Block Scheduling The Spacing Effect How block scheduling improves learning. Schools their progresson the block- Conducted by teach-nology - The Art and Science of teaching http://www.teach-nology.com/edleadership/block_scheduling/
Extractions: Free Sites ... Professional Development Enter your email address for FREE weekly teaching tips! Home Administrators Block Scheduling Alternative Scheduling Options at the Secondary Level - This study examines models, guidelines, effect on student performance and professional development issues related to alternative scheduling options for public-school students. This site takes a long time to load. Block Scheduling: A Collection of Articles - Experienced classroom practitioners provides a substantive look at the issues surrounding block scheduling. Block Scheduling Effects on a State Mandated Test of Basic Skills - A good literary review. Block Scheduling: How It Worked in One High School - A self analysis out of North Carolina. Block Scheduling: Problems with Academic Performance - Serious scientific studies show that block scheduling does not help and often hurts academic performance. Block Scheduling Research - Offers a tips and news.
Education World ® - Administrators: Block Scheduling: A Solution Or A Problem? This articles discusses whether block scheduling is a flexible scheduling alternative that benefits Category Society Issues Education Reform block scheduling to doubters. Under block scheduling, will a substitute teacher bequalified to teach 90minute periods of, for example, physics? http://www.education-world.com/a_admin/admin029.shtml
Extractions: School Administrators Center Archives: ... Grouping/Scheduling School Administrators Article S C H O O L A D M I N I S T R A T O R S A R T I C L E From time to time, Education World reposts a previously published article that we think might be of interest to administrators. Before reposting, we update all links and add new resources to the articles. We hope you find this archived article to be of value The merits of block scheduling are a subject of great debate. Is it a flexible scheduling alternative that benefits students or is it a fad that's sure to pass? Schools throughout the United States are adopting block scheduling in dramatically increasing numbers. The move to block scheduling, however, has sparked controversy. Hailed by proponents as a vehicle for greater depth and flexibility in education, block scheduling has turned off some educators and parents, who criticize it as a faddish approach that fails to enhance academic performance. WHAT IS BLOCK SCHEDULING?
Block Scheduling Resources: Front Page. A Collection Of Articles From MENC On Th A large selection of articles on block scheduling from the Music Educators National Conference (MENC).Category Society Issues Education Reform block scheduling teachnology.com http//www.teach-nology.com/edleadership/block_scheduling Many links to articles and information about block scheduling, pros and cons. http://www.menc.org/publication/articles/block/blocksch.htm
Extractions: Block Scheduling Resources For information covering a wide variety of music education topics see Information, Please! SCHEDULING RESOURCES Working out class scheduling at schools has become a routine challenge for many administrators, as well as for the teachers who must adapt to new schedules. If you are a music teacher, no doubt you instantly worry when your principal or supervisor tells you about an imminent change in schedule format. You worry about the impact the new schedule will have on your students and on your program. Will your students quit the ensemble or chorus due to scheduling conflicts? Will they become disillusioned and drop their pursuit of music due to the impact of the new schedule? Will you be able to adopt your curriculum to the new timetable? Will you be able to fit everything into the new schedule and maintain the integrity of your program? The resources below may help familiarize you with the various scheduling options that exist, as well as highlight some of the pros and cons of these schedules. While the information may not give you specific answers on how to cope with a new schedule, it may help you and your administrators understand some of the issues that can arise from a particular schedule format, as well as some options that you may not have considered.
