block scheduling in public high schools

[SusanAR]

What iis the advantage? Is it cheaper? Fewer books to purchase and teachers to pay?? How do you cover algebra in 1 semester

Susan

[mcconnellboys]

They do 90 minute classes, every other day, and get in 8 subjects per year, instead of 7. Since class time was (at least where I live) normally 45-50 minutes per day before the change, they're really getting in almost the same amount of time for the year. And in our system, time served seems to be really the only thing that matters, anyway, LOL.....

[SusanAR]

Our schools schedule 4 classes per semester. I realize that more time is spent in class, but, imo, it would be hard to cover numerous math concepts in one day- which is what it would take to finish in a semester. I am trying to think it through- wouldn't it require fewer books/teachers this way??

 

Susan

[Jann in TX]

I HATE block scheduling!

 

I have a dd in 10th grade at our local PS and they are on block scheduling. She has 4 classes per day. 'A' days Monday and Wednesday and 'B' days Tuesday and Thursday--Friday's alternate.

 

It is a HORRIBLE schedule for high school Math!

 

The teachers seem to like it--only 3-4 plans to make for each day. The students get 'double' homework and the extra time in class DOES NOT end up as extra instruction time--in reality the students have LESS instruction and MORE homework that they must SELF TEACH or hire tutors for.

[Laurie4b]

The high schools around here all do it. From what I hear the teachers hate it. I forget the exact math, but they get fewer hours to cover the same amount of material.

 

I think it is cheaper for the schools and it gives the students the "advantage" of extra credits.

 

However, I remember in college trying to schedule as many classes as I could on MWF because they were an hour long. The TTh classes were 1 1/2 hours long and I could hardly stand it in college. I think it's probably fine for some subjects (long lit discussions? Science with labs?) but really bad for others (like math. I would think it's better to learn a concept and let it sink in than cram in more than one concept in a single day.)

[Nicole M]

Music teachers hate this schedule as well, because often the only time students in, say, band, actually play their instrument is when they are in band class. If they're playing only every other day, instead of every day... bad.

 

I don't really understand the whole business myself, and have only heard complaints.

[carol]

Some schools around here are considering eliminating

the block schedule cause students get 8 classes instead

of 7 which means more books and teachers. I have

been told the block schedule was to prepare for college

which operates off of semester basis. Ok have seniors

do it not freshman.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I wouldn't like high schoolers (at least not 9th and 10th graders) doing semester long full credit classes....the only block scheduling I've ever seen is the kind where they do 8 classes per week, four on each day, switching off A and B days. From what I could tell, that seemed okay. I also think there could be some argument for independence which I think is lacking in most high schools.

 

But it really would depend on the teachers whether it really works or not. I could see how some teachers could really make it worse, not better.

[Jane in NC]

I HATE block scheduling!

 

 

Well Jann summed it up for me!

 

My county high schools use block scheduling with four courses each semester. One of our formerly homeschooled friends is now in 9th grade at the local school. I was checking in with her mom last night to see how things are going. Friend is amazed that her daughter is only in one academic class: earth science. Her other courses are PE, drama and something similar. Now friend's daughter is an athlete with a fall sport (and a write up in the newspaper suggested that she may be the best on the team) so I wonder if they purposely gave her a lightweight schedule so that she could concentrate on her sport. Friend says that her daughter cannot afford to ignore math until January. They will be doing afterschooling in this area.

 

Scheduling certain electives for nine weeks or a semester makes sense to me. This might expose more kids to an art course or speech class. But, in my opinion, high school students need math and foreign language on a daily basis.

 

Last year I followed the AP Bio teachers ListServ when my son was doing the course. Biology teachers in alternate day block systems are appreciative of the lab time they have. Some teachers with 50 minute classes feel obligated to have Saturday labs to enable students to complete their work, although experienced teachers often figure out a way to do a lab in two pieces on consecutive days. On the ListServ one hears the same issues that I often felt when teaching in a college classroom: it can be hard to maintain attention spans for longer than an hour, particularly when the material is challenging and some process time is required.

 

A parent of one of my son's friends told me that she believes block scheduling is so popular because it minimizes the time student spend in hallways, time when trouble could happen.

