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What Kind of Class Schedule do Students Need?
» Terry Gatlin - Beecher Herald - 10.23.08


At the Wednesday school board meeting, board members heard about the discussions taking place in Beecher High School concerning the type of daily schedule that students need to adequately prepare them for the future.

"Planning for next year has begun," said Principal Brian Wright. "The student population has created a need to increase the number of lunch periods that are offered." Wright also discussed what a committee of teachers is doing to address the issue.

That need is combined with the need to look at the core academic classes offered during the day. There is a need, according to Wright, to have core classes meet every day. So, a committee was formed to look at the amount of time needed for students to meet with their teachers. This means a possible revision of the school daily schedule.

For a number of years, students were on a block schedule, which meant they met with their teachers for an extended period of time. But, this does not seem to be working out.

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Many students are not meeting the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in math and are below the 62 percent value in reading. These scores have generated a discussion about changes needed.

A committee of teachers, at least one from each discipline, has been formed and has been meeting during October to discuss the issue. There are various options to the block format. According to Wright, there have been three meetings. Suggestions from the teachers include going to a modified block format or back to the traditional school format. The traditional format, which most of the readers are familiar with, has a set class time (of say 50 minutes) with homework assigned to reinforce the teaching that took place during the class period.

The block format seems to have eliminated the need for homework. Assignments given could be done during part of the block format.

It seems that committee members favor more instructional time in the classroom. This is especially true for the core courses, especially math and reading.

Wright seemed to indicate that, while all of this is still in the discussion stage, the committee wanted to keep the number of electives as high as possible. There is also concern about a schedule that is conducive to the music department and the number of KACC students arriving back on campus.

One board member voiced his concern that having a traditional schedule would mean students would have to do assignments at home during the evening. It seems that this is an integral part of learning, applying what is taught in the classroom with some additional work at home. It would also include the prospect of doing some reading in preparation for the next day's class.

Another board member did not see any problem with a traditional schedule, since that was what he and other board members had grown up with.

According to Wright, there is still much discussion to be had. How the high school addresses the problem will be a weighty matter. The block schedule has been in effect for almost 10 years, when it became a fad in education. Now, it seems that the decrease in student and teacher contact has become a problem. How this problem will be resolved still needs to be addressed.

Both the school administration and the school board members will address this problem in the future. Principal Wright said "It is the goal of the committee to come to the board with a recommendation in January, if not sooner."

The feeling of the board was that something needs to be done, and the sooner the better. More will be reported on this in upcoming board meetings. While more contact time between students and teachers is a necessity, according to some administrators, there will be time of adjustment. It seems the administration would approve a return to the traditional school schedule.

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