The Block Schedule and English Language Learners

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact that the block schedule has on the academic achievement of English Language Learners (ELL). A nonequivalent independent group design was used in this study. In this quasi-experimental design, students were not randomly assigned, but the comparison school that was used had similar demographic characteristics to Oxbow High School. Comparisons were made between the experimental school and the comparison school before and after the intervention. Scores on the California Standards Test and California High School Exit Exam for the 9th – 11th grade students on the block schedule were compared to students on the traditional six-period schedule. Another area that was also examined was the academic achievement for economically disadvantaged students and students who were not economically disadvantaged. Teachers were also surveyed to gauge their opinion of the block schedule, s well as the faculty’s report on the best practices in the classroom and the effort required to implement these practices.