 

I think about our homeschool. My son did some courses two or three days a week, but I have insisted that language courses and math be visited on at least four of five. The amount of work in AP Biology was so great that it demanded at least 90 minutes five days a week. He is now in 11th and taking courses at the CC which meet twice a week. In the time between his morning and afternoon classes, he completes his Western Civ reading, but he is doing chemistry work at home on days when he is not at the college. He has essentially worked his way into a pattern of self discipline so that he can maintain focus. Are all 9th graders capable of this?

 

Musing,

Jane

[FloridaLisa]

He has essentially worked his way into a pattern of self discipline so that he can maintain focus. Are all 9th graders capable of this?

 

 

Yes, I see my oldest doing much of the same. But there's a huge difference between focusing at home in a quiet bedroom for 90+ minutes versus a classroom of teens. Most of those kids will come home from AP bio and put in another 90 minutes of work. That's the rub.

 

Also, even though our dc may end up self-governing and working on lit or history 3 days each week in big chunks, they are still spreading it over a year. There is time for that material to sink in and process.

 

Hey, just because colleges work on the semester system doesn't mean it's the best way. What about those summer A courses?! Yikes. I remember taking Survey of Old Testament (including Apocrypha) in a 6-week summer course along with an American literature course. I made it through, got my grades, but it was a shallow and wasteful learning experience.

 

Lisa

[Jane in NC]

What about those summer A courses?! Yikes. I remember taking Survey of Old Testament (including Apocrypha) in a 6-week summer course along with an American literature course. I made it through, got my grades, but it was a shallow and wasteful learning experience.

 

Lisa

 

This reminds me of the number of students I have met who despise mathematics and thus come to the conclusion that taking Precalc or Calc I as a five or six week summer course is the answer. The summer option has them in a math class for several hours a day, followed by several more hours of homework. For a person who is challenged by mathematics, this can be a nightmare!

 

But that reminds me of something else. Colorado College and Cornell College (in Iowa, not the university in New York) have one-course-at-a-time systems. Students take a course for a month of intensive study. This sounds like something that a literature major would wishes to throw herself into Austen or a chem major with a lab project would enjoy, but I cannot grasp how students do things like Calculus and Russian. (I have a niece who attended one of these schools. When I asked her about it, she said she loved the system, but admitted that she had placed out of math and Spanish so she wasn't sure how these courses were handled.) Immersion is grand, but some of us (that means me) need time to process.

 

Jane

[sweetbaby]

I've used it for a while in hsing my high schooler but it takes too much time away from my other four littles. Plus, my oldest has a learning disability and needs material in bite size pieces. Although, we don't like it this is what our dc are face with when they enter college courses.

[Michelle in MO]

we fell into a pattern of block scheduling in the afternoons when we started doing TWTM. When the girls were younger, it was easy to do history on M/W/F (like SWB recommended) and science on T/Th. We've always done math, Latin, and all the language arts every day, Monday through Friday. There was simply no other way to get these core subjects completed.

 

When the girls started more logic/rhetoric (h.s.) level work, we still did the block scheduling with history and science, but ended up doing science on Saturdays, too! Our schedule ran something like this:

 

Daily:

 

6:30 - 8:30 (or 9:00) a.m. - Math

8:30 - 10:15 - Grammar, vocabulary, spelling (for the youngest), logic.

When we did writing tutorials, writing was from 8:30 until at least 10:30!

10:30 - 11:15 - Latin

Great Books - 1-1/2 hours/day, M-F

 

Then, we did history for two hours every M/W/F and science for two hours every T/Th/Sat. There was no way to get physical science, biology, and chemistry done otherwise.

 

Our local p.s. did block scheduling for a while, but the parents hated it because the students were not getting enough of the core academic subjects. I believe they've finally switched to a regular schedule.

 

I know on some subjects like math, Latin (or another foreign language), or language arts, there is too much to cover and most students need more time to assimilate the concepts.

[SusanAR]

This reminds me of the number of students I have met who despise mathematics and thus come to the conclusion that taking Precalc or Calc I as a five or six week summer course is the answer. The summer option has them in a math class for several hours a day, followed by several more hours of homework. For a person who is challenged by mathematics, this can be a nightmare!

 

But that reminds me of something else. Colorado College and Cornell College (in Iowa, not the university in New York) have one-course-at-a-time systems. Students take a course for a month of intensive study. This sounds like something that a literature major would wishes to throw herself into Austen or a chem major with a lab project would enjoy, but I cannot grasp how students do things like Calculus and Russian. (I have a niece who attended one of these schools. When I asked her about it, she said she loved the system, but admitted that she had placed out of math and Spanish so she wasn't sure how these courses were handled.) Immersion is grand, but some of us (that means me) need time to process.

