Taking Four A Day Valley High Schools Debate Pros, Cons Of Changing The Traditional School Day

Jenna Freeman has trouble with mitosis.

The complicated process of cell division goes “pshooo, right over my head,” said the Freeman High School senior, waving a hand back over her ponytail.

Freeman - a star on the school’s math team - thinks she’d understand mitosis better if she had more time to absorb it in the classroom.

She’s one of a growing number of students, teachers and administrators at Freeman, a district south of the Spokane Valley, who advocate changing the high school’s schedule from a seven periods a day to four.

Students now attend seven 50-minute classes each day with four-minute breaks in between. Seven teachers stack on homework assignments, seven books weigh down students’ backpacks and seven subjects are listed on report cards.

Proponents of a four-period day - a scheduling option gaining popularity throughout the country - say that’s too much for students to handle. They say students change classes too often and have too many subjects to keep straight, which doesn’t allow time for real understanding of anything.

In a four-period day, with 90 minutes to study each subject, students would benefit from more hands-on experience and interaction with the teacher, advocates say.

“Memorization brings high scores, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to be ready for life,” said Linda Wigen, a Freeman High School parent. “I want (my son) to learn by doing.”

Students also would finish eight classes in a year, as opposed to seven, because in each of the two semesters, students would complete a year’s worth of work in four classes.

Many parents are unconvinced and worried the district might change an already excellent system for no reason. At one of many public meetings held by the committee that researched the four-period day, parents loudly voiced a variety of concerns.

Those opposing the proposed format worry about continuity of subjects. If students finish a year of math first semester and don’t take it again the next, won’t the time lapse be too great?

Another concern centers around grade point averages of at-risk students. If a failed class is averaged in with only three other grades, won’t that be too damaging for a student’s GPA? one parent asked.

And what’s wrong with the old system anyway?

Panel members tried to convince parents that the four-period day option had been thoroughly researched and was a step forward for the district.

“We don’t want students to be guinea pigs,” said teacher and committee member Jackie Babin. This is not change for change’s sake, she said.

A final recommendation will be made to the school board on April 27.

Of Washington’s 296 school districts, 33 have signed onto the four-period day within the past three years, the state Superintendent of Public Instruction’s office reported.

While researching the new schedule, members of Freeman’s committee talked to people at school districts in Oregon, Texas, North Carolina, California and Colorado.

They visited nine of the 30 schools they examined while researching the new format.

Most schools have been on the format for only two to three years and initial results look good, committee members say. More students are taking standardized tests, indicating confidence level is up, and grade point averages have risen.

Omak High School was one of the first schools in Eastern Washington to switch to the new schedule. Omak officials researched student grade point averages over a three-year period, before and after beginning the four-period day. They found that GPAs rose from an average of 1.63 to 2.19.

Many schools in the state are searching for ways to deliver education better, partly because of a new state law.

A 1993 educational reform law lays out several mandates for education and what must be provided for students to succeed. The law is commonly referred to as House Bill 1209.

Partly to meet this mandate, all Valley school districts have been examining alternatives to the traditional six- and seven-period days.

For example, this is the first year West Valley High School has been on a seven-period alternating schedule. Three days per week, students attend classes on a traditional seven-period, 48-minutes-per-class schedule.

The other two days, classes are blocked into 95-minute periods, giving science teachers more time to run complicated labs, at-risk students time for tutoring and other teachers time to collaborate and plan teamteaching.

A recent survey of West Valley High students showed that 70 percent preferred the new format and wanted it to continue.

Not all schools have been successful with suggestions of change. University High School tested the waters for the four-period day three years ago.

Although more than 50 percent of the parents surveyed favored the change, said Principal Dennis Hill, a vocal minority shot it down.

“We just got clobbered,” Hill said. “The community wasn’t ready for it. They don’t want their kids experimented with.”

U-Hi is still looking at innovation, such as school-to-work transition programs, larger blocks of time for specific classes and other ideas.

“We haven’t been sitting on our hands for sure,” Hill said.

East Valley and Central Valley high schools also are examining other options, but have not taken any dramatic steps.

Central Valley has experimented with extended time blocks, combining subjects such as history and English in back-to-back classes.

“When you change periods six times per day, it’s pretty hard to make any substantial connection with adults,” said CV Principal Paul Sturm.

A committee at CV also is studying different scheduling options. It looks like students need more time with each subject, Sturm said, but the high school is not ready to make any big changes.

“There’s no system that’s a panacea,” he said. “If we make a change, we want it to be for the right reasons and know that we’re not making more problems than we’re solving.”