Archive for March 3rd, 2009
To Block or Not to Block?
March 3rd, 2009
That’s the question. Our middle school principal, Bill Caldwell, has been working with his grades 7 & 8 faculty and students all year to determine which is best, an A/B block schedule or a more traditional 42 minute period every day. Our high school is traditional with no interest in changing. This is a debate that schools across the nation have been having for over a decade now.
Personally, it seems to me that it’s just a way to configure time and it doesn’t much matter how it’s scheduled, what matters is what our teachers and students do with that time. What instructional strategies are the teachers using? Are our students actively engaged with content during the full block? Are teachers using 42 minutes of the block for instruction and then giving time to work on homework in class? Are they accomplishing much more because they can start something and sustain it for a longer time period?
I would challenge that our best teachers optimize the time they have, no matter how it’s configured. Most of the research on blocking time in a schedule speaks to this same thought–it doesn’t seem to make a significant difference in our achievement. Instead this question often comes down to likes/dislikes.
I’m not sure what our final decision will be as an administrative team. I’m interested to hear where Mr. Caldwell’s research led him and what his recommendation will be. We’ll have a great discussion on it Thursday at our admin meeting, which I love–through our analysis, discussion and debate, I think we come to better decisions.
What do you think? This blog is a great place for readers to weigh in on the ideas presented and so far, not many readers are doing so. If you have any thoughts on the topic that you want us to throw into the discussion, speak now. I’m listening.
