Block scheduling: Difference between revisions

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{{shortShort description|Type of organization of school classes}}

{{redirectsRedirect|Block teaching|the program in the LDS Church formerly known as block teaching|Home teaching}}

{{RefimproveMore citations needed|date=April 2008}}

'''Block scheduling''' or '''blocking''' is a type of academic scheduling used in some schools in the American [[K-12|K-12 system]], in which each [[Student|pupilstudents]] hashave fewer but longer classes per day than in a traditional academic schedule. It is more common in middle and high schools than in primary schools. Each class is scheduled for a longer period of time than normal (e.g. 90 minutes instead of 50). In one form of block scheduling, a single class will meet every day for a number of days, after which another class will take its place. In another form, daily classes rotate through a changing daily cycle.<ref name="Tai"/>

Blocks offer more concentrated experiences of subjects, with fewer, usually half as many if going through a schedule transfer, classes daily.

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=== Alternate day block scheduling ===

Also referred to as A/B block scheduling, Odd/Even block scheduling, or Day 1/ Day 2 block scheduling. Students take three to four courses, around 90-12090–120 minutes in length, per day all year long on alternating days resulting in a full six or eight courses per year.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Trenta|first1=Louis|last2=Newman|first2=Isadore|date=Fall 2002|title=Effects of a High School Block Scheduling Program on Students: A Four-Year Longitudinal Study of the Effects of Block Scheduling on Student Outcome Variables|journal=American Secondary Education|volume=31|pages=54|via=EBSCOhost}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Lewis|first1=Chance W.|last2=Dugan|first2=James J.|last3=Winokur|first3=Marc A.|last4=Cobb|first4=R. Brian|date=December 2005|title=The Effects of Block Scheduling on High School Academic Achievement|journal=NASSP Bulletin|volume=98|issue=645 |pages=72-8772–87|viadoi=EBSCOhost10.1177/019263650508964506 |s2cid=59575924 }}</ref>

=== 4x4 block scheduling ===

Students take four courses, around 90 minutes in length, every day for the first semester and take four different courses every day for the second semester. This results in a full eight courses taken per year.<ref name=":0"/><ref name=":1"/>

===Waldorf blocking===

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==Criticism==

Some critics believe that certain subjects suffer from a lack of daily exposure to subject matter and practice that occurs with an A/B block schedule. Courses like mathematics, foreign languages, and music may benefit from daily practice and suffer from a lack thereof.<ref name="Lindsay">[http://www.jefflindsay.com/Block3.shtml "The Case Against Block Scheduling"] by [[Jeff Lindsay (engineer)|Jeff Lindsay]]</ref>

A [[University of Virginia]] study of 8,000 college students found that students who had block scheduling in [[high school]] performed worse in university science courses.<ref name="Tai">[http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/2006/08/block_scheduling.html "Block scheduling: Not helping high school students perform better in college science"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080123143800/http://www.virginia.edu/insideuva/2006/08/block_scheduling.html |date=January 23, 2008 }} by [[Robert Tai]]</ref>

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*[http://www.johnwcooper.com/papers/blockscheduling.htm Block Scheduling: Is this Right for America’s Public Schools?]- by John W. Cooper

*[http://www.illinoisloop.org/blocksched.html Block Scheduling: Discussion and links at the Illinois Loop website]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Education reform]]