The Effects of Block Scheduling - school schedules

School Administrator, March, 1999 by Michael D. Rettig, Robert Lynn Canady

Two leading authorities describe what results when high schools use alternative schedules

As educators have investigated ways to use time more productively, major changes have been occurring in high school schedules. One especially attractive option has been block scheduling, which is in place in roughly 30 percent of the nation's secondary schools.

Research now is emerging about the impact of the two most common alternative high school scheduling models.

Several factors have influenced changes in high school schedules during the last decade. In various states the number of course credits required for graduation with an academic diploma increased to as many as 24 Carnegie units. In schools with a traditional six- or seven-period day, this left little room in schedules for fine arts or vocational education electives. To preserve students' options, many high schools added periods to the schedule.

However, students often became overwhelmed by the experience of adjusting to eight or more teachers in one day and juggling multiple assignments and tests over a full school year. By adding class periods without lengthening the school day, the length of class sessions was reduced to as little as 36 minutes in some schools. Teachers and students complained about the difficulty of working productively in such short, fragmented time periods.

The shorter class sessions exacerbated existing problems in hands-on courses, such as art, laboratory science and physical education. How could teachers in these fields conduct any meaningful activity in 40 minutes or less? Technology teachers found it nearly impossible to settle students into a computer lab and have them log on to investigate a complicated issue on the Internet.

Many teachers and administrators also argued that an impersonal environment was created by the assembly-line, single-period daily regimen and that student discipline was affected adversely by schedules that released thousands of students into hallways six to 10 times a day for three to five minutes of chaos. A 1994 report by the National Education Commission on Time and Learning indicated that traditional ways of organizing schools contributed to these problems; the report referred to students as "prisoners of time."

Two Likely Routes

One response to these concerns has been block scheduling. While about one in three high schools today operate some form of block schedule, in some states the number is much higher. In states such as Virginia and North Carolina, more than two-thirds of the high schools use alternative schedules.

Although several hybrids and modifications of block scheduling exist, almost all represent some variation of two basic forms--the alternate-day schedule and the 4/4 semester schedule.

In the alternate-day, or what some call the A/B schedule, classes meet every other day for 80-110 minutes, or approximately double the length of an instructional period in the traditional schedule. The A/B schedule typically comes in six-, seven- and eight-course formats.

In the pure 4/4 schedule, students complete four year-long courses each semester. Most courses meet for 80-100 minutes every day over a 90-day semester. Students typically earn eight credits per year, allowing them to complete up to 32 credits during their four years in high school.

Three Generalizations

The research on high school block scheduling can be organized into three topical threads: effects on school climate, effects on academics and critical factors affecting the change to a block schedule.

Three important generalizations about block scheduling appear certain:

* The A/B schedule is easier to implement than the 4/4 semester schedule, both politically and administratively;

* In almost all cases, the 4/4 schedule must be adapted to allow some courses to run year-long; and

* Merely changing the school bell schedule will not guarantee better student performance.

Effects on Climate

The majority of teachers, administrators, students and parents are favorable to block scheduling, even after the sometimes difficult period of change. Initially, teachers report feeling greater stress until they learn how to plan for and teach in an extended block of time, but eventually both teachers and students report school becomes less stressful.

In nearly all of the more than 100 case studies, dissertations and reports completed on block scheduling, the number of discipline referrals to the office is reduced, typically between 25 and 50 percent. Evidence also exists that in-school suspensions decline, that teacher and student attendance improves slightly and, for obvious reasons, the number of class tardies is reduced.

Unless special plans are made, students may experience difficulty recovering from class absences. However, there are some indications that, because of this factor, the more motivated students have fewer absences. To date, we find it unlikely that students who avowedly dislike school attend more often simply by offering them a different schedule. Overall, though, we found a slight increase in student attendance.