Block Scheduling Pros And Cons

In order to accommodate the year round calendar, there are several forms of year round education. The first form follows a single track calendar. This is the most popular type of calendar (Shields, 2000). A single track year is usually implemented to “provide a more balanced and enriched education program or to accommodate the special scheduling needs of a community” (Glines, 2002, 2699). A single track calendar takes on a 45/15 design. This is where students go to school for forty-five days in a row, and then have a fifteen day break. It is a continuous cycle. Schools usually begin in early August, and follow this pattern four times to complete the school year (Glines, 2002). The three week break in between is called an intersession. During this time, students can choose to take additional educational courses through “remedial,

Adding just an extra ten minutes to each class, the new schedule would create the potential for students to have more homework time, lab time, learning time, and/or valuable free time to read for pleasure, relax with music, draw, etc. (Hadfield). Especially as students get older and more involved in extracurriculars and rigorous academic courses, the need for any spare moment to get assignments done, study, or even sleep increases. When this time is unavailable or extremely hard to get, students are more likely to fall asleep in class, miss school due to illness, misbehave, cheat, hand in incomplete assignments, or drop out altogether. The same is largely true for teachers. The more homework turned in by students, the more grading has to be done by teachers who are already exhausted from a long, often repetitive day of work. Therefore, it is important to emphasize the fact that this extra time should not be used to cram in larger quantities of learning standards or homework problems, but rather to enhance the quality of the already demanding school regulations that are in schools

In 2007, the school had a change in leadership and had students attend 2 periods per day, mourning class and afternoon class. They would complete a semester's worth of work in 21 days, then focus on 2 additional classes for another 21 days. So that at semester, students would have completed 6 classes like the rest of the building. The only hiccup with this is attendance was so bad, if students missed more than 2 days it was equivalent to missing 3 weeks of school at the comprehensive setting. Students had to have homework logs documenting how many hours of homework they had completed.

Have you ever wondered what the difference between traditional schooling and year-round education is? Maybe you didn’t know that there are more than one type of year-round education. A year-round school schedule can benefit educators, students, and even families. Year-round schooling is where the breaks in school are on a balanced schedule. Instead of having a three month summer break, there would be 60 days off and then the students would be back to school. If on a multi track schedule, teachers could use their off time to substitute at their school on a different track or at another school to get paid more. For students, the shorter breaks away from school increase retention rates, therefore reducing the amount of review necessary at

It is very common for students in the fall to have at least six weeks of review because they have forgotten so much. Michelle Obama stated in Education today, “Our children could score higher on every measure of testing if they didn’t have such a long break between grade levels.” Many countries outscore America on math tests. This might be because math needs to be used continually or the equations are forgotten. Ms. Obama also stated, “Many poor parents cannot afford daycare, so they have to leave their children with older siblings while they are at work.” Public schools are paid for the government and they would be taking care of the children except for Fridays. The elementary students would be safer in class than at home without adequate supervision. Lastly, Ms. Obama declared, “Extended weekends mean that families would have more time together and might take fewer vacation days during school

What is your least favorite class, the one you dread most? Picture yourself walking into that class, taking a seat, and watching the clock move slowly as you suffer through the next 90 minutes. Yes, you read that correctly. Imagine being stuck in your least favorite class for an hour and a half! This is a reality that many high school students experience every day. It is block scheduling. “Unlike traditional bell schedules - which typically comprise six to eight class periods per day, lasting anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes - block schedules contain just four daily class periods, with each one lasting an average of 90 minutes” (Block Scheduling in Schools 1). Although designed to increase student achievement, block schedules carry a number of disadvantages that make them an inadequate method for offering high school students a successful learning environment. Despite its few benefits, block scheduling works in direct conflict with most human attention spans, creates more scheduling problems than it solves, and lacks any solid evidence of improving student learning. In a world where educational practices come and go, block scheduling is a fad that should never have arrived in the first place.

Sommerfeld, Meg. "More and More Schools Putting Block Scheduling to Test of Time." Education Week. N.p., 02 May 2016. Web. 24 Mar.

In contrast to a traditional school schedule, a block schedule consists of different variations, such as A/B and 4x4 schedules. In an A/B schedule, classes meet every other day for an extended period of time. Students take eight classes throughout the year, taking four classes on A Days and alternating the other four on B Days.“The A days would be Monday, Wednesday, Friday, etc. Each class period

According to a U.S. News report, the top two schools in California are Whitney High School and Stockton Collegiate International Secondary School. When I looked over their schedules, I found that both of these schools follow a block schedule and, while it may seem like a distant goal, these schools represent the possible advancement of the LCHS district if given the opportunity to explore the block schedule. Dr. Nesa Sasser of the Hearst Newspaper, recently wrote an article about the benefits and downfalls of the block schedule. She wrote that, by starting a block period schedule, teachers will be able to plan lessons more effectively, connect with their students on a deeper level, and there will be better time management. During block periods, teachers become less limited in how they plan their lesson. They are able to go in depth about concepts that are important and are given time to give examples to further the students’ comprehension of these topics. Using these examples, teachers are then able to see where the class is falling short, and reteach confusing lessons, allowing for a greater understanding of the overall subject. By decreasing the amount of classes per day, students would then be able to focus on the homework they are given for their next classes, reducing the amount of homework they have to complete and the information that needs to be learned for that specific night. Students will also be able to go to sleep earlier, increasing overall health and focus during class, providing long term

When you first hear about the schedule and look at its outline, it sounds pretty solid. More breaks, longer breaks, and the main idea of getting done with core classes faster. For a student, hearing that sounds pretty good. For example if a student doesn’t lie one of the core classes then they would only have to put up with it for one-quarter.

Some students would probably just skip it. And it wouldn't be fair to the teachers to waste their time when no one will use that time wisely. And it wouldn't be fair to the students who actually need this extra time.

Have you ever thought about having school all year round? Students should not go to school all year round. Students should not go to school all year round because students minds would not be as clear and our health would be better off with the normal schedule.

In the article “Schools scrutinize block scheduling” Groves (2015) addresses the effects of block scheduling in Alamance-Burlington School System. He claims that implementing block schedules did not help this school system, and in fact has been detrimental to the students. Groves (2015) argues that before changing student schedules, enough research should be completed to determine whether this change will be helpful. With a traditional schedule, he says, students can slowly learn the information, instead of cram it in all at once. He believes that teachers and students should have a say in which schedule the school adopts. Groves (2015) concludes that block scheduling is an unnatural, ineffective way for students to learn.

Adding this free period would give students the option to catch up on school work. When students miss school days, that automatically means missed work. So when students are sick, missing work will pile up fast. Students who do sports don’t always have time to do their homework when it gets late.Some sports don’t end until late times, and some sports may take over the whole weekend and then they can’t get work done in time. Some students can’t keep up with all of their work because it gets difficult. When work gets hard you mad need extra help from teachers.

There are many aspects of block scheduling that allow teachers to reach certain accomplishments throughout the school year. “With block scheduling, a teacher deal with fewer pupils during the day, therefore allowing the teacher to spend much more time with each individual student (Education Up Close).” Due to the classes having less students in them, it provides an easier