Block Scheduling Issues Listing of studies and web sites that have data on block scheduling A Primer on block scheduling Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) advances the case was the teacher to teach algebra in the block schedule? What advice http://killeenroos.com/link/block.htm
Extractions: back to social studies link index A Primer on Block Scheduling - Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement (CAREI) advances the case for block scheduling. Algebra - (pdf file read with Adobe Acrobat ) Limited information as it just gives the table of contents of a document that to date is not available. Block Scheduling in First Year Algebra Distinctive Features of Saunders' Case 38 Distinctive Features of Reynolds' Case. Distinctive Features of King's Case.How prepared was the teacher to teach algebra in the block schedule? What advice might the teachers offer to another teacher whose school was planning to implement the same type of block schedule?Distinctive Features of Owens' se Distinctive Features of Nolan's Case. Angola High School data - Angola High School successfully implemented a 4-Block Schedule in the 1995-96 school year (often referred to as a 4X4 or an Intensive 4 Block). We were previously on a seven period day and now have four 90 minute periods. Baseline data was gathered over the 1993-95 school years for comparison and analysis of the affects of the Block Schedule. Complete four years Block Scheduling and tracked our changes against the two-year baseline. Austin ISD changes from block to traditional - Austin American Statesman article about the change Block Scheduling Block Scheduling House of Problems - Has great data plus an extensive list of districts who have changed from a block setting and history of the block going back to the 1940's. (and you thought it was a new concept)
Scheduling: On The Block teach. They claim this combination leads to better attendance, higher grades, and lower failure and dropout rates for students in a block scheduling http://edreform.com/pubs/block.htm
Extractions: A Question of Time * Less Content Covered and Lack of Continuity * Grade Inflation and Lower Achievement Test Scores Strike Up the Bandwagon Alternative scheduling seems to be one of the hottest new reforms on the block, at the top of the agenda for schools and school boards across the country. Estimates of the number of schools nationwide that have already implemented some version of alternative, intensive, or block scheduling as it is most commonly called, range from 10 to 25 percent; many more are considering the undertaking. Confusion and concern abound among parents, teachers, administrators and students. Why does block scheduling seem to be the innovation of the moment, and what could and should this change mean for the schools? What is Block Scheduling? Broadly defined, block scheduling is a restructuring of the school day whereby students attend half as many classes, for twice as long. In a departure from the traditional 50-minutes per class, 6-8 classes per day ritual, students take four classes, in 90- or 120-minute blocks each day. In one of the two most common variations, the roster of class subjects alternates from day to day (AB format). In the other, it alternates from semester to semester (4X4 format). In Theory Proponents claim a number of advantages to using such a system:
The Problem With Block Scheduling teach successfully in large blocks of time. They observe that teachers who are most successful in block scheduling http://www.jefflindsay.com/Block.shtml
Extractions: Block Scheduling Updated Jan. 12, 2003 This is one of several pages on the problems of block scheduling, a major educational "reform" that is being implemented across the country in spite of serious evidence that it is harmful to education. These pages are the work of Jeff Lindsay , who has children in the Appleton , Wisconsin School District. Send your comments to (And summary + links) Jan. 12, 2002 - Added more input from parents and my comments on Part 4 of my work on the block. Dec. 28, 2002 - Added a message to Part 4 from a concerned parent about the effect of the block on ADD students. Given that typical students have a hard time maintaining attention in the longer class periods under the block, how can those with Attention Deficit Disorder cope? Dec. 27, 2002 - Added
Educational Literature On Block Scheduling block scheduling Structuring Time To Achieve National Standards in Mathematics Timefor Professional Development Helping teachers teach Well Transforming http://www.teach-nology.com/litined/block_schedule/
Extractions: Free Sites ... Professional Development Enter your email address for FREE weekly teaching tips! Home Literature in Education Block Scheduling Advantages to Block Scheduling According to Research ... Alternative Scheduling - ERIC Document. Block Scheduling - ERIC Document. Block Scheduling - ERIC Document. Block Scheduling: Structuring Time To Achieve National Standards in Mathematics and Science - ERIC Document. Finding Time for Professional Development - Helping Teachers Teach Well: Transforming Professional Development - June 1995. Flexible Work Schedules - ERIC Document. Intensive/Block Scheduling in Music - By William J. Nayden Like Death and Taxes. . . Block Scheduling is a part of life! - By Kenneth Edward Williams. Preparing Music Teachers for the 21st Century: Block Scheduling - For those music educators who are presently facing scheduling reform. Prisoners Of Time: Report of the National Education Commission on Time and Learning - US Department of Education.