 

Jane

This is off topic, but the private college I attended during my freshman year did a version of this that I think is a good idea- they ran on a semester system except they had an 'interim' term during the month of January in which the students took only one course (not all courses were offered). The length of the school year was a bit longer, but the students ended up with an extra 3-4 hours. I took environmental science and loved it.

 

Susan

[Jane in NC]

This is off topic, but the private college I attended during my freshman year did a version of this that I think is a good idea- they ran on a semester system except they had an 'interim' term during the month of January in which the students took only one course (not all courses were offered).

 

Susan

 

Sorry--I'm the one who initially led this off topic.

 

Actually this interim term concept is fairly common. Wellesley College used to run (maybe they still do) an intersession in January during which students could take one intensive course or have a co-op experience involving someone from the College's extensive alumnae network. I think the Intersession idea is terrific--something homeschoolers could incorporate into their calendars.

 

Best,

 

Jane

[Chris in VA]

My son's block scheduling is different (in case OP is trying options). He has 6 classes every other day, for 90 mins, for a whole year. He also has one class (it could be any class--this year it's history) every day for 45 minutes.

 

This is the best of both worlds, imo, if you have to have block scheduling. It gives a whole year for content, gives a day between classes for homework and projects, and yet offers one class daily--ideally, this would be math or foreign lang, but you can never tell. I do like my friend's kid's schedule--they have 3 classes that meet daily, and 4 that block this way (every other day for 90 mins). She said that typically, foreign lang, math and English were every day, and science, history and electives were blocked.

[bettyandbob]

My ds is starting public hs and will have block scheduling. 1 credit classes meet all year. They have 7 classes. Everyday 4 classes meet, so everyother day the students will have a free period. (This is the first year the school has had a free period. For the past 10 years the school had one class that met every day for 45 min and 3 classes that met 90 min a day. ) Anyway, the plan is to rotate the free period, so that every 7 class days the student will have had an "extra" meeting with each class. The students will use this as a study hall or to get extra help with the particular class they are meeting. The schedule rotates between A days and B days. Some weeks a class will have a regular meeting 3 times and others 2 times.

 

Advantages I see:

 

1. lab sciences have a chance to complete more involved labs--I'm a science person so I see this as a big advantage.

 

2. from a homework standpoint a student can complete assignments through Tuesday on the weekend, so you can count on Monday to be a "light" weeknight. This could be a good time to schedule a doctor or orthodontist appointment or take a music lesson.

 

3. There are less books to haul back and forth to school and less to carry between classes, because you only have 3 or 4 classes meeting a day.

 

4. If the school's plan to rotate meeting of the "free" period works, the need to stay after for make up tests and extra help will be greatly reduced, which will help students who don't have the advantage of parents who can pick them up. Our school system greatly reduced "late buses" a few years ago, so after school time with teachers is difficult for some students.

 

Disadvantages I see:

 

1. I don't know how I'd remember if a day was an "A" day or a "B" day. However, as a 7th grader I attended American School in Japan and at the time ASIJ had A, B, C, D, E, and F days. I guess I learned it then and the students at the local high school have adapted as well. As the parent who is not immersed by attending class daily, it will be harder to adapt.

 

2. I think a foreign language class should meet daily. However, I'm not an expert in languages so maybe there adaptations I haven't considered.

[Kimberleigh]

The son of a close friend is in a block scheduled high school in Arizona. They take four classes every day per semester. He says it's tough getting a full year's worth of math compressed into one semester, and then you don't have math again until next year, by which time you've forgotten half of what you've learned.

 

It's also harder to take AP courses because there's not enough time to pack a full year's worth of work at that level into a semester, and unless you're fortunate enough to take the course during the spring term, you have to put in a lot of extra time to self-review a class you took in the fall in order to prepare for the May exams.

 

He hates it. Because the teachers are trying to pack so much into such a short time, the amount of homework is overwhelming. He says it's basically like a series of self-study courses with chunks of inadequate tutoring during the day.

[Zanyan]

they use block scheduling. He just started, so we don't have any personal experience with it yet, but I have two nephews who went to high schools with block scheduling, and they both loved it, because they were able to focus on fewer classes per day, and they felt it kept them more organized.

