Andover High School introduced the H-block survey last month, asking students to report their plans at the start of each directed study period. According to Principal Jimmy D’Andrea, the goal is to maximize the academic benefits of the period and the data will be reviewed over the summer. Although a reasonable request, we at ANDOVERVIEW feel there are problems with the survey itself.

The options on the survey, as D’Andrea confirmed, are limited to what he called “allowable” options. Each option involves teacher participation except for the last one, the option for students to participate in a “learning activity aligned with a course or program of studies.” The options involving teacher participation include getting extra help, preparing for a test, making up an assessment, or working on a group project. We find the final option regarding a “learning activity” vague in its wording. However, it is the option we expect to be selected frequently by students, because completing homework appears to fit under that category. The survey does not state this explicitly, leaving many of us apathetic to completing the survey.

Of greater concern is that there is no way to determine whether students are using their H-blocks productively because all “allowable” options involve some form of learning time. An anonymous survey would allow for more honest responses and give the administration data that could inform them about how the period is spent. Although the data can differentiate between students who are working independently versus those seeking out teachers, it doesn’t account for those who are not using it effectively. (D’Andrea confirmed that the survey is intended for data collection, not as a behavioral nudge.)

We believe the H-block survey needs improvements to provide clarity for students in order for its data to be useful. A data collection effort that omits the most common categories of student behavior, both productive and otherwise, and that lacks clarity in its language, feels both impractical and eerily premeditated in its futility. Giving students latitude to be honest about how they are using their time would be far more useful to the administration if they want to find ways to protect the much-loved H-block and make it more productive for students and teachers alike. Until then, any conclusions drawn this summer should carry that limitation, because what the survey finds is inseparable from what it cannot.