BLOCK SCHEDULING IN DAVIDSON COUNTRY

The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of a controversy that took place in North Carolina regarding Block Scheduling. A great deal of this conflict took place in Davidson County which was one of the first counties in the state to begin implementing Block Scheduling in their schools. The analysis begins with a definition of block scheduling and then discusses the nature of the conflict in terms of the Institutional Economics Transaction Model (as it is applied to the educational setting (House, 1998). Three central concepts of the model are used to explain the controversy and how it was finally settled. These are the notions of: bounded rationality, specific assets, and opportunism.

Application of the Institutional Economics Transaction Model to the Controversy and How It was Settled

According to Irmsher (1996), Block Scheduling can be simply defined as a daily school schedule organized into large blocks of time in order to allow for a greater diversity of instructional activities. There are a wide variety of ways in which block scheduling can be implemented, e.g., four ninety-minute blocks per day; alternate day block schedules: etc. Irmsher (1996) states that there are several advantages to block scheduling including: allowing time for a more flexible and productive classroom environment, along with more opportunities for using varied and interactive t