This article gives an historical perspective of block scheduling as well as looking squarely at the advantages and disadvantages of it. It focuses on how block scheduling affects such things as school climate, staff morale, and most importantly student achievement. Results from surveys given to administrators and students utilizing block…

Although U.S. schools that provide bilingual education typically must negotiate English-only policies and pressures to sustain their programming over time, little is known about what this entails at the individual school level. Our research examines in detail how the leaders of an elementary school in New York City with a Spanish-English…

The major challenge with time is finding it. Current school-day schedules and school-year calendars are leaner than ever because of budget reductions. States and districts have implemented furlough days to balance lean-and-mean budgets that show no sign of improving. Few are willing to take the leap toward reducing instructional time to improve…

The amount of time allocated for learning and the way that time is used is one of the few variables that can be influenced rather directly by school leaders. Fortunately, it is also a variable that has shown consistent links to student performance. Now that schools are focused directly, and in some cases exclusively, on student achievement, there…

The largest issue for schools is not extending the school day or year--as useful as those policies might be--but of meeting time requirements within the constraints of the budgets and personnel given them. Policy makers rarely understand how their policies impact practice. Author Marilyn Crawford suggests a policy-talks-to-practice strategy that…

Argues that educators must "think outside the box" to improve school performance. Suggests several areas for expanded thought, including school size, curriculum coverage, grading practices, use of time, organization of students, time management, and belief statement. (PKP)

In this article, the authors discuss the advantages of block scheduling and how it can be an effective educational tool when faced with educational challenges. Block schedules can ease the transition from the homelike atmosphere of the elementary school to the departmentalized environment of the high school by reducing the need for constant class…

Parents, teachers, and government officials agree that America's schools must be reformed. However, new research suggests that most reforms will not work without closer attention to one critical resource--time. This document presents findings of a study conducted by the Rand Institute on Education and Training, which found that any reform takes…

Describes how five elementary and secondary schools have successfully altered the traditional school schedule in order to develop greater educational quality. These schools give examples of using time more flexibly, allowing teachers to help slower students, helping teachers polish their lessons and go deeper into their disciplines, and providing…