But Martin's high school operates on a block schedule, a new concept in education that extends class periods to give students and teachers more flexibility in learning. Schools across the country have converted to block scheduling in recent years. Educators find the block schedule a way to implement hands-on projects. Students in block scheduling schools generally like it because they only have three or four classes of homework to deal with each night. They have fewer classes to keep up with.
Teachers say block scheduling lightens their homework, as well.
Roy J. Wasson High School in Colorado Springs, Colo., saw its average teacher load fall from 111.4 students to 61.3 in 1995. That means, on average, teachers had about 50 fewer papers to grade every day. But switching to a block schedule isn't easy. Teachers must redesign lesson plans. Although classes are longer, they may have less total instruction time over the whole school year since they don't meet every day.