Descriptive analysis of class scheduling procedures in selected secondary schools in Texas

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate scheduling methods used in large high schools. Included in the study was a comparison of traditional methods with more innovative or variable techniques. An instrument for measuring curricular flexibility, the Secondary School Curricular Flexibility Scale (SSCFS), was devised. It was hypothesized that program flexibility would be related to six major divisions of the SSCFS; the Master Schedule, Teacher Schedules, Student Schedules, Time Schedules, Student Evaluation, and Space Utilization. An additional hypothesis was that there would be little variation among the schools surveyed in their program flexibility. An educational model of flexible scheduling was established by educators selected as judges. They were asked to evaluate and to classify each statement in the model as to its relationship to flexibility. A questionnaire was completed by 175 of the 230 high schools in Texas with an enrollment of over 1000 students related to the model of flexible scheduling. This SSCFS questionnaire was used to judge the position of each of the schools as to flexibility. Intercorrelation of the sections was calculated. Calculations were also made to show that widely varying degrees of flexibility did exist between the schools used in the sample. An important result of the study was the construction of the Secondary School Curricular Flexibility Scale. Schools involved scored mostly in the lower half of the ideal scale, but the fact that accepted authorities in the field devised the scale indicated that much can be done to improve flexibility within present philosophy and physical limitations. The Master Schedule, Teacher Schedules, Time Schedules, Student Evaluation, and Space Utilization (the components of the SSCFS) all proved to-be significant to the educational planner who is moving toward flexibility.