Scheduling in Schools

Block Scheduling in American schools basically refers to the type of organization of classes in high school. This form of scheduling is organized under the pretext of allowing students flexibility to spend as much time as they need to master a subject and to enable others who want to progress faster to do so. It is similar to the scheduling that is found in colleges and universities where the student takes suggested courses for a semester until these courses or units are mastered. Australian schools have the concept of Vertical Timetabling, which is almost the same with a few tweaks. Most parochial schools both in Australia and here in USA have opted to retain the older tried and tested traditional system of fifty minute periods, and year long courses. Which form of schooling then is the most efficient? Each camp will have their own positive arguments and adherents that vehemently champion the virtues of each system be it Block, Vertical, or Traditional.

Proponents of the Block form of school scheduling claim that students are able to study subjects solely for interest, and at their own pace. This would be great if it worked as it is meant to work, but unfortunately reality bites and a six month semester is just not enough time to cover a whole year’s worth of curriculum. There seems to be a perplexing paradox in Education in that there are text book publishers who go to great lengths to produce wonderfully jam packed text books and CDs and charts and examinations, and study aids only to have most school districts adopt Block Scheduling which only gives the teachers six months to teach a year’s worth of content. The usual counter to this argument is, “Well it is the teacher’s job to pick and choose what parts of the text books to teach.” This sounds good but once again to satisfy the state pacing guides one needs to use a sampling from the entire text book and six months is just not enough time.

“Students will be able to study some courses purely for pleasure.” This is one of the stated tenets of Block Scheduling and it begs the obvious question. When does a high school student who has a mere 6 months to do a year’s worth of work get the time or indeed the inclination to study anything for pleasure? In my experience in schools, not just American schools, students always ask, “Is this for a grade?” and in Australia they ask, “Is this summative or formative?” The truth is that the work schedule is so tight, that students become too focused on grades and exit standards that the teachers don’t have many opportunities to actually teach as they need to do.