For seven periods a day, Rolling Meadows High School students march to a hectic, however typical, class schedule–running to lockers, running to class, switching books, hour after hour.
It’s a routine that leaves little time for hanging out with friends in the hallways or talking to teachers after class.
But after four years of tedious research by school administrators, this frenetic routine is about to change as the school adopts a new form of arranging class periods called “block scheduling.”
Block scheduling, gaining in popularity nationwide, is intended to give students more time to immerse themselves in their studies, rather than waste precious learning time switching from one class period to the next.
“In my 32 years in this business, this is the most drastic change I have made,” Rolling Meadows Principal Jack Elliott said. “My hope is, by Christmas, people will feel comfortable.”
Block scheduling is so-named because each period is a block of roughly 90 minutes, about 30 minutes longer than normal. This fall, the 1,900 students at Rolling Meadows will take four 90-minute classes daily. Students will take a total of eight courses, each of which will meet every other day.
Teachers will be able to accomplish more in one class period, providing the students with continuity and more time to absorb what is taught, Elliott predicted. In a science class, for example, students will have time in one day to set up, perform and reflect on an experiment that might take three days to complete in the more traditional-length periods.
“We know kids learn more when they are actively involved in the process, which offers more flexibility,” Elliott said. “What we noticed at the schools we’ve visited is there seems to be a less hectic pace, a more relaxed learning environment. A calming atmosphere promotes learning.”
But despite such strong indications that block scheduling can be effective, some districts are leery of the concept because it could provide students with more time for elective courses, which may require more teachers.
Some teachers worry students may get bored in these extended class periods and they may not be able to retain as much information when the same class does not meet every day.
Proponents, however, argue that the process improves student retention.
As the nation focuses more on education and test scores, educators are turning to a host of time-based education reforms that first surfaced in the 1960s. At that time, educational psychologist John Carroll espoused the idea that both slow and fast learners would gain knowledge if given enough class time to soak up a lesson.
In the 1996-1997 school year, block scheduling was used at high schools in Batavia, Carpentersville, Lemont, Morris, Mundelein and Richton Park.
This fall, several more high schools in the region are testing the college-style scheduling, and schools including Hoffman Estates High School are researching the idea. One of Chicago’s most troubled schools, Von Humboldt Elementary, is trying out block scheduling for a select number of its middle-school-age students.
In all, more than 50 schools in Illinois–many of them Downstate–use some form of block scheduling.
But it will take years of tests and evaluation to determine whether block scheduling really improves learning in the classroom.
Rolling Meadows is committed to the concept for five years, in hopes of bolstering test scores and to see whether teachers and students like the new schedule, said Barbara Horler, the principal at Hersey High School in Arlington Heights and a proponent of block scheduling.
This model of class planning has crept into high schools in North Carolina, Colorado and some Southwestern states. But when Horler’s committee began investigating the program four years ago, it was virtually unknown in northern Illinois, she said.
Rolling Meadows administrators said they are committed to making block scheduling work without having to hire more teachers. Instead, they are giving students an extra study period to foster study habits typical of a college schedule. Roughly 88 percent of the high school’s graduates go on to college.
For students, the biggest reprieve may be from the overwhelming amount of homework that comes with studying for seven subjects every night. With block scheduling, a teen can focus on math and science homework one night, and history and language the next.
———-
MORE ON THE INTERNET:
Visit Digital City Arlington Heights at chicago.digitalcity.com/
arlingtonheights for a profile with new Hersey High School Principal Barbara Horler and links to Web sites on block scheduling.
