Research & Resources - Kansas Statewide Study
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The Effect of Block Scheduling on Mathematics Achievement in High
and Low SES Secondary Schools
by Glenn R. Walker
Submitted to the Department of Teaching and Leadership and the
Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Kansas in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education.
Dissertation defended: July, 2000
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast the effects of
block scheduling on math achievement of secondary students in Kansas.
The results of the Kansas State Mathematics Assessment were analyzed for
all 345 public secondary schools, approximately 150,000 10th graders,
for the years 1994-1999. This data was disaggregated by type of
schedule, block or traditional; years on the block; days per week on the
block; size of school; teacher-pupil ratio, and socio-economic level of
the schools considered.
Ten research questions were answered in this study. ANOVAs were
calculated for seven of the questions. Correlations were calculated for
the two questions which considered the effects of pupil-teacher ratio
and socio-economic status. A regression analysis was calculated for one
question considering the effects of block scheduling when all other
factors were controlled. Overall gain for all schools was found to be
significant for the five-year period. The gain for block-scheduled
schools was found to be slightly greater than that of traditionally
scheduled schools but that difference was found to be insignificant.
Also found to be insignificant were the effects of years on the block
and days per week on the block. The effect of size of school was found
to be significant but the data presented challenging results, which
prompted other questions. Pupil-teacher ratio was found to have a small
but significant effect. Socio-economic status was found to be the single
most important factor in achievement results, regardless of schedule
type.
The findings indicate that block scheduled schools have improved math
achievement at a rate at least equal to schools with traditional
schedules. This should allay the fears of some administrators and math
teachers as they contemplate schedule changes. This study did not find
that the number of years on the block or the number of days per week on
the block greatly affected achievement. While size of school did seem to
have an effect, further analysis indicates that this finding had more to
do with pupil-teacher ratio and socio-economic status than school size.
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