kk,
My son's school uses the Copernican Block schedule (the true block), with only three courses per semester. It benefits the students in many ways: It mimics a college schedule, and fewer courses per semester mean better focus toward each class. By eliminating the excessive passing periods, there are fewer discipline issues in the hallways, and there is less wasted time from taking role and administrative business. They go to school from 8 am and get out at 1:12. All sports and extracurricular courses are moved to 4th period meaning they are done at 3 pm, and not coming home in the dark in winter. Students taking this 4th period can actually graduate early as they are taking 1/3 more courses than their peers. Other students take advantage of getting out at 1:12 by getting a job, and it's always an advantage to be able to start earlier than the other applicants.

Of course, the difficulty would be for students who might move during the school year, and some parents dislike the out at 1:12 option. Also attendance is key, since missing one day is really like missing two days anywhere else. My son just waits to eat lunch when he gets home because he's always had a problem with having lunch at 11 (they call it brunch). Also for students wishing to take less popular classes, scheduling can be difficult because there are only three slots on their schedule for any class.

We went to this high school specifically because of this schedule and have never regretted it. I'll look for similar schedules when my daughter gets to high school, but as far as I know there are only a couple of schools in the entire area that have looked into this schedule.

When I was teaching, I ran into a lot of teachers who simply didn't know how to fill a 90-minute class period (hate to say it, but it was the veterans who had been teaching 45-minute classes for years and years). Kids got bored quickly.

It sounds, though, like your son's school has really embraced the block schedule program -- do they push kids to make good use of the 1:12 dismissal, whether it be through sports or an after-school job, or are the students self-motivated?

They do make great use of it, although I wish there were the opportunity for "regular" courses during that time as well. But through sports, aca-deca, video magazine, newspaper, and other extracurriculars, there are a lot of classes to choose from. And drop-in tutoring in math is provided during that fourth period as well (and in other departments I'm sure). Maybe twice a month there is no 4th period scheduled, and it allows for common planning.

The teachers do make good use of it--from art projects that can actually be completed to physics experiments that can get into really interesting observations, the teachers do fill the time appropriately.

They're doing something right, because they have the third highest CAHSEE pass rate in LAUSD behind El Camino Real and Granada Hills Charter--two schools with very different (more affluent) student bodies.

Here's what my friend in NC said:
"The fine arts magnet is the only
high school in the school district still allowed to use an A-day/B-day
schedule. All of the other public high schools in the district were
forced to go to 4x4 semester scheduling a couple of years ago. (Four
classes every day for a semester, take finals in January, then take four new
classes every day for the second semester.)

The 4x4 is not mandatory statewide. But most high schools are going to
it. The state has mandatory, state-written exams in about twelve
subject areas. The goal is to cram as much Geometry or Biology into a
kid's head as possible for 90 days, then take the test. Backers say kids
who are only preparing for four finals at a time (4x4) can concentrate
better on those subjects than kids who are preparing for eight finals at
a time (A-day/B-day.)

The problem with 4x4 is that a kid may take Spanish I in the first
semester of 10th grade, then not take Spanish II until the second semester
of 11th grade. Or math. Or English. That means a lot more review to
start each semester. It also is hard to schedule classes that need to
go all year--like band, chorus, or AP classes. And honestly, test
scores aren't improving at 4x4 schools.

The state-written high school tests are called EOCs: End of Course.
NC's high school EOCs were in existance long before NCLB. And they are
not like the Regents exams in NY--which determine whether you get a
diploma or not. But the EOCs carry a LOT of weight. Mostly, they have
become a political football for the local school board and the Board of
County Commissioners (which sets the tax rate to fund public schools.)

Last year, four Charlotte high schools with consistently low EOCs saw
their principals fired, huge staff changes, and incentive pay to attract
better teachers. There is even talk now of FORCING teachers from
higher performing schools to go to the low performing schools. It creates
lots of anxiety in the community. "

healthy,
It's a shame the block schedule doesn't work as well in your area. Our school has received recognition for their efforts, but it does take buyin from all stakeholders.

One way around foreign language retention is that a student can take Spanish 1 in the first semester and Spanish 2 in the second. Then there is need for even LESS review. Here, the AP courses are taught the first semester and the second semester the school offers an AP review/prep session in the second semester in the optional 4th period. It has meant my son had to choose which AP he would take occasionally, but not every child takes a ton of AP, and by getting out at 1:12 each day, they're also given the option of going to the community college and taking courses there. As we've discussed in a different thread, community college courses are free in California, and given the issues with AP courses versus taking courses at the college, I'll encourage him to take the courses at the college every time.