Re: High School Choir And Block Scheduling It is more difficult to teach in 45 minutes, than in 90 minutes. I just starteda new position this year in a high school with block scheduling. http://www.menc.org/networks/chorus/openforum/messages/363.html
Extractions: Follow Ups Post Followup Chorus Open Forum FAQ Posted by Mike Hancey on September 08, 2002 at 21:18:19: In Reply to: High School Choir and Block Scheduling posted by Terry Hills on September 02, 2002 at 10:38:25: : I just started a new position this year in a high school with block scheduling. We are on a classic 4x4 block with classes that are an hour and thirty-five minutes in length. I am experiencing difficulty with the attention span and concentration level over that length of time. We get about forty minutes of good rehearsal and the rest seems unfocused. Suggestions
Block Scheduling Archive From what I have seen, block scheduling doesn't make sense until you have lookedat pedagogy. Trying to teach to 80100 minute blocks with traditional practice http://tiger.chuh.cleveland-heights.k12.oh.us/Learning/Block/TECdisc.html
Extractions: Walled Lake Central might have a plan for you to look at. I am also a Math Teacher. We used a comittee to restructure our day. One Important feature of our plan is a Wednesday a.m. teacher meeting that lasts 2 hours. It was from here that retraining our staff occured. The Important thing we found out was not the time but how you deliver the information. It took us 5 years to change that mind set. We also needed a 80% vote to change any time period from our union. We are now in our sixth week and all ready staff would never go back to the mind numbing six period day. Our lower level classes are having great sucess. We are just about to complete our base line data to report to our board of Education in June. Tardyness is way down. Staff moral is up. And yes we knew it would be more work. Article #380:
Extractions: Source: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics Washington DC. Scheduling Foreign Languages on the Block. ERIC Digest. THIS DIGEST WAS CREATED BY ERIC, THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER. FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ERIC, CONTACT ACCESS ERIC 1-800-LET-ERIC Educators have only recently begun to realize the potential of scheduling to improve schools. One such attempt, block scheduling, affects many aspects of the school environment, both organizationally and educationally. It comes in many complex variations, including four-block schedules (see descriptions below) (Canady and Rettig, 1995). Block scheduling rests on the premise that it will give teachers more instructional flexibility (Carroll, 1990), reduce the fragmentation of the day, and allow teachers to adapt their instructional strategies to address the different ways in which students learn. In North Carolina, interest in block scheduling became apparent after the State Board of Education decided to increase the graduation requirement from 11 to 14 courses in 1991. The increased number of graduation requirements made it much more difficult for students to select electives or concentrate on the extended study of one discipline.
Block.html The two types of block scheduling I will address are the alternateday ( A/B for about90 minutes every day over a 90-day semester; teachers teach three courses http://imc.lisd.k12.mi.us/block.html
Extractions: Block Scheduling by Tom Green I hope this article on "Block Scheduling" will increase the dialogue between parents, administrators, teachers and Board of Education as more and more schools consider or adapt block scheduling. What we all need to consider, before implementation of block scheduling, is that this is a radical change. If the concerns I express aren't addressed internally and publicly, will our children be the victims of the latest improperly implemented policy change? Some of the information from this article was taken from "The Science Teacher", November 1996 and the article " All around the block schedule," The Education Digest issue Feb 1997. All opinions are my own. The two types of block scheduling I will address are the alternate-day ("A/B," "Odd/Even," "Day 1/Day 2," or "Week 1/Week 2") schedules, where students and teachers meet every other day for extended blocks of 80 to 120 minutes. The 4/4 semester plan, students complete four "yearlong" courses, which meet for about 90 minutes every day over a 90-day semester; teachers teach three courses each semester, and students enroll in four new courses (teachers teach three) for the second semester. Successful change to a block schedule requires more than simply rearranging the school day. When schools deal with the details of implementing a block schedule, teachers and administrators are forced to examine the most important aspects of school organization, instruction, and curriculum-issues that all too often remain buried under the "administrivia" of school life.
Block Scheduling I teach in Austin, TX. We have been on block scheduling for severalyears now. It is an administrator's dreamcome-true. For all http://www.math.tamu.edu/~jmorgan/Right_Angle_Dec_97/block/block.htm
MODELING AND BLOCK SCHEDULING In academic year 9495 my surburban high school moved to block scheduling,where there are large blocks of time in which to teach. http://modeling.la.asu.edu/modeling/BlockSchedSpeech.html
Extractions: MODELING AND BLOCK SCHEDULING: a good match Wayne J. Finkbeiner Central Bucks West High School Doylestown, Pennsylvania April 1998 Download this paper as a pdf file. Before we went to block scheduling, we had traditional scheduling with 45-minute periods. In the regular physics course we had one double period per week, for a total of 300 minutes per week or 180 hours per year. In AP physics, (and let me note that that’s a first-year course), we had two double periods per week, for a total of 350 minutes per week or 210 hours per year. (I just call it AP, I don’t want to necessarily define B or C yet.) Then in 1994 we went to intensive scheduling or block scheduling: the regular physics course decreased to 18 weeks; that is, it became a one semester course with 450 minutes per week, 135 hours in a semester; so it decreased by 25% in time. AP Physics went to a 27 weeks double course: 450 minutes per week, 202 hours for the course, so the time decreased by 4%. My administration was telling me "less is more", but I think what they really meant is I had to do more with less time!
