Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for November 26, 2007 BLOCK SCHEDULING...OUT?

Harrisburg schools may drop block scheduling

By Kay Herstedt, FOR THE SOUTHERN

HARRISBURG - As teachers, high school curriculum committee chair Janet Hughes and teacher Cathy Wall have a different perspective on block scheduling.

Last month, Superintendent Dennis Smith told school board members in light of the district's falling test scores, he had recommended a return to a traditional academic schedule or a mixture of traditional and block schedules. The high school went to a block schedule in the 1999-2000 school year.

Hughes and Wall found a lack of traditional research on block scheduling. They researched 24 high schools in Southern Illinois and found that Harrisburg High School fell in the middle of reading, math, and ACT scores. The eight schools that had better test scores are on a traditional schedule.

Actual instructional minutes differ under the two schedules, and returning to having study halls is a concern. The teachers pointed out financial considerations of returning to a traditional schedule, such as increased costs for textbooks and lab glassware since more students would need the items simultaneously.

All things considered, they concluded that most of the district's teachers and students favor staying with the block schedule.

"The teachers took the side of the block schedule. I'm more in the middle," Smith said. "I can't say that changing the schedule will cause the scores to go back up. Test scores mean something. There's a reason why they're going down. We have a problem here because the state judges us by test scores."

Smith asked the board members to make up their minds at the Dec. 18 school board meeting regarding the block schedule based on the two reports. He also asked them to commit to that decision for three to five years.