Schools Still Testing College-Style Classes : Education: The shift to longer lecture courses has boosted achievement of Newbury Park students. But at Oxnard’s Hueneme High, the results haven’t been as positive.

An innovative schedule that offers high school students longer but fewer classes has boosted student achievement, lowered absenteeism and reduced discipline problems at Newbury Park High School--results that are of interest to other Ventura County educators.

But the story is quite different at Hueneme High in Oxnard, where grades generally have remained low and the dropout rate has actually increased since the school adopted the so-called block schedule more than four years ago. School administrators are in the midst of an effort to overhaul their system.

The college-style, 90-minute lecture schedule, a growing trend in high school education, is seen as one way to keep students in school and interested in their classwork.

“Scheduling is a high-interest item in secondary education,” said Bill Vasey, a consultant for the state Department of Education. “Educators want to know how can they get more time in the day to do what they want. And block scheduling is one option.”

Vasey could offer no statistics on the effectiveness of block scheduling but said educators see it as a way to boost learning. Under the restructured schedule, a student could complete a year’s English requirement in one semester, or take two years worth of Spanish in a single year.

Teachers and students also say they find the block schedule less stressful than the frenetic pace of a six-class day, he said.

But the college-style scheduling has drawbacks, Vasey said. On average, total instructional time drops by about 20%, he said. And teachers who fill in the extra time by simply giving a longer lecture may end up losing the students’ attention, he said.

“The strongest results are in classes like science, English and the social sciences,” Vasey said. “Teachers can use the extra time to set up a lab, to read passages from a book or to break up students into small study groups.”

Hueneme and Newbury Park currently are the only two high schools in Ventura County to offer the block schedule.

But Santa Paula High School is scheduled to convert in the fall. And educators at Ventura High School and Nordhoff High in Ojai have also expressed interest in the concept, officials said.

The mixed success at Hueneme and Newbury Park could serve as a lesson about what works and what does not, school officials said.

The schools chose block schedules for different reasons and have structured the programs differently.

Hueneme decided to convert after an accreditation team visiting in 1988 urged staff to improve the teaching program, said Principal Joanne Black.

The format that Hueneme adopted in 1990 requires students to attend three 90-minute classes each day. A fourth 90-minute class is available to students who want to earn credits faster or for those who need to make up a failed class.

The school day runs from 7:30 a.m to 2:30 p.m., and the year is divided into four quarters.

Hueneme staff felt the longer lessons would give students time to absorb what was being taught, Black said. And a recent student survey shows that 79% of students feel the new format makes it easier to get good grades.

But that perception has not translated into overall higher achievement.

For the 1989-90 school year, when Hueneme was still on the traditional schedule, about 28% of grades given were for failing or near-failing work. For the 1993-94 academic year, the number hovered around 30%.

The dropout rate increased from 2.5% during the ‘89-’90 school year to 2.7% for the ‘93-’94 year. Also, an expected decrease in class size never did materialize because enrollment continued to climb, Black said.

There were also encouraging signs. In 1989, about 14% of students completed a course of study required for admittance to the University of California; by the end of last school year, that number had swelled to 31%.

The optional fourth block period led to increased enrollment in vocational education, regional occupation and college-level courses, she said.

Still, Black told the Oxnard Union High School District Board of Education in a recent report: “We believe it is time to re-examine and ‘check the map.’ ”

Progress has been difficult, in part, because of the socioeconomic makeup of Hueneme High, Black said. About 75% of the 2,300-student campus is involved in migrant education, limited-English and remedial programs, she said.

She has instructed teachers and administrators to work together to come up with new ideas for improving the block schedule and, hopefully, boosting achievement, Black said.

Cynthia Quintero, 15, said she likes block scheduling because it allows her to attend school during the morning and leave afternoons open for work and recreation.

“It’s easier to graduate too,” Quintero said. “I don’t have that much homework because the teachers give us time to do homework in class.”

Maribel Estrada said she, too, likes the format. But sometimes 90-minute lessons can get dull, she said.

“You kind of get bored,” said the 15-year-old sophomore. “Because the teacher talks and talks and talks.”

In Newbury Park, the rationale for change was mainly to provide students with more course offerings and to reduce class size, said Assistant Principal Millie Andress.

Because Newbury Park had a smaller enrollment than Westlake and Thousand Oaks high schools, it could not offer as many sections of a certain class or as many electives, Andress said.

Under Newbury Park’s system, students take three 95-minute classes a day, plus two optional 45-minute sessions tacked on to both ends of the schedule. And there are just two terms per year, Andress said.

After one year on a block schedule, school officials saw noticeable results, she said. In general, students took more demanding course work when they focused on three classes at a time, Andress said.

More students enrolled in math classes, and more took the classes required for admission to the University of California, she said. Discipline problems have also decreased, probably because there are fewer times when students change classes, she said.

Andress conceded that instructional time has been cut by about 20%. But the benefits of longer classes outweigh any teaching minutes lost, she said.

“When the kids are getting the benefit of better instruction, I don’t believe the taxpayers are losing anything by us using this system,” she said.

Mia Solarez, 15, a sophomore, said she prefers block scheduling because she can get more of the classes that she wants.

And it is possible to finish two language courses in one year, Mia said.