BLOCK SCHEDULES

Blocking out stress

3erforming arts classes such as orchestra may struggle with a blocN schedule due to the need for repetitive practice Photo used with permission of Tiger Tracks Yearbook.

,67(3 modifi ed schedule acts as test for future

Andrew Haughey haughand000@hsestudents.org

Some students may wonder why the school is running on the schedule it is during the ISTEP testing period for sophomores. A number of problems with the current schedule has forced the school board to adapt by producing new ideas.

One of these ideas was shortening the school day and adjusting starting and ending times for all schools in the district in order to reap the benefi ts of a threetier busing schedule, _hich _as decided on at a school board meeting on Feb. 12. *y changing the schedule for ne`t year, the district has shown its willingness to implement new ideas. Another idea that has been circulated relates to the structure of the school day itself: block schedules. 6eedless to say, the blocS schedule is a big adjustment to make from the normal seven period day for teachers and students aliSe, but it comes _ith its benefi ts.

According to the National Education )ssociation 6-), blocS scheduling can help decrease the amount of information students have to process in a day, pave the _ay for individualized learning and give teachers more time to plan lessons. *locS and modifi ed schedules allow students to focus on only one subject at a time with few interruptions and transitions. These transitions force students to switch from one class to another _ith little time in bet_een, causing unnecessary stress.

<he 6-) sho_ed that during the school year, the number of students with extreme levels of stress was about 14% higher than during the summer. Schools hope block schedules slow down the day and give students a higher quality of education _ith less home_orS, reducing stress. One of the major concerns brought up frequently is a lack of continuity. The block schedule forces teachers to see their students only three to four times per week depending on the mold the district chooses to adopt. This poses a major problem to educators attempting to teach )8 courses, performing arts, foreign languages and mathematics which all require repetition to master, according to a study on blocS scheduling

conducted by Brown University.

This concern has been proven to have no justifi cation. ) study by the )merican )ssociation for School Superintendents showed that there _as no signifi cant reduction in enrollment or instructional quality of the performing arts _hen the blocS schedule allo_ed for a yearlong participation in the course. )dditionally, the study stated that longer periods of study in subjects such as foreign languages actually increased student learning and that there _as no longterm loss of information.

A normal school day with this schedule would not have a ! minute test thro_n in every other day for one of its grade levels. 1nstead, the period in which sophomores take ISTEP would become an open period that functions as a study hall, a time for clubs to meet and a period _here students can ask teachers for help.

)t 0illcrest 0igh ;chool in ;pringfi eld, 5issouri, the schedule has been running on a blocS system since !!. <hree teachers there, :obert *arnes, 2oyce ;traton, and 5ary =Sena, all claim that the reason the transition from a traditional seven period day to a block schedule was successful was because the other teachers at the school were cooperative and willing to abandon previous teaching strategies in favor of learning new strategies that worked to keep students active and willing to participate. These strategies revolve around a simple rotation of teacherled activities and studentled activities. )dditionally, the schedule during one blocS is adjusted to cover diff erent subtopics _ithin a subject to hold attention.

Although some students may not like it because it is not a ¹real” blocS schedule, there is no other way. If the schedule were to be tested during a _eeS other than the 1;<-8 _eeS, it may maSe some students feel as if they are wasting their time. )lso, the benefi ts to the blocS schedule make ignoring the opportunity to test it out now a missed opportunity. If the school wants to decrease stress of students and intensify learning at the same time, there is no better option. justifi cation. ) study by the )merican )ssociation participation in the course. )dditionally, the study stated that longer periods of study in subjects such Although some students may not like it because *raphic by $ndrew +aughey