Time blocks' learning value can be increased markedly by helping staff develop brain-compatible teaching strategies. Teachers should establish relevance; hook students with short video sequences, dramatic skits, and simulations; schedule at least two learning activities per session; and capitalize on pulsed learning sequences, cooperative teaming,…

Combining the Copernican Plan (a block-schedule variation) and year-round schooling may make both proposals more palatable to the general public. Since the plan leaves facilities, teacher contracts, and current budgets virtually unchanged, serious public resistance is unlikely. Principals should first introduce Copernican scheduling and then use…

Offers guidelines to ensure a smooth school construction project: (1) validate the program and budget; (2) create a management plan; (3) develop a reporting system; (4) qualify designers; (5) manage the design phase; (6) put the schedule in bidding documents; and (6) closely manage the construction phase. (EV)

The use of a portable schedule prompting system to increase independence and self-regulation in time management was compared to use of a written schedule with 12 adults with mental retardation. Results supported the utility of a Palmtop computer with schedule prompting software to increase independence in the performance of vocational and daily…

Describes the school schedule used at Kirkwood High School in Missouri, in which six classes a day meet on a seven-hour schedule in a rotating seven-day cycle. Describes how this schedule meshes with the newspaper and yearbook classes. (SR)

Analyzes the scheduling process in four San Francisco Bay Area high schools as a study of stratification. Finds that the processing of clients takes precedence over the delivery of educational services, especially for the less advantaged. (DM)

This paper first defines the bridge club scheduling problem that was presented to the author and then explores the meaning of an optimal solution. Next, an analytical solution is sought based on the classification of the problem as a resolvable partially balanced incomplete block design. Finally, four increasingly sophisticated techniques of…

After nearly two years' experience with the interdisciplinary studies program, career pathways, and alternating-day 10-block schedule, the Farmington (Missouri) High School faculty is pleased with their progress. Student and teacher surveys indicate an ongoing need for improvements to meet all students' learning needs. This schedule is not for…

A Missouri study of 669 business education teachers (50% response) and a North Carolina study of 82 (59% response) found that block scheduling is viewed positively by most teachers, but it requires changes in planning and use of a wider variety of teaching techniques. (SK)

This article describes the design and use of daily schedules for individual students, especially those with moderate or severe disabilities, highlighting the multiple learning opportunities such schedules can provide. It considers advantages of schedule use, types of daily schedules, considerations for developing schedules, embedded academic…

School libraries are changing. Since 1988, Library Power, a $40 million program sponsored by the DeWitt Wallace Reader's Digest fund, has helped 700 elementary- and middle-school libraries in 19 communities improve collections, refurbish facilities, develop curriculum, and provide technical training for school personnel. (MLH)

An assessment at the University of Maryland, College Park of the time and distance between classes, and the resulting classroom disruptions when students arrive late or leave early, supported a decision to implement a policy regarding student scheduling. (EV)

Explains how to get prepared, provide ongoing support, and collaborate while adopting block scheduling. (YDS)

To address the nations' ongoing interest in student achievement, some researchers have focused on the effect of block scheduling--a model in which students take fewer classes for longer periods of time. Although block scheduling has demonstrated its viability in high schools, little research has explored its effect at the middle level. Because the…

Many postsecondary institutions utilize learning communities to increase social engagement and attachment to the college community. In recent years, these communities have proliferated as part of a trend fueled by low retention and persistence rates, increasing reluctance of 4-year institutions to provide remedial education, and pressure on…