As schools continue to strive to meet federal testing requirements, many schools have been looking at ways to improve. During the 1990's many school districts thought they had found the method, tool, or program, with which to accomplish this goal: the "block schedule". This study was a comparison of the teaching strategies and attitudes of…

Describes going from teaching 8th grade mathematics in 45-minute class periods to teaching in a block schedule. Presents some strategies for making the change and keeping student interest. (NB)

Under a block schedule, students generally attend fewer but longer classes. Teachers who have tried the approach say they accomplish more in each class session and use a variety of teaching strategies and learning activities. A chart explains the most common varieties of block scheduling. (MLF)

Discusses a report on facilities in secondary school language departments presented at the Annual Conference on the Joint Council of Language Associations, held in Nottingham, England, on December 28-31, 1971. (DS)

Five years of block scheduling at Roy J. Wasson High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has reduced the stress levels for staff and students. Increases have occurred in the average daily attendance rate, in the percentage of students on the honor roll, and in the college-enrollment rate. A sidebar lists 10 suggestions for making the transition…

Maintains that many schools have changed to a form of block scheduling. Describes and discusses the impact of several models of block scheduling. Asserts that, when music educators understand the consequences of various scheduling options, they can be more credible participants in discussions of how best to schedule school time. (CFR)

This paper follows up on an earlier report that presented a theory on instructional processes that relied on a time metric. In this paper a design for field studies within this theoretical orientation is presented. Methods to obtain information on how teachers allocate time so that grouping and individualization strategies can be studied are…

Selected findings are presented from a qualitative, observational study of the relationship between a choice time event and literacy learning in an urban public school's kindergarten in California. The complicated interplay between the overall structure of an event and the small ways one teacher daily framed and guided children's participation in…

This paper discusses the challenges and difficulties of adopting new "authentic" methods of instruction that help students not only learn but also develop habits that enable them to use their knowledge more effectively. "Authentic" methods of instruction are defined as those that require students to produce (not just reproduce) knowledge relevant…

In 1995 the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC), Richmond (Virginia) commissioned a study of alternative high school scheduling modules to determine the effects of different schedules on teaching strategies, teacher and student satisfaction, and student and school performance. This report presents the results of an analysis of the…

This approach to the study of classroom teaching-learning processes concentrates on pupil time and the various ways in which it is used. The conceptual framework contrasts with most earlier studies that report teacher behavior as the most direct influence on pupil achievement. Two premises form the basis of the framework: (1) The total amount of…

Full school days of first and second grades were observed in three inner city schools with primarily minority enrollments. Detailed logs were recorded of activities in terms of subject area, grouping setting, and presence or absence of teacher or aide supervision. The base data and their summaries with respect to pupil and teacher time are…

In 1995 the Metropolitan Educational Research Consortium (MERC), Richmond (Virginia) commissioned a study of alternative high school scheduling modules to determine the effects of different schedules on teaching strategies, teacher and student satisfaction, and student and school performance. This report presents the results of an analysis of a…

This document records a study made on the amount of time students spend on academic learning. Data were collected in two different ways: (1) Teachers kept logs of the content of instruction and the amount of time spent in different content areas. Records of individual students were kept throughout the year, first on a daily basis and later on a…

The report examines issues in block scheduling as it affects foreign language teaching and learning. First, key questions related to block scheduling are discussed from the perspective of student learning, access, and workload. These include questions concerning the potential of block learning to improve achievement and rate of learning, to…