Block Schedules - Modular Schedules Strategies Use these ideas and strategies to help teach effectively under a blockor modular schedule. Case against block scheduling Numerous arguments against http://7-12educators.about.com/cs/blockschedule/
Block Scheduling, Education Up Close, Teaching Today, Glencoe Online They are expected to know and teach 150 or more students each day. With block scheduling,teachers have responsibility for a smaller number of students at a http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/educationupclose.phtml/4
Extractions: Teaching Today publishes innovative teaching tips on a weekly basis. Written with the busy teacher in mind, each tip is concise, practical and easy to implement in the classroom right away. Topics covered in Teaching Today are classroom management, career development, high stakes testing, instruction and planning, parental involvement, reading in the content areas, using technology in the classroom, and portfolio development. Teaching Today also offers free weekly downloads that correspond to the tips. Our free downloads make implementing the teaching tips even easier. Teaching Today provides educational resources for teachers looking for everyday solutions to the challenges of the classroom. Block Scheduling Class scheduling is an expression of the relationship between learning and time. Traditionally, schools schedule six or seven 40- to 55- minute classes per day. These classes usually meet for 180 school days per school year. Block scheduling differs from traditional scheduling in that fewer class sessions are scheduled for larger blocks of time over fewer days. For example, in block scheduling, a course might meet for 90 minutes a day for 90 days, or half a school year. Does this type of scheduling have any advantage over more traditional scheduling methods? Those schools that have tried it believe it does. Advantages for the School Systems For the schools themselves, the greatest advantage of block scheduling is a better use of resources. The schedule change does not require additional teachers or classrooms. It eliminates half of the time needed for class changes, which results in fewer discipline problems. Results from several high schools indicate significantly fewer suspensions and student dropouts due to improved student-teacher relationships. Schools also report an increase in the overall quality of teacher instruction and student time on task.
Extractions: to follow in developing our schedule. These "criteria" were: Be simple to understand Have class periods of no less than 90 minutes Exceed the state and district requirements for graduation Reduce students load Reduce teacher load It was further believed that the following advantages would emerge from
FLTEACH FAQ - Block Scheduling - Introduction as alternative scheduling. 94/07 Subject FL Curriculum and the block Schedule.My high school is heading towards the block schedule. (I teach at both http://www.cortland.edu/flteach/FAQ/FAQ-Block.html
Extractions: For most of the 20th century the Carnegie Unit has governed academic credit in American high schools. Each state stipulated the minimum number of instruction minutes necessary for a course to award credit. Now many in education are thinking of the old system as a lock step that has held back progress. We are looking for alternatives, and here in the last decade of the century, some form of Block Scheduling is the newest thinking (or newest fad, some will say). With the following brief query from Kathy Kitts looking for information about this new critter called Block and Aileen Peeks sudden and unanticipated plunge into a Block instructional sequence -both in July 1994- begins FLTeachs examination of the Block Schedule also known as alternative scheduling. 94/07 Subject: FL Curriculum and the Block Schedule My high school is heading towards the block schedule. (I teach at both
FLTEACH FAQ - Block Scheduling - Methods Todd Losie. =. 95/03 From SGlendenin@aol.com Subject A/BBlock scheduling. I teach French (levels 1 - 4 and AP) at a senior high school. http://www.cortland.edu/flteach/FAQ/FAQ-Block-methods.html
Results Of Alliance allows you to teach your students each day. Ø I do remember traditional schedulingfrom long ago. Since I have been involved in block scheduling, the students http://www.alliance-aft.org/Block Scheduling Input from Building Reps.htm
Extractions: A lliance-AFT Affiliations: American Federation of TeachersTexas Federation of TeachersAFL-CIO Click for Home Page Members: Click here to be added to our email newsletter. Local News: Dallas Local News City-by-City Columnists Obits ... Education DISD explores ideas to head off 'calamity' $41 million deficit could lead to tax increase, smaller raises By TAWNELL D. HOBBS / The Dallas Morning News DISD officials say they're up against a $41 million budget deficit for the next school year, and taxpayers and teachers are both candidates to feel the pinch as the district digs out. The shortfall in the $1 billion-plus budget for 2003-04 is being attributed to an anticipated decrease in state funding, flat property values and increased costs partly to pay for teacher raises. District officials have some ideas for covering the gap, but they're quick to say that no remedies are set in stone. One thing is certain: Some big changes will be needed. Making of a deficit DISD officials project that their $1 billion-plus budget for 2003-04 will have a $41 million deficit primarily because: State funding is expected to decline from $97.5 million to $87.8 million next year.
