Whatever Happened to Study Halls?

When my daughter was in public school in Virginia, she had no study halls in grades 7 through 12. Students went to home room only on the first day of school. As friends report family schedules so packed that they're approaching the panic stage, I have wondered what has become of the American institution known as the study hall?

What Exactly is a Study Hall?

The study hall with which I grew up was a designated period in junior (or middle) and senior high school in which students had the opportunity to do homework or study for tests. When I was in high school, the academic day had eight periods. Even students carrying Advanced Placement (AP) courses, which met for a double period every day, had at least two study halls a day. A written pass from the teacher on duty meant access to the school library or a classroom to meet with another teacher.

At back-to-school night the year my daughter entered seventh grade, I was shocked to learn that neither the local middle school (grades 7-8) or high school (grades 9-12) gave kids any break during the day except for lunch. And those who were in advanced or honors classes often used their lunch breaks to study, not eat.

The Contemporary Version

These days, there is no standard definition of a study hall. While the traditional study hall still has a place in some secondary schools, others allow students to use the time to pick up cell phone messages, watch TV or find a Friday night date.

According to Education World, some schools designate a study hall as a mandatory period to make up missed work. At the Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary High School in Montebello, California, the administrator instituted a policy in which students have to make up missed homework assignments the following day. They can do so in a study hall either before or after school. A staff member oversees tracking missed assignments, notifying students and contacting parents. The administrative time expended is about an hour a day for this program.

The Fairfax County Public Schools in Northern Virginia form the Washington, DC region's largest school district. Programmed into the school calendar are the equivalent of 10 days a year of what the district refers to as student recesses, the Washington Post reports.

This program was implemented as a kind of study hall to help struggling students. However, at one school, each student gets 90 free minutes per week. During that time, students are essentially free to do whatever they like. While some creative kids manage to organize the time to work on group projects and steer clear of the difficulties of finding a common free after-school time, others opt to check basketball scores.

West Springfield High School, part of the Fairfax County system, designates two 45-minute sessions each week to help students who appear to be danger of failing Virginia's Standards of Learning (SOL) exams. This amounts to around 10 percent of the student body.

Teacher Reactions

Not surprisingly, faculty reactions are often dramatically split over the use of study halls in middle and high schools. One Fairfax County principal indicated that most of the students at his school use the designated 90 minutes in purposeful study. He adds that for students who need academic help, the program has cut the number of grades reported as Ds and Fs by one third.

On the other hand, some teachers see the modern version of a study hall as added pressure to cram academics into an impossible amount of time each day. A science teacher indicated that in his high school, the five physics teachers were already behind by a week or two as far as planned instruction. He also cited a negative effect on instruction in the school's AP courses.

As for the kids, they tend to have a common reaction. They don't have enough time to study, eat, sleep or do all the good things teens want to do, with or without study halls.

Sources:

http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/admin/admin347.shtml

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/06/AR2011020603119.html

Personal experience