The Copernican Plan: Restructuring the American High School

V TIRTUALLY EVERY high school in the U.S. can re duce its average class size by 20%; increase the num ber of courses or sections it offers by 20%; reduce the total num ber of students with whom a teacher works each day by 60% to 80%; provide students with regularly scheduled semi nars dealing with complex issues; estab lish a flexible, productive instructional environment that fosters effective mas tery learning, as well as other practices recommended by research; get students to master 25% to 30% more information beyond what they learn in the seminars; and do all of this -more or less within present levels of funding. How? By redeploying its staff mem bers and students so that teachers can concentrate on teaching students rather than on "covering" classes. Doing so will not be simple, but it is possible. The an swer lies in what I call the Copernican Plan. But first, let me explain that phrase. Nicolaus Copernicus' major contribu t on to 16th-century astronomy was his explanation of the movements of the planets. In one sense, his work was not original research. Planetary movements had been studied and measured by many others, but the movements seemed erratic and defied logical explanation. Coperni cus brought a new perspective to the pr blem. If one assumed that the sun, rather than the earth, were the center of he planetary system, the movements of the planets could be explained rational ly. That simple change was a revolution ary idea. Indeed, the use of the term revolution to mean social upheaval dates from the publication of Copernicus' book, Th Revolution of the Heavenly Orbs. l Copernicus' theory encountered great resistance. Everyone could see that the sun rose in the east and set in the west. Thus the sun clearly moved around the earth. More important, that the earth was the center of the universe and that God intended man to dominate the earth had become articles of faith in Christian Eu rope. The simple change in perspective proposed by Copernicus was therefore considered both incorrect and dangerous. The Copernican Plan likewise tries to provide an operational perspective con cerning what is known about effective in struction. In working that change, the Copernican Plan challenges some articles of educational faith and frees the Ameri can high school from the intellectual bonds of its century-old structure. The Copernican Plan did not spring from an excess of zeal for restructuring. In fact, it has evolved through a proc ess neither logical nor orderly over three decades of my experience in Ameri can school systems. Some of what I pre sent below derives from my experience with intensive summer school programs (both remedial and regular) with which I was involved in the public schools in Washington, D.C., and in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Some comes from my study of research and my observations of nontraditional programs. The Copernican Plan tries to organize a high school around what is known about more effec tive teaching. That's a tall order. I hope I've had some success. In any case, after years of debate and study, a Copernican pilot program has begun at Masconomet High School in Topsfield, Massachusetts. A team from Harvard University is evaluating this program. The Copernican Plan proposes major restructuring of virtually all the basic sys tems within a high school. But the fun damental change the Copernican change is the change in schedule. In s ead of having students change locations, subjects, and activities seven to nine times each day, we ask them to concen trate on one or two subjects at a time, each taught in an extended "macroclass. " This change allows high school teachers to concentrate on the learning of individu al students, which is the key to better in struction and improved student perform ance. An integral feature of the Copernican schedule is a seminar program in which students grapple with the complex issues of today's world and pursue their special interests. Other features, described in mor detail below, include a mastery JOSEPH M. CARROLL (Harvard Univer sity Chapter) is superintendent of the Mas conomet Regional School District, Topsfield, Mass. , which is currently piloting the Coper nican Plan. This article is based on his book, The Copernican Plan: Restructuring the American High School (Regional Laborato ryfor Educational Improvement of the North east and Islands, 1989), which provides more detail, reviews some of the background re search, and provides department-by-depart ment and schoolwide implementation plans.