I recommend reading "AN EXAMINATION OF THE FOUR PERIOD DAY AND ITS IMPACT ON PERFORMANCE-BASED MUSIC CLASSES A NATIONAL SURVEY"
by Kevin Meidl


Some statistics to give you an idea of what you will see:



NATIONAL SURVEY RESULTS
(in a nut-shell)
69% of those music programs surveyed saw a decrease in enrollment in their choir, band or orchestra after a move to block scheduling.
66% found that the decrease was directly attributed to scheduling conflicts.
66% found that peer pressure was not a factor in students registering for music classes under the block schedule.
62% of the music teachers believed that once a student left the class at semester, he/she would rejoin at the next available opportunity.
There is much more. Here is the link:

http://www.menc.org/publication/articles/block/meidl.htm

Also, if you will google "block schedule" you can find a lot of information that might be of interest to your academic community. My recollection is that the "research" that supports the block schedule" is virtually non-existent. Further, the foreign language teachers hate the block schedule and should be an ally in avoiding it if that is your desire.

Rob.


Rob Reck
reckeuph@sbcglobal.net
http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/robreck