Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 6, 1994 TAG: 9402060073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN BARNES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
Liberty High School Principal DeWitt House wants to introduce block-scheduling into his school next fall.
Block-scheduling would change the current school day - which is broken down into seven classes of 45 minutes each - into four 90-minute classes each semester.
He may be looking to William Fleming and Patrick Henry high schools in Roanoke to see if it works. Students there started a different type of block-scheduling last fall - spending alternating days in three two-hour-long classes.
Both House and Roanoke educators say block-scheduling allows students more hands-on learning, reduces time spent reviewing subjects, and produces other benefits as well.
"It will allow [students] to concentrate on fewer things and hopefully do better," House said. "It's a much better utilization of teachers and staff."
Fleming's principal recently collected surveys on block-scheduling's first semester from students, parents and teachers. The results were overwhelmingly positive, Alyce Szathmary said.
Parents responded they thought it prepared their children for college better, helped self-discipline, gave the students more time to complete larger projects, and focused more attention on subjects, allowing kids to learn more, she said.
The mother of a freshman who is in learning disabled classes in Fleming approves of the new schedule. "For him, it's done a wonderful job of keeping him on task," Mercedes James said. "It's the first time in his school career he's gotten an honor roll report card."
The main negative comment on the returned surveys from parents dealt with waning attention spans. Two hours is a long time to keep a student's mind occupied, they responded.
Teachers agreed. Their main complaint was having to teach all day without much opportunity to plan, they replied. "It requires an adjustment in teaching methodology," Szathmary said.
The schedule at Fleming will be evaluated and probably changed next school year to accommodate the teachers' need for planning time, she said.
All levels of students, from academic achievers and vocational students to those who fail a class, would gain through block-scheduling, House said.
At Liberty, students would move from seven classes a year to eight. That allows students more flexibility in choosing electives, House said.
Vocational students who already operate on a two-hour class schedule would easily adjust to the new configuration.
Students who fail classes would be able to stay on grade level through a semester system. "One of the first things that attracted us to this was the chance to reteach those students who didn't get it the first time around," House said.
Students could retake a class immediately after having it the first time instead of waiting a year or having to pay for summer school, he said.
The idea, which House first proposed last year, will be presented to the Bedford County School Board soon.
House will face some tough questions from School Board members and Superintendent John Kent the second time around.
Kent wants to know how much changing the schedule will cost: Will more teachers need to be hired? How can the credit system - which gives three credits for four-hour vocational classes and four credits for the same amount of time in a regular academic class - be evened out? Would early college admissions prospects be hurt by the new schedule since students may not have completed graduation requirements by the first semester deadline? What if a student opted to graduate early but still wanted to participate in spring sports?
School Board Chairman Ben Schrader responded enthusiastically to block-scheduling, but shares Kent's concerns.
House is hoping for a decision by March.
Fleming's Szathmary offered advice to Bedford teachers if block-scheduling is approved. "You need to think about staff development early and teacher redevelopment to learn to change the way they teach."
Staff writer Laura Williamson contributed information for this story.
by CNB