1. "What are the adult and student issues (benefits and shortcomings) in any proposal under consideration?"
2. "Do the primary short and long-term benefit(s) accrue to the student?"

1. Students will have greater flexibility in scheduling; and, therefore, will be able to take more electives.
2. Increases in the length of daily class session are better than shorter class periods extended of time. This is perceived of as an increase in student "contact time" that will result in increased student achievement.
3. The length (number of minutes) of the school day will not change. This is normally a financial issue, because instructional costs would increase proportionately with the number of minutes added beyond those specified in the teacher contract.

6 classes per day

55 minutes

85 minutes

Sessions per Course

180

90

Average Class Size

30

32.5

Daily Student Class Time

330 minutes

340 minutes

Between-class Time

25 minutes (5 x 5)

15 minutes (3 x 5)

Teacher Load

5 classes per day

3 classes per day

Daily Teacher Class Time

275 minutes

255 minutes

Daily Teacher Class Time

By using the comparative data of the two forms of scheduling, you can determine the adult and student issues, the benefits and shortcomings of a proposed change to block scheduling, and who wins or loses. The partial list included below assumes the adoption of a block schedule as in the comparison data. (Student issues are in bold).

• There are less courses to schedule (4 instead of 6), reducing the workload of counselors. However, the probability of schedule conflict for the student is increased from 1:6 to 1:4. There will be increased difficultly in scheduling courses that are sequential; and, in some cases, an entire semester may go by before scheduling the next course. In the case of music performance, a student may not be able to schedule music for an entire year.

• The number of teachers on "preparatory" (non-teaching) time increases from 1:6 to 1:4. The district must hire additional teaching staff (8%) to compensate for the extra teachers on "prep" time, or increase student class sizes by 8%. There may also be a need to find additional classrooms.

• Teacher workloads are reduced from five classes per day to three. Curricular options in any subject area in which there is only one teacher (e.g., music, world languages, art) will be reduced by 40%.

• With students changing classes only three times per day, there tend to be less discipline problems. The 10 minutes gained from less time changing classes is added to instructional time (2.5 minutes per class).

• However, in practice many teachers are giving a 10-minute "mental" break during the 85-minute class. Others are using the "extra" class time as a guided "study hall" in which students can complete their homework.

• With each course meeting for one semester the number of classes is reduced from 180 to 90. In order to complete the equivalent number of assignments, a teacher on block schedule must cover the material of traditional class periods in on class. Further, in the traditional six-period day a (55-minute) class meets 180 times for a total of 9,900 minutes. Under the block scheduling format an (85-minute) class meets only 90 times, or a total of 7,650 minutes. This loss of 2,250 minutes of instructional time is the equivalent to a reduction of eight (8) weeks of instructional time per course for the student. In sequential courses that cover two semesters (two years on a traditional system), a total of 16 weeks of instructional time is lost. To achieve full mastery of subject competences, some districts have additional course requirements for graduation to make up for lost time in those curricular areas.