Does more time in class produce higher achievement?
Does more time on task matter in student achievement?
A new study suggests it may for middle and high school students. In state math and language art exams, students in schools that have extended time scored three to eight points higher than their counterparts ts in middle grades and in 10th grade. (The study only looked at 10th grade in high school.)
Would spending more time in class enable students to perform at higher levels? A new study looks at that question.
However, the study also looked at grades 3, 4 and 5 and did not see any rise in test scores compared to peers in schools with traditional schedules. With the exception of 4th grade English/language arts, students in those earlier grades scored slightly below their peers.
The National Center on Time & Learning - which supports expanded learning time — has assembled a database of schools that have increased time on task. The schools on average offer about 25 percent more time than the national norm, mostly by lengthening the school day rather than the school year. (These schools average 185 days of class per year; Georgia kids go 180 days.)
That 25 percent adds up; over a student’s career, it means about three more years in the classroom.
But does it make a difference? Mining its database, the center examines that question in a new report, “Tracking an Emerging Movement: A Report on Expanded-Time Schools. ”
(Education Week also has a good story on the study.)
The study comes with several caveats and ends with a call for more investigation, but among the findings:
- Data suggest that more time is associated with higher academic achievement.
- On average these schools offer about 25 percent more time than the national norm of 180 six-hour days;
- While a majority of the schools included are public charter schools, more than one-quarter of the schools identified are standard district public schools;
- Compared with national averages, schools with expanded time serve a more heavily minority and poorer student population.
The study concludes:
There is certainly much more information to collect and much more research to be done, but, even so, the basic facts are known. There are hundreds of schools in the country that have been able to break from what often seems like an immutable feature of schooling in America: the calendar of 180 six-hour days.
They have done so by expanding the day and expanding the school year. They have done so with substantially poor and minority populations. They have done so in a majority of states and in cities and in rural areas.
They have done so by paying teachers more and by not paying teachers more, with collective bargaining agreements in place and without. They have done so by establishing new schools and by converting traditional schools.
And, importantly, they claim to have done so in service to their educational mission of helping all children succeed. Over the coming years, we are sure to learn more about what expanded-time schools can do and in what contexts their successes (and failures) seem to take root, but one thing is clear: expanded-time schools represent a serious effort at changing the way in which this country educates the next generation.
For that reason alone, we need to stand up and take notice.
If you have taken notice of this issue, what do you think?
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28 comments Add your comment
Perturbed
December 8th, 2009
5:36 am
A good question as long as we don’t start to apply every possible fix to every school. Some schools need it, some don’t. A very good charter school in Boston, the MATCH school, has a very extended day. Why does it work? It keeps kids out of trouble, it’s like surrogate parenting for high school kids. They keep them safe (which the kids want), and make them do their homework and practice. It gets results because it’s common sense and good for the kids. The parents can finish a work day and pick them up. Would that work in a P-Ridge or Milton? Maybe not, but it works where the kids need it.
For it
December 8th, 2009
6:08 am
Ivy Preparatory Academy, a public charter school for girls in Norcross, has an extended day. They use that extra time to ensure that every student, whether remedial or advanced, has 2 full math classes and 2 full English classes every day. One math class focuses on computation while the other focuses on analysis. One English class focuses on literature and the second focuses on grammar and writing. After Ivy Prep’s first year of operation, the test results were very impressive.
ScienceTeacher671
December 8th, 2009
6:19 am
Is there any evidence on the trend toward longer days and shorter school years some Georgia schools are adopting to reduce costs?
catlady
December 8th, 2009
7:12 am
At our elementary school, our children are engaged in teacher-led, diadactic instruction the entire day except lunch, recess (20 minutes), and “specials” (art, music, pe) No time for reflection, no time for anything remotely resembling fun. Yet, their scores don’t improve. Of course, we define reading as “saying words fast” and scaffolding (telling the students the answers and having them repeat it) as “learning”. Then, on the CRCT, it doesn’t matter how fast they finish (thanks to Reading First), unless they have been told the answers they sit there in bewilderment, they give up, or they guess.
For the last day before Christmas, they get out early, but spend 5 hours in class. No “specials”, lunch in the room, and no celebration time.
Do we pay any attention to child development theory?
Jennifer
December 8th, 2009
7:49 am
I think that the Georgia DOE should have read this research before they exempted 200+ schools from the minimal instruction time – including every alternative education school who primarily are serving the poor, minority and the most at risk kids in our states.
crazy college prof
December 8th, 2009
8:09 am
So the real issue is “time on task” (oh please give us some more educational jargon) not longer school days.
I wonder what happens between the senior year in high school and the freshman year in college that allows a Calculus I class to go from 5 hours per week for two semesters to 4 hours per week for one semester. And, by the way, the college semester has fewer weeks.
Maybe it is that the first year college student is held to a higher standard of personal responsibility than the k-12 student? College students are actually asked to spend time doing meaningful homework outside of class. What a concept!!!! People asked to be independent, free, moral agents.
A longer school day requires teachers to babysit the people while doing “in class” what they should be doing on their own. It teaches people to be “supervised slaves” – to only work when your supervisor (teacher) is looking over your shoulder. And, it makes the government “surrogate parents.” And, that is the real goal of so called “public” education anyway.
Road Scholar
December 8th, 2009
8:29 am
It couldn’t hurt! Georgia is 49th in academic standing. PE should also be mandatory.
chris
December 8th, 2009
8:40 am
They score 6-8 points higher, but what is a normal score? If it’s 70, then that matters. If it’s 500, then who cares? The problem with articles like this is that they give numbers with absolutely no context which is surprising considering it’s on an education blog. People love to throw around numbers to prove a case and this strategy works on too many listeners/readers. But for anyone that has studied statistics at all, we have to take these numbers with a grain of salt.
It’s mostly unfortunate that policy makers look at results like this out of context and jump to the conclusion that we need longer school days. That increases cost/pupil that may be for only a mild gain that may not even be recognized but now you’re stuck with extended baby-sitting hours.
It’s also interesting that the recommendation is for a longer school day, not more homework/personal study. But I forget we can’t expect anyone to study outside of the school walls, can we? We can play pick-up football on any open area but we can’t learn anywhere other than at school.
really? seriouslyl?
December 8th, 2009
9:21 am
Um, if it’s snowing outside, is it cold? Really? Students have more time to take a test and they do better? Really? Wow. Talk about a blinding glimpse of the obvious.
James
December 8th, 2009
9:44 am
I have no doubt that more class time translates to marginally better higher achievement.
However, I think you’ll find that the amount of difference parental involvement, and the amount of difference that a really good teacher vs an average teacher vs a poor teacher makes *dwarfs* every other effect. Class size for example actually matters very little beyond primary grades.
Address something that will actually “move the needle” and result in a noticeable change for the better in our education system. Right now in Georgia we spend roughly the same in per student spending in public schools as it costs to send a child to private schools. City of Atlanta spends even more – around 10K per student.
- end teacher tenure
- implement teacher testing
- and for gosh sakes, stop spending so much money making massive, beautiