by May Plaige

Created on: May 06, 2008   Last Updated: February 02, 2009

Block scheduling was implemented in several middle schools and high schools across America in the 1990's, with the expectation that it would increase student learning. Years later, the system's effectiveness is still under investigation as more and more benefits and drawbacks are uncovered. Some expected benefits and drawbacks have arisen, as well as some less expected ones.

BENEFITS

More Time, Less Distractions: Block scheduling was expected to increase student learning for many reasons. Because the system involves students spending more time in fewer classes each day, it was assumed that the simultaneous increase of time spent in the classroom along with the decrease of different subjects covered each day would allow students more time and more concentration to gain better understanding of each lesson.

More Time Learning, Less Time Lagging: Also, the amount of time spent in one school day switching from one class to another and preparing for each class would decrease since there would be fewer classes in a day, making the school day as a whole more time efficient. With fewer classes in a day, students will spend less time walking the hallways from class to class and have fewer "warm-up" activities to do, since there will be less classes to "warm up" for.

More Engaging Lessons: Teachers were expected to be able to benefit from block scheduling as well. Activities that would normally take too much time to complete in a 50 minute class period could now be implemented in a 90 minute class period. Teachers could vary their instruction methods since they would have more time to work with, implementing more group work, instructional games, etc. The increase of classroom time was, on a whole, expected to allow teachers to spend more time with their students and improve instruction.

DISADVANTAGES

Attention Spans: The most obvious problem with implementing block scheduling is that both teachers and students need to adjust to the longer time periods spent in the classroom. Teachers need to learn how to keep students interested for around 90 minutes, and students need to learn to pay attention for 90 minutes. In today's fast-paced, gotta-have-it-now culture, the adjustment for both sides can be difficult.

Strong Students' Frustrations: While students who are currently in schools which utilize block scheduling will often say that they appreciate the lessened work load by having less classes each day (and, in some cases, each semester), a strange phenomenon has begun to emerge.

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