Tacking on Some School Days Is Not the Same as Reforming Education
The chains that bind education are political ones. They are forged of the same steel that shapes agendas on the left and the right, and history seems to be recording a trend toward the extremes.
Gov. Gray Davis is a moderate but his recent attempt to reform education by proposing a six-week extension of the middle-school year is not a moderate solution. In fact, simply tacking on days during the hot summer in overcrowded and sometimes badly ventilated classrooms is not a viable solution and is certainly not real education reform.
The governor suggests that by extending the middle-school year, students will learn more and test scores will rise. There is no statistical data, however, to indicate this. Between 1996 and 2000, the Oxnard Union High School District extended its school year but this year abandoned the change because only slight improvements in test scores had occurred.
Extending the school year for everyone just because some students are scoring poorly would be like extending a symphony’s rehearsal because the horn players are not performing well. More individual practice is needed in the horn section and so those people must be given the time to improve.
More time does need to be spent on academic pursuits, but not just by adding another month and a half. Block scheduling, which has been used successfully in Ventura County and other parts of the country, is a better place to start. Instead of covering 45 to 55 minutes each day, classes are given 1 1/2- or 2-hour blocks two or three days a week. This allows students time to digest material and retain more information. Class size is less of a problem because the teacher has time to deal with individuals and does not have to race so fast to beat the bell.
Adding on days is far more costly to taxpayers; block scheduling does not require major additional expenditures.
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The school curriculum would also benefit from more depth rather than breadth of subject matter. America’s schools lack the ability to teach complex subjects. Core classes tend to become a race to cover a timeline rather than an effort to understand a topic.
State frameworks are designed to get through materials in a certain amount of time. If a typical high school English student has to read “The Grapes of Wrath” and “The Great Gatsby” in one semester as well as complete myriad other tasks, including three or four state-sponsored tests, he or she may not have enough time to digest either novel and may gain only a cursory understanding of each. But if the student is given time to pursue one novel in more depth, he or she may gain real insight, critical and independent viewpoints and maybe even a love for the literature.
Parents need to play a more active role as well, although politicians are loathe to broach this subject. Parental motivation, involvement and support are indicators of student success. There are exceptions, of course, but any teacher can cite examples of children who do well because their parents are motivated and involved.
The governor and even the president have batted about words like “accountability” and “responsibility” like political banners. The meaning is lost on educators who find themselves blamed for their students’ poor test results.
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Educators are serious about responsibility and about the need for real reform and authentic accountability. But solutions do not lie in political quick fixes and scapegoats. Communities must respond to the needs of their schools and their students in measured, honest and thoughtful ways.
The governor’s battle cry of 30 more days is not an honest appraisal of the needs of schools. Frankly, it sounds too much like another political battle cry, “Four more years.”
