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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Better Building Blocks? High Schools Trying Longer Classes On Fewer Topics

Carla K. Johnson Staff writer

Amber Sandman strolled into her first-period class at Lakeside High School north of Spokane and settled in for 85 minutes of English.

Fifteen minutes ticked by for the Pledge of Allegiance, attendance and other preliminaries. Then teacher Odette Rubright asked students to write a warm-up exercise.

The topic: “Comment on something that is happening in the world today.”

Sandman got to work.

“I wrote about poverty and stuff,” the 15-year-old said later. “I don’t have time to keep up with what’s happening in the world today.”

Three years ago, Lakeside High switched to longer classes and a four-period day to become the first area high school to try what educators call block scheduling.

Two other Inland Northwest schools are preparing to change to longer classes in the fall. Others are studying the low-cost innovation, which is gaining in popularity among U.S. high schools.

Can students stay awake for longer classes? Yes, say advocates, if teachers change the way they teach. Creating enough time for more exciting, hands-on, real-world learning is the main argument for block scheduling.

Few researchers have studied the new schedules so there’s not much evidence they can boost test scores. Some schools with longer classes report lower dropout and class failure rates, and higher attendance and grade-point averages.

Fans say block scheduling almost guarantees more in-depth learning. Detractors call it window dressing, a visible change high schools can cite when asked what they’re doing to improve.

“Block scheduling will be a catalyst to get people thinking about changing the way they teach,” said University of Minnesota researcher Carol Freeman, who studies block scheduling in that state.

“I personally think this schedule has gained popularity because it’s an easier schedule for teachers and for kids,” countered an admittedly cynical Bruce Caldwell, executive manager of the Washington Music Educators Association.

Block scheduling works like this at Lakeside: Students attend four classes a day, each lasting 85 minutes. Classes that once took a year, now finish in half the time.

Sandman takes English, trigonometry, Spanish and world history this semester. That’s plenty, she said.

“It’s a lot less stressful, so you can concentrate on your classes,” she said.

Advocates of longer classes say good riddance to the impersonal, chopped-up instruction of the traditional six-period day. Block scheduling reduces discipline problems; fewer class changes mean fewer chances for students to jostle one another in the halls.

Critics argue teachers resort to filling time with movies or homework. In some new schedules, teachers cover less material because there are actually fewer minutes per class credit.

In Idaho, Plummer’s Lakeside High School may switch next year from a new four-period day to a five-period day.

“Everybody is in agreement that 96 minutes is too long, at least the way we currently teach. With time it would work,” said Principal Kurt Hoffman.

Band, orchestra and choir teachers say the four-period day forces students to drop out of music. Fewer periods mean more schedule conflicts. Once students drop band or orchestra, they don’t come back, said Caldwell of the Washington music educators’ group.

While the debate sizzles in education magazines, conference workshops and computer bulletin boards, schools with block schedules are popular destinations for educators considering the change.

“I visited Omak, Moses Lake and Vancouver. We’ve sent teams down to Colorado,” said Jon Allan, a chemistry teacher at University High School in the Central Valley district, which is considering the change.

“Everywhere we go we ask, ‘Would you go back to a six-period day?’ The students, the parents and the teachers have all said no. You hear that often enough, you think maybe there is a better system for the kids.”

Almost 10 percent of Washington’s 331 public high schools use block scheduling. Idaho schools also are experimenting with alternative schedules, but the state does not track those numbers.

Do longer classes lead to better students?

In one small study, Freeman, a research associate at the University of Minnesota’s College of Education, studied four comparable high schools - two with four-period schedules and two with seven-period schedules.

Grades were higher at the four-period schools. But scores on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills and ACT college admission tests showed nothing to favor either schedule.

Students at the four-period schools were more involved during classes and liked school better than their counterparts elsewhere.

Tinkering with schedules alone won’t guarantee better learning, said Brown University researcher Patricia Wasley, who describes herself as a block scheduling advocate.

Wasley took part in a three-year study that tracked 150 students through high school. She listened during meetings in which well-intentioned teachers made scheduling decisions based on what worked best for them.

“Teachers start thinking, ‘My curriculum isn’t suited for a longer block’ or ‘Boy, I would love to have a longer time and the curriculum would really benefit’ or ‘I can’t hold kids’ attention for that long.’

