Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 11, 1995 TAG: 9503130034
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELISSA DeVAUGHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Block scheduling increases the number and length of classes a student takes, yet only adds 10 to 15 extra minutes to each school day.
Several parents and one student spoke out against such a change at Tuesday night's School Board meeting. Some were concerned they didn't know enough about the program; others worried it would limit students' chances to take band and chorus.
But the two principals who want to use it at their high schools say they were never given a chance to explain the positive attributes of the program.
If approved by the School Board, block scheduling, also called four-by-four scheduling, will be implemented at Christiansburg and Shawsville high schools next fall. By then, more than a third of Virginia's public high schools will likely be using a similar schedule.
Christiansburg and Shawsville students currently take the same seven 45-minute classes per day each year. Under the new schedule, they would take four 90-minute classes per semester, allowing them to complete eight classes per year.
Shawsville Principal Nelson Simpkins said 100 percent of his teachers support block scheduling. Many students do, too.
At Christiansburg High School, "people keep asking me to give them the negative sides of [block scheduling]," said Principal George Porterfield. "But every time I give them a negative, there are just four or five positives."
The primary positive, he said, is that teachers are able to use their time more efficiently. Students will spend more time in classes and less time in the halls between classes. Porterfield estimated a saving of close to 40 minutes per day.
Science teacher Kurt Grosshans agreed.
"Take for example, the frog lab," Grosshans said. "Right now it takes a biology teacher three classes to get the lab done."
Grosshans said that between setting up for the lab and cleaning up afterward, a student gets only a fraction of real working time during class.
In block scheduling, the lab could probably be accomplished in a day. Also, the longer classes would allow teachers to be more creative with their lesson plans, he said.
Christiansburg guidance counselor Sally Bohland said the block schedule will limit the number of performing arts classes a student can take simultaneously. But they still should have ample opportunity to take those classes overall, she said.
Few students would choose to take both band and chorus at the same time, Bohland said.
Furthermore, she added, class conflicts are inevitable with any schedule.
Porterfield noted that class sizes under the block schedule are likely to be reduced because students will be spread over an eight-course school year.
"And teachers will be able to get to know their students better, too," Bohland added.
Under the block schedule, teachers will have between 50 and 75 students per semester. They currently work with 100-145 students everyday, all year long.
Porterfield and a group of teachers have been studying the block schedule concept for more than two years, visiting schools and examining data.
Pulaski County High School, which has been on a block schedule for two years, reports that 90 percent of the students prefer the 90-minute classes. Ninety-four percent of the teachers prefer the block schedule, as do 90 percent of parents.
"When we moved to a block system, attendance continued to improve," said Pulaski Principal Tom DeBolt. "We're in the 94th percentile in attendance and our kids are more successful. It's easier to come to school when you only have four classes to worry about."
Discipline problems are down, DeBolt said, and grades are up.
The Montgomery County School Board will have a work session on Block Scheduling, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. at the School Board office in Christiansburg. The public is invited to attend, but there will be no public address time at the meeting.
A public hearing will be held Wednesday at 7 p.m. at both Christiansburg and Shawsville high schools for those wishing to speak on the issue.
by CNB