Every 7th grade student at Oxford Academy takes a semester of College and Career Readiness (CCR) followed by an additional year for most eighth graders. CCR aims to create an equitable support system for students of varying backgrounds and skills by offering in-class tutoring and teaching study strategies. While CCR is a theoretically inclusive endeavor, its current implementation fails to address students’ individual needs due to its simplification of study methods and productivity into a one-size-fits-all approach. To meet its goals, Oxford’s CCR curriculum must reconfigure to form personalized work routines for students, incorporating strategies that utilize their distinct strengths.
With increasing academic demands, students need to follow an efficient study routine to maximize time and performance. However, many approach this process uncertain about which of the various strategies to select and utilize. Many understand the need to study, yet lack guidance in attempting these concepts. Thus, some turn to external resources like after-school tutoring classes with a tailored structure for each student. However, high prices for these services limit accessibility.
In theory, CCR is Oxford’s solution to this disparity, educating students of all backgrounds on study methods and developing sustainable routines by emphasizing productivity and organization. The CCR curriculum is modeled from Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), a nationwide in-school academic support program.
CCR’s overgeneralized structure defeats the purpose of a class aimed to support students in developing strong academic habits, enforcing overused strategies as superior to other methods that may better suit individual needs.
CCR aims to “close the achievement gap…and offer systems of support for them to be better students, regardless of where they’re at,” Oxford’s AVID Coordinator Mrs. Fabiana Muench Casanova said.
In classroom practice, however, CCR becomes redundant, enforcing hackneyed strategies like the Pomodoro timer and Cornell notes — study methods students can easily find with a quick internet search. Several CCR classes mandate use of Oxford’s student planner, offering no alternative organizational tools. CCR’s overgeneralized structure defeats the purpose of a class aimed to support students in developing strong academic habits, enforcing overused strategies as superior to other methods that may better suit individual needs.
While study hall time blocks in CCR may be useful to those who take productive advantage of it by seeking assistance from in-class tutors and making progress on homework assignments, unstructured study halls do not guide students’ self-study habits. Though some students simply choose not to use study halls efficiently, meeting one-on-one with students to set up personalized study and time management plans would help students use these periods to put them into practice.
Despite its empowering initiatives, Oxford’s current CCR curriculum calls for reform to more thoroughly meet student needs. Instead of overemphasizing specific study habits only effective for some, CCR must prioritize an individualized approach to productivity, aiding in developing a plan tailored to their personal strengths.