“What they don’t investigate at the outset is: How do kids learn best and what kinds of things do we do to enhance the way kids learn?”

Teachers who fill the longer periods with more of the same - more math problems, more lectures, more movies - should not expect any educational gain, Wasley said.

Teachers who use the time for deep discussion of a novel, research projects in the community or field study outside the school have the right idea.

“What parents want is for their children to come home from school jazzed,” she said. “They want their kids to come to the dinner table saying, ‘You wouldn’t believe what we did today.”’

One recent Friday at Lakeside High, Amber Sandman’s day went like this: In first period, she worked on a paper about John Steinbeck’s novel “The Pearl.”

In second period, she watched her teacher demonstrate math problems, then worked some equations using a computer program.

In third period, she learned some Spanish, made a Mexican flag and watched a videotape about Cinco de Mayo, a holiday celebrating an 1862 Mexican victory over the French.

In fourth period, she heard a presentation about the Vietnam War by two other students. One student brought her father, a Vietnam veteran, who gave an emotional account of how he grew cynical about American involvement in the war.

“It wasn’t our war,” said Dan Bunn, near tears. “What we were doing over there was trying out our military strategy against Communism.”

It was the most riveting moment of the school day, but Sandman barely heard. She had fallen asleep.

At 1:30 p.m., with 40 minutes before the final bell, she awoke with a start when the class applauded Bunn’s presentation.

“Sometimes I can’t keep my eyes open,” she admitted later.

Teachers probably will always struggle to hold teenagers’ interests, said Freeman.

“I still saw bored kids (at the four-period day schools), but they were less bored and teachers were making more attempts to vary the activity,” she said. “If we don’t pursue those more intensive activities, block scheduling will just be another schedule.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 Color)

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: High schools making switch Two Spokane-area high schools will convert to block scheduling in the fall and several others are studying the change. Shadle Park High will switch to a three-period per day schedule in September. Students still will take six courses at a time on alternating days. Four days a week, classes will be 100-minutes long. The fifth day will be a traditional schedule. Shadle will hold a meeting for parents at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the school to explain the system. Teachers are studying alternative teaching methods and plan to compile a tips book, said teacher Joyce Simpson, who heads Shadle’s governing committee. Freeman High School, southeast of Spokane, will move from its seven-period day to a five-period day in the fall. Students will take three 90-minute classes and two 45-minute classes. The shorter classes will include band, choir and advanced placement calculus. In the Spokane Valley, Central Valley High and University High are considering a change to a four-period day, trimester schedule. The Central Valley School Board will hear public comment on the plan at a special meeting at 7 p.m. May 23 in CV High. In Plummer, Idaho, Lakeside High School is in its first year of a four-period day. The school may switch to a five-period day next year. A committee of teachers at Spokane’s Lewis and Clark High is studying block scheduling. Mead High School teachers voted to put the matter on hold while the district opens a new high school. - Carla K. Johnson

This sidebar appeared with the story: High schools making switch Two Spokane-area high schools will convert to block scheduling in the fall and several others are studying the change. Shadle Park High will switch to a three-period per day schedule in September. Students still will take six courses at a time on alternating days. Four days a week, classes will be 100-minutes long. The fifth day will be a traditional schedule. Shadle will hold a meeting for parents at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the school to explain the system. Teachers are studying alternative teaching methods and plan to compile a tips book, said teacher Joyce Simpson, who heads Shadle’s governing committee. Freeman High School, southeast of Spokane, will move from its seven-period day to a five-period day in the fall. Students will take three 90-minute classes and two 45-minute classes. The shorter classes will include band, choir and advanced placement calculus. In the Spokane Valley, Central Valley High and University High are considering a change to a four-period day, trimester schedule. The Central Valley School Board will hear public comment on the plan at a special meeting at 7 p.m. May 23 in CV High. In Plummer, Idaho, Lakeside High School is in its first year of a four-period day. The school may switch to a five-period day next year. A committee of teachers at Spokane’s Lewis and Clark High is studying block scheduling. Mead High School teachers voted to put the matter on hold while the district opens a new high school. - Carla K. Johnson