The following list includes some of the resources available for people seeking more information about block scheduling.
Magazine and journal articles
- Bulletin, May 1995, theme issue on innovative scheduling. Single copies are $12 each, $15 for nonmembers, from the National Association of Secondary School Principals, (703) 860-0200. Also available, The High School Magazine, March/April 1996, theme issue on time and learning. Single copies are $5 each.
- “Using Time Well: Schedules in Essential Schools” by Kathleen Cushman, as printed in Horace, the newsletter of the Coalition of Essential Schools, November 1995. Includes a bibliography of further readings on time and learning. Single copies are available for $2.50 each from the publications manager at (401) 863-3384.
- Educational Leadership, November 1995, theme issue on productive use of time and space. Single copies are $8.50 each from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, (703) 549-9110.
Books and reports
- Block Scheduling: A Catalyst for Change in High Schools and Teaching in the Block: Strategies for Engaging Active Learners, two books by Robert Lynn Canady and Michael D. Rettig. Published by Eye on Education Inc., Princeton, N.J. 1995. Copies are available for $41.95 and $39.95, respectively, plus shipping and handling, from Eye on Education, (609) 395-0005; fax: (609) 395-1180.
- Retooling the Instructional Day, a monograph by Gerald E. Kosanovic that describes various models of innovative scheduling. Copies are available for $9.00 each from the NASSP, (703) 860-7227. Specify order number 210-9403.
- “Prisoners of Time,” the report of the National Education Commission on Time and Learning, is available on back order for $5.50 per copy from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15250-7954; (202) 512-1800. Two supplementary reports, “Prisoners of Time--Research: What We Know and What We Need to Know” and “Prisoners of Time: Schools and Programs Making Time Work for Students and Teachers,” also are available on back order for $4.25 each. The three reports are available on-line at the U.S. Department of Education’s World Wide Web site at http://www.ed.gov/pubs/studies.html.
Videotapes
- “Scheduling and Grading,” a three-hour video from the Southern Regional Education Board’s series on high schools that work. The two-tape set is available for $40 from the SREB, 592 10th St. N.W., Atlanta, Ga. 30318-5790; (404) 875-9211; fax: (404) 872-1477.
Internet sites
http://www.classroom.net/classweb/myhome.html
This site for Wasson High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., features an array of documents about the school’s switch to a block schedule, including how to craft a new schedule, a discussion of new teaching styles in longer class periods, and data on the schedule’s impact on student achievement.
http://www.athenet.net/~jlindsay/Block.shtml
A parent in Appleton, Wis., lays out a detailed explanation of why he thinks block scheduling is a bad idea; it includes links to other Internet resources--both pro and con--on block scheduling.
Electronic mail
- A block scheduling “quick sheet” listing resources and background information is available from Douglas S. Fleming, an education consultant in Lunenberg, Mass. For copies, send a request by electronic mail to dfleming@tiac.net.
