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Mark Rodriguez
Professor Dylan Altman
English 113A
24 Nov. 2014
Block Schedule Vs. Traditional Schedule
Are Block Schedules better than a Traditional Schedule in High Schools? Block
Schedules are three periods a day for about two hours each, while a traditional day
schedule is six periods for about an hour each class. There are pros and cons to both
Block and Traditional Schedules from having more time in class to learn, to having more
work time or less work time, and to having more time to talk to your teacher. There are
both a plethora of schools that are traditional and Block schedules all around the United
States. There are many ways to tackle this argument because there are several angles to
come at this. Although many may claims that the Traditional Schedule is better than
Block Schedules, Scholars claim that Block Schedules are superior because it helps
students build relationships with teachers, it helps students by having more time to do
work in class, and it also helps the teachers by giving them more time to teach a subject
more thoroughly.
Having a Block Schedule helps students develop a better relationship with their
teachers. Some people may claim that most students get to know their teachers more in a
Traditional Schedule because once the lecture is over the students are allowed to talk to
their teachers and ask questions instead of do work that is stacked up. Many Scholars
agree with others that may say that this is wrong and that students have more time to
converse with their teachers during a Block Schedule. In a Chapter of The Journal of

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Education Research Elaine Jenkins, Allen Queen, and Bob Algozzine claim that with a
Block Schedule, teachers can engage students in activities that address various learning
styles and that allow students to apply content knowledge to real-world problems
(196). Jenkins, Queen, and Algozzine support the argument that block schedules are
superior because they explain that Block Schedules actually do help teachers develop a
relationship with their students because they have more time for activities to get to know
one another. Joseph Khazzaka explains in The High School Journal that, [in a block
schedule] teachers teach three classes totaling no more than 90 students. Teachers can,
therefore, devote more time to planning instruction (25% more time), and become more
involved in extracurricular activities (88). Khazzaka explains that having a block
schedule lessens the amount of students a teacher has so that the teacher can invest more
time on a student and develop a relationship between the two. Khazzaka also explains
that having less students gives the teachers more time to make their class better and have
more time to give to their students to build a relationship with the student and teacher. A
person might disagree that Block Schedules help teachers gain a relationship with their
students rather sometimes distances the teacher from the student because of all the work
that is given in the class. Both Traditional and Block Schedules have negatives and
positives including the time students have to do work in class.
Block schedules have a longer amount of for students to do their work and ask
questions. Having a class that extends from eighty-five to one-hundred minutes gives
students the upper hand to do work after lectures and ask any questions to help them
better understand the topic. Joseph Khazzaka explains to us that with the extra time that is
given, teachers can develop their key concepts more to help the students master the

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problem. In The High School Journal Khazzaka writes, The instructor has additional
time to develop key concepts fully and to ask probing questions, which help students
This extra time is often critical not only for average students but also for struggling and
accelerated students (88). This explains that block schedules help students get a better
understanding of the subject they are being taught because their teacher has more time to
explain the key concepts and the students have time to ask any necessary inquiries that
can help in their situation. Some people may say that having a 90 minute class is a good
thing because it will change how the teacher handles the class and how much time the
students will use in class to their advantage. Marshall A. George claims in his article Id
Never Go Back: Teachers Talk About Block Scheduling that, less time will be lost
on transition and, in effect, there will be an increase in the quality of instruction and in
innovative use of instructional time (23). George explains to us that the time saved from
not having a transition to the next class will be added to the class which will let the
teacher improve her teaching and lets the kids have more time for their work and also
gives the students time for critical thinking. Having more time to teach classes gives
students the information they need to improve their education and also gives teachers
more time to go over a subject more thoroughly.
Teachers have more time to teach their classes about a topic more
comprehensively during block schedules. Traditional schedules gives teachers only fifty
minutes to introduce a new topic and teach to their students. While block schedules give
teachers ninety minutes to introduce new topics, teach their student, and give some time
to helping their students one on one. In Marshall A. Georges article Id Never Go Back:
Teachers Talk About Block Scheduling he interviews a teacher named Carol, a life

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science teacher, that explains that, Thanks to the 90-minute class period, I have time to
do a prelab, complete an entire lab experiment, and even do a post-lab discussion-all in
on period! (28). This shows us that Carol had more time after her lecture to do perlabs,
labs, and post-lab discussions with her students. There are many advantages to having a
longer class period from having more time to do labs or even to add more educational
activities into the class. William Evans, Jan Tokarczyk, Sheri Rice, and Alison McCray
interviewed teachers in their book The Clearing House about block schedules and the
four claimed, The extended time blocks allowed teachers to do more activities and
expand on lessons (320). Evans, Tokarczyk, Rice, and McCray explain that teachers
have advantages when theres a block schedule from having more time to give their
students lessons on a subject in one day. In a survey done by Joseph Khazzaka in The
High School Journal 77% of the teachers they interviewed had to implement a variety of
teaching strategies, 79% spent more time preparing for classes, and 91% preferred to
teach in a block schedule. These statistics shows that teachers had to do more to make
their class better but also enjoyed having a block schedule. The 79% of teachers
interviewed spent more time to prepare their classes because they had more time to use in
class to go over a subject comprehensively. There are many ways to look at block
schedules.
In conclusion, all schools around the United States should have block
schedules because there are many positive outcomes. For example, students have a
greater chance to develop a student-teacher relationship because there is more time in the
day to converse with the teacher, gives the students more time to do work and get help
before they leave, and also gives benefits to teachers from giving them more time to teach

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a subject and more time to help there students. All in all block schedule and traditional
schedule have there own positive and negative sides. Block schedules should be the main
the main schedule that is used throughout the school systems all around the United States.

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Works Cited

Downs, Lavinia Davis. "High School Mathematics and the Block Schedule." JSTOR.
National Council of

Teachers of Mathematics, Web. 15 Nov. 2014.

Evans, William, Jan Tokarczyk, Sheri Rice, and Alison McCray. "Block Scheduling: An
Evaluation of Outcomes and Impact." JSTOR. Taylor & Francis, Ltd., Web. 14
Nov. 2014.

George, Marshall A. "I'd Never Go Back: Teachers Talk About Block Scheduling."
JSTOR. Dwight Schar College of Education, Ashland University, Mar. 1997.
Web. 21 Nov. 2014.

Jenkins, Elaine, Allen Queen, and Bob Algozzine. "To Block or Not to Block: That's Not
the Question." JSTOR. Taylor & Francis, Ltd., Web. 15 Nov. 2014.

Khazzaka, Joseph. "Comparing the Merits of a Seven-Period School Day to Those of a

Four-Period School

Day." JSTOR. University of North Carolina Press, Web. 15

Nov. 2014.

Knight, Stephanie L., Nancy J. De Leon, and Robert G. Smith. "Using Multiple Data
Sources to Evaluate

an Alternative Scheduling Model." JSTOR. University of

North Carolina Press, Web. 16 Nov. 2014.