ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, January 18, 1996 TAG: 9601180043
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: AMOREENA RANCK AND RACHEL THOMPSON
RECENTLY the issue of four-by-four (semester) block scheduling at Blacksburg High School has been raised. Many students and teachers oppose this idea. One teacher has even threatened to quit, and many students would no longer wish to attend if the school switched to this type of block scheduling. There are many good reasons why people are willing to take drastic measures against what they consider wrong for our high school.
Consider why they might want to set up block scheduling. The major reason is overcrowding, which is indeed a growing problem, but other reasons include keeping students out of the halls so they cause fewer discipline problems, hopes for a reduced dropout rate, and the ability of teachers to cover more material. Yet the reasons why block scheduling isn't appropriate for our school outweigh these.
Discipline problems wouldn't be reduced if students were in the halls less. Since they would be in one classroom twice as long, the problems likely would increase because there would be more tension among students. Those who don't get along would be stuck with each other for a longer period of time.
Another theory is that if a senior failed 12th-grade English in the first semester, he or she could retake it in the second semester, and have a greater chance of not having to repeat a grade so he or she could graduate on time. But in reality it wouldn't work so nicely. There would be students who, because of their dislike for block scheduling and the increased difficulties that come with it, would drop out, where they wouldn't have before.
What's more, teachers would not be able to cover more material. Lecturing a full 90 minutes (class time in block scheduling) is very hard, and it is even harder for students to pay attention that long. The average adult's attention span is less than 20 minutes, so how can teen-agers be expected to listen to one teacher for 90 minutes? Even if the entire class period was not used for lecture and some time was devoted to homework, that would mean there would actually be less class time, since teachers now rarely use class time to let students do homework.
There's also a limit to how fast any student can learn. People require a certain number of days, not class periods, to do work and to learn things. Take, for example, English novels. It takes a certain number of days to read a novel, and if students only had one semester to do the work, they wouldn't be able to read as many novels. And imagine trying to learn 400 years of American history in 18 weeks. This is what would have to be done for advanced-placement U.S. history classes.
Other schools that have had four-by-four block scheduling for several years have done studies to compare grades and Scholastic Assessment Test scores. While the percentage of students on the honor roll increased, there was a drop in the average SAT scores. The honor roll only shows how a student does according to the standards of the school, which could have been lowered because of various problems with block scheduling. But SAT scores compare how students do on a national level. And if they drop, the lowered standards of the school seem a likely reason.
The recent snow storms bring up another problem with this type of block scheduling. We missed a week of school, which in a normal school year of 36 weeks is bad enough. But out of a session only 18 weeks long, it could be devastating. The impact is increased if this immense amount of time missed comes near time for the final exams. Exams have to be rescheduled or canceled, which affects a student's record and experience with taking final exams.
There are good reasons for block scheduling, but the disadvantages of four-by-four are too great. It would disrupt the learning environment and the population of Blacksburg High School. An alternate form of block scheduling, such as alternating days or even weeks, would be preferable.
Yes, there are problems with the way the school is now, but four-by-four would simply create more problems, and not really solve those for which it was designed.
Amoreena Ranck and Rachel Thompson are students at Blacksburg High School.
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