While the overall student numbers show no significant differences in learning for better or worse, at-risk students tend to do better in year-round setups. Studies have found that disadvantaged students lose about 27 percent more of their learning gains in the summer months than their peers.

8. What evidence is presented in the text to show that year-round schools are becoming more popular? Suggested answer: The author includes a statistic from the National Association for Year- Round Education stating that the number of students in year-round schools tripled from 1990 to 2000.

Students who are enrolled in a year-round school attend school the same number of days as students on a traditional calendar schedule. A year-round school calendar is organized into nine-week quarters. In addition, year-round schools are organized by tracks, which align with specific schedules and courses.

Benefits of Year-Round School in the U.S.

• Saving money on school facilities and staff resources.
• Reducing class sizes and overcrowding in classrooms.
• Alleviating the need for new school construction.
• Preventing student and teacher burnout.
• Decreasing teacher and student absences.

Students will do more than just learn better in a year-round school. Teachers and students experience a closer relationship in year-round schools than they do in traditional, shorter-calendar-year schools. In the absence of any long-term break from school, students do not feel detached from the school environment.

Students tend to forget a lot during the summer, and shorter vacations might increase retention rates. School buildings unused in the summer are wasted resources. Short breaks provide time for students to receive enrichment education. Remediation can occur when it is most needed during the school year.

1. Traditional School Calendar: This type of school calendar requires students to attend school 180 days. This calendar is a 9-month calendar with schools closed for 3 months during the summer (Ballinger, 1987). Usually, students attend school for 45 days and have a 15-day break (Kneese, 1996).

In traditional scheduling, students have classes every day. Classes generally meet for about 50 minutes at the time, and students see the same teacher every day for their classes. Traditional scheduling is probably what most students and teachers are familiar with, and it works for the most part.

With block scheduling, students and teachers are able to focus on fewer subjects, and to explore them in greater depth. Both teachers and students assert that this exploration allows them to become engrossed in the subject matter rather than moving rapidly through material.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF FLEXIBLE SCHEDULES

• A 4×4 Block Schedule. The traditional four block schedule is used in many high schools.
• A/B Block Schedule. Another option is to schedule two different lengths of time for your flex block.
• A Multiple Period Flex Block.
• A Rotating Block Schedule.
• A Rotating Drop Schedule.

Pros of Block Scheduling

1. Promotes Cooperative Learning. Block scheduling means that teachers can take advantage of smaller group lessons more frequently.
2. Quality Time. Teachers will see fewer students over the course of the day.
3. More Focus.
4. Less Daily Homework.
5. Individualized Teaching.
6. Longer Planning Periods.

Two research studies found that block scheduling had positive effects on standardized test scores.

According to the National Education Association, these are some benefits of block schedule: Students have more time for reflection and less information to process over the course of a school day. Teachers see fewer students during the day, giving them more time for individualized instruction.

Ten Guidelines for Implementing Block Scheduling

1. Employ a systems thinking approach.
2. Secure the support of your superiors.
3. Understand the change process.
4. Involve all stakeholders.
5. Consult sources outside the school.
6. Brainstorm creative alternatives.
7. Examine the budgetary implications.
8. Plan faculty inservices.

6 strategies to successfully implement blockchain

1. Understand what blockchain is. A well-designed blockchain stores records in blocks that are linked to one another using a cryptographic technique that creates a digital, distributed ledger.
2. Develop a business case.
3. Choose your blockchain carefully.
4. Build an ecosystem.
5. Design deliberately.
6. Navigate uncertainty.

While by no means solving the problem completely, 45-minute classes would allow for a smaller number of mental lapses, allowing students to better absorb the material. The block schedule also creates a great deal of inconsistency. While some days may be extremely packed, other days may be completely barren.

A “4 x 4” block schedule in which students take four 90-minute classes every day and finish a course in one semester rather a full school year. An “A/B” or “alternating-day” block schedule in which students take eight 90-minute classes that meet every other day.

Block scheduling in itself is no guarantee of active learning. And if active learning doesn’t take place during, for example, a 90-minute class period, students may have trouble paying attention for the entire class. Such an absence may cause a student to fall behind to the extent that making up the work is difficult.

Modified block schedule is built on a variety of schedules and allows some combination of year-long courses offered in either block (A/B), regular skinny period or condensed into a semester through daily block. Each term students can take up to eight courses depending on the base schedule.

“A” days are two days a week; “B” days are two days a week; and on a fifth day, students attend all their classes for a shortened length resembling a Standard period schedule.

Example: Suppose Monday is an A day, and Tuesday is a B day.

A “B” day, however, simply means that the core classes are reversed, and they the students will have their regularly scheduled morning core classes in the afternoon, and their regularly scheduled afternoon core classes in the morning. …

A block schedule simply means that you create several smaller to-do lists each day instead of one really long one… and then you tackle each of those smaller to-do lists during different “blocks” of time throughout the day.