 

My son's school has year long courses, though, so it's different than the majority of block scheduled schools being discussed here. He has 3 classes per day: on Mondays/Wednesdays he has English 9, Health, and Spanish 1. On Tuesdays/Thursdays he has Algebra 1, Geography, and Art. Each class is 85 minutes long. Fridays alternate between A and B days, and each class is held for one hour. The one exception to the year-long courses is Health, which is a requirement, and lasts one semester. The second semester he will fulfill his "Technology" requirement. The students have to fulfill their P.E. requirement on their own, and fill out forms stating that they participated in the required number of hours of physical exercise. They also have to participate in 10 community service hours per semester. The kids are required to fulfill the University of California entrance requirements as a minimum for graduation.

 

I can totally understand why semester long classes would put high schoolers at a disadvantage, but I'm hoping my son's schedule will help him stay organized (one of his challenges!). He has been homeschooled for the past 6 years so we'll see how this new adventure goes...

 

Oh - I have posted on WTM boards on and off for about 6 years, but haven't been around for awhile. I didn't even know that the forum format had changed. I love the new format! If I recall, my username on the old board was LSC. It's nice to be here again! (My dd is in 7th grade and still homeschools). I'll be using the boards for my dd, and to support my son in his high school journey. :001_smile:

[MyThreeSons]

I can see its advantages for things like labs and shop-type classes. But, I tutored one young lady this past Spring who was really at a disadvantage because she needs more time to work on a new math concept. They were flying thru almost a chapter a week, and it was just too fast for her.

 

Personally, I prefer what we did when I was in Junior High (way back in the 70s). We had A days and B days. Four classes each day, all year long. One week A days were M, W, F, then the next they were T and Th. I liked it. We never had homework that was due the very next day. And most students had a mixture of classes, so that, for instance, you didn't have History, Math, Science and English all on one day. One of my favorite classes was an elective called "Teacher's Aide". I got to go next door to the elementary school and help out a second grade teacher. If the classes had been shorter, that wouldn't have worked. The experiment lasted for the two years I was there, then they went back to a traditional 6-period day.

[cathmom]

Foreign language teachers in general do not like the block system either!

[Guest burdeesrule]

I'm dually-enrolled, homeschooled and enrolled at a high school that does block scheduling. The block classes are 1 hr. 45 min and we have 4 every day.

Pros:

- So much time in class, homework usually gets done DURING class. If not, then you still have another whole day to do it.

- more time to spend with the teacher

- sometimes a normal 30-min class period isn't enough to really get concentrated and get going on a roll. Block allows more time for that.

Those are just a few.

 

Cons:

- trying to combine online classes or other classes meeting on a non-block schedule with block scheduling is a nightmare and takes alot of time to get everything adjusted.

- Even if you just want to take a few classes, you are still up at the school for a very long time each day. It leaves little room for other subjects at home.

 

Overall, I recommend it. It is useful for me because I can take classes up at school that I couldn't otherwise do at home like debate and the sciences with a REAL lab, etc. It's also fun because I get to meet friends, go to activities and still be a "normal" kid (don't take that the wrong way). And of course, nobody can say that I'm an "unsocialized homeschooler". :)

[yeongil]

Respectfully, I disagree with burdeesrule. I do not consider burdeesrule's pros to be pros at all.

- So much time in class, homework usually gets done DURING class. If not, then you still have another whole day to do it.

Homework should usually be done at home. If homework gets done regularly during class, then maybe there is too much free time? Maybe the teacher isn't using class time efficiently?

- more time to spend with the teacher

If you mean in a single period, than of course this is correct. However, if you mean for the whole year, I've heard that in many instances there is less class time than if one had a 7-period daily schedule.

- sometimes a normal 30-min class period isn't enough to really get concentrated and get going on a roll. Block allows more time for that.

It's hard for kids to stay focused for 75, 80, 90 minutes or longer. As others have stated, block schedule is good for science and phys. ed. classes, but bad for math and foreign language.

 

I apologize if I come across as harsh (in my first post, of all places :D) but block-scheduling is something that I have strong feelings about. Here is one site that states the case against block-scheduling: http://www.jefflindsay.com/Block.shtml

 

 

01

[SusanAR]

Useful link! Thanks!

 

Susan