Norris School District

SEE THE "A NEW CHANCE" LINK ON MR. SKRETTA'S WEB PAGE FOR EXCITING INFO ABOUT A NEW SCHEDULE OPTION FOR NORRIS HIGH SCHOOL!

Last year’s block schedule generated a great deal of interest among students and teachers in examining different scheduling options for Norris. The schedule was adopted at the time as a triage maneuver due to a lack of some facilities and an inability to offer some classes. The block schedule concept, however, proved widely popular. Most students and teachers expressed a preference for maintaining a block schedule for the 2005-2006 school year, although this was not possible at the time due to staffing constraints and our need to coordinate shared staff with the middle school schedule. Over two-thirds of our parents were surveyed last year and a great majority of those parents indicated their preference for a block schedule for their students.

Critics have pointed out, however, that there was no tide of opposition to an eight-period day prior to the initiation of a block last year. While some discussions about alternative schedules had occurred over the years, the high school appeared anchored in the eight period day, having run on this schedule for a decade. This is the schedule we reverted to this year, with a commitment to continuing to examine a variety of other schedules.

Ups and Downs, Positives and Negatives: As we look at schedules, it is obvious that there is no such thing as "the perfect schedule." There are distinct advantages and disadvantages to most schedules and the research is mixed. The important thing is to find the best fit for our school. There will always be debate about the best schedule for schools and the best means of promoting student learning. Here are some of the schedules discussed:

8 period day: A major positive is that it provides students with a high number of course selection options. This tends to increase student opportunity to participate in elective areas. This is the "comfort zone" schedule for some students and teachers since we have had it for years. Under the current eight period day, most students (roughly ¾) do not actually take 8 periods – they take seven classes with a study hall. When COOP and unassigned time are factored in, fewer yet take a full 8 periods.

7 period day: A positive of the seven period day is that it typically increases the length of periods by 4 or 5 minutes daily – although this may not sound like much, over a semester the cumulative effect of this is quite considerable and learning may be more in-depth because of this. The 7 period day also has a history at Norris so we would not be straying far from precedent – it was the schedule we had before moving to an 8 period day. The decision at the time to switch to 8 periods was to increase elective opportunities and to more easily coordinate our shared staff with the middle school. 7 period days are quite common in Nebraska schools – for example, five of six LPS high schools run on a 7 period day.

Block Schedule: The schedule we used last year with 90 minute periods. Positives include more sustained learning time on a per-period basis for students, the opportunity for teachers to provide more individual assistance to students, and the opportunity to review and reinforce learning within one period of contact. Most students and teachers reported that they felt retention of learning was better in a block. The block is more consistent with the length of class time students typically experience in college settings. Negatives include the fact that some students like to shift classes more rapidly than every hour and a half and they feel that it is difficult to maintain focus and concentration for this amount of time. We used an "A/B" rotating block last year. A criticism of an "A/B" rotating block (every other day) is that students do not have daily contact with their teachers – instead, it is every other day. Other students feel the every-other-day contact is a positive and provides them more time to complete homework and review their learning before having the class again. Because passing periods are cut in half on a four period block – time in the hallways out of class is reduced.

Modified Block: Such a schedule would be an amalgamation of a 7 or 8-period day with a block – with some periods longer, some shorter. While this may seem like the "best of both worlds" schedule, the main challenge it presents is in building the schedule. The logistics of creating a mixed schedule can sometimes be insurmountable. It can be difficult to determine which courses should run on block period length and which on shorter period length. It can be difficult to coordinate teacher assignments and student course requests. At Norris, a mixed block poses some big challenges in figuring out shared staff assignments with middle school. That said, a mixed block is the single most common schedule type among the federal government’s Blue Ribbon High Schools and the Western States Benchmarking Consortium high schools.

Whatever we do, it will reflect teacher collaboration: Teachers are the leaders of learning in our school. They are the primary professionals who are the ‘contact point’ on the ‘front lines’ with students daily, promoting their learning. A teacher committee has continued to work together to examine a variety of scheduling options this year. On January 26^th, a "Scheduling Think Tank" is going to meet off-site for a day in an intensively collaborative effort designed to coordinate a schedule with the middle school that will provide the high school with one or more viable options to the current 8 period day. These alternative schedules will then be presented to the students and faculty for their consideration with a consensus vote adopting a schedule. I have spoken with a number of parents this year who have shared their viewpoints about bell schedules at Norris High School. Consistent with the data, most of the parents who have contacted me have opined that a block schedule is preferable, although some parents continue to support an 8 period day as best for their students. We will base our decisions for future schedules on what best meets our students’ learning needs.

Research sources: Last year included a PowerPoint presentation that consolidated a range of block schedule research – this presentation was posted on my web page on the Norris web site and I will place it on there again for review. The high school committee has looked at a range of sources since then to gather information about schedules. Two main sources of information have been the Federal Department of Education’s 2005 Blue Ribbon Public High Schools and the high schools that are member schools in the Western States Benchmarking. Both of these resources are quite viable as they are based on high-performance criteria for student achievement. The Blue Ribbon distinction is the highest award given to schools by the federal government; the Benchmark Consortium schools are cutting-edge districts that are data-driven and research-based in their approaches to student learning.

We will work to have a bell schedule in place by the end of February to build our high school schedule for next year. I welcome your input as we work through this process! Please contact me at john.skretta@norris160.org with your thoughts!