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…

Research reveals important generalizations about block scheduling. A/B schedules are easier to implement than 4/4 schedules, which must be adapted to allow some year-long courses. Merely changing the school bell schedule will not guarantee better student performance. However, block scheduling typically improves climate, attendance, and…

There are those in the school community who believe that the anxious feelings and heightened sense of anxiety experienced by sixth graders as they transition from elementary to junior high school constitute a rite of passage. Teachers and school administrators in the Indiana Area Junior High School in Pennsylvania believed differently. During the…

A study comparing block scheduling in small high schools to a traditional schedule surveyed 62 administrators and 152 teachers of small Missouri high schools. Findings indicate that administrators and teachers are supportive of block scheduling and that block scheduling stimulates changes in teacher methodology, improves school climate, and…

A Virginia Department of Education survey of urban, suburban, and rural schools using block scheduling revealed fewer disciplinary problems, a strong teacher preference for this format over traditional scheduling, and positive effects on standardized test scores in reading and mathematics. When time is used well in schools, school climate improves…

This report describes a program for the exploration of block scheduling. The targeted population consists of high school students in a growing, middle-class community, located in a suburban setting of a large mid-western city. The historical background of block scheduling is documented through data gathered using attendance reports, student…

Principals must structure their schools' learning environments with high expectations for achievement and behavior and for positive student-teacher relationships to ensure safer, more inclusive, and higher achieving schools. Personalizing high schools as to size, groupings, schedules, tutoring, and conflict mediation is essential. (Contains 27…

When the new superintendent of Orangeburg School District Five was appointed in 1992, he found that Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School graduates did not have the skills to enter the workplace and postsecondary institutions that require high-level academic skills. He identified these three things that Orangeburg would need to do to improve academic…