece that helps with high school completion by implementing
interventions to increase attendance and address learning gaps (Hunting Hills High
School, 2014a; Red Deer Public School District, 2015c). This accountability will also
develop Response to Intervention by enabling students to partake in a pyramid of
intervention whereby they can access universal, targeted or specific intervention
strategies on a need by need basis so that high standards and expectations for all students
can be (Red Deer Public School District, 2015c; Shannon & Bylsma, 2007).
In action, this accountability piece must take the form of attendance and a fluid
structure that is orderly without being rigid (Shannon & Bylsma, 2007). This
accountability will address three pitfalls of the current system: failure to retain students
who are behind, failure to retain students who are missing key concepts, and failure to
reward students who have met the desirable quality of achievement based on content and
performance standards during FLEX (Shannon & Bylsma, 2007). Students who are
behind will be assigned FLEX sessions in a Learning Commons with access to teachers
from every discipline, furthering Huntings high standards and expectations for all
students (Shannon & Bylsma, 2007). This will create life chances for the students to
succeed (Hunting Hills High School, 2014a). Students who have missed key concepts
will enter into the Response to Intervention model by attending FLEX sessions that
address the big rocks of their courses. These sessions will be based around concentrated
instruction, using identified essential skills and knowledge, and will employ a variety of

RESTRUCTURE OF FLEX BLOCK

teaching styles and techniques to meet the needs of the learner (Red Deer Public School
District, 2015b). The strong focus and high engagement offered will increase engagement
and retain students while improving their knowledge base (Shannon & Bylsma, 2007).
Students who have balanced their workload will use the model of privilege to have
freedom to choose how to spend their FLEX blocks. In short, students will earn the
privilege to have freedom of choice through attaining and maintaining a high standard of
effort-based ability, meaning they are working the best of their abilities (Shannon &
Bylsma, 2007)
The scheduling of FLEX needs to move to a more consistent structure in order to
facilitate the needs of all stakeholders. This will allow for higher levels of collaboration
and communication (Shannon & Bylsma, 2007). To create a better school climate and
established culture, the new schedule will provide a strong foundation for learning
communities to embed themselves regularly into the framework of any given school day
(Shannon & Bylsma, 2007).
In action, this means that FLEX must move from three times a week to everyday
(Administration council, personal communication, May 13, 2015). While considering
course content and instructional hours, this means that the current FLEX block will be
reduced to 30-35 minutes (Administration council, personal communication, May 13,
2015). This change in schedule should improve Huntings supportive learning
environments while also addressing equity in the building by provision of learning
opportunities (Shannon & Bylsma, 2007; Hunting Hills High School, 2014a)
The teacher experience of FLEX leaves something to be desired. While the
previous suggestions of attendance and scheduling changes will affect (and potentially

RESTRUCTURE OF FLEX BLOCK

benefit) teachers, more must be done. The survivalist nature of Hunting Hills teachers
must be changed to offer increased staff capacity, a caring and productive environment
and positive and caring relationships (Shannon & Bylsma, 2007).
Suggested methods for this improvement include: scheduling FLEX sessions for
students/selves, embedding professional development related to district/school goals and
providing more collaboration/communication opportunities to stakeholders. Specific
scheduling of FLEX blocks will allow teachers to balance offering support and taking
time for themselves (Shannon & Bylsma, 2007). Professional development in the areas
of High School Redesign, Response to Intervention, and other applicable educational
reforms are desperately needed. Providing transparency and education to teachers will
enable educators to have sustained engagement so that they can share in their schools
vision, creating a climate of support and respect (Shannon & Bylsma, 2007). Suggestions
for providing opportunities for collaboration and communication include: non-threatening
peer observations, scheduled collaboration time amongst colleagues during FLEX and
further development of relationships through staff interactions (in and outside of school).
Flexible learning environments have great potential. Restructuring and adjusting
the FLEX block at Hunting Hills will address concerns and enable FLEX to continue to
grow. The evolution of FLEX to its full potential will result in meeting the district/school
goals of equity and high school completion while also establishing high standards and
expectations for all students and high levels of collaboration and communication in a
supportive learning environment (Hunting Hills High School, 2014a; Red Deer Public
School District, 2015a; Shannon & Bylsma, 2007).

RESTRUCTURE OF FLEX BLOCK

7
References

Alberta Education. (2015). Foundational principles for high school redesign; flexible
learning environments. Retrieved from
https://ideas.education.alberta.ca/media/74565/flexiblelearning.pdf
Hunting Hills High School. (2014a). School education plan. Red Deer Public Schools.
Red Deer, AB.
Hunting Hills High School. (2014b). Year-end student survey. Red Deer Public Schools.
Red Deer, AB.
Hunting Hills High School. (2015a). Student FLEX survey midpoint. Red Deer Public
Schools. Red Deer, AB.
Hunting Hills High School. (2015b). Teacher FLEX survey midpoint. Red Deer Public
Schools. Red Deer, AB.
Red Deer Public School District. (2015a). District education plan priorities. Retrieved
from http://www.rdpsd.ab.ca/documents/general/DistrictEdPlan-print.pdf
Red Deer Public School District. (2015b). Response to intervention at Normandeau
school.
Red Deer Public School District. (2015c). WTE May retreat.
Shannon, G. S., & Bylsma, P. (2007). The nine characteristics of high-performing
schools: A research-based resource for schools and districts to assist with improving
student learning (2nd Ed.). Olympia, WA: Office of the Superintendent of Public
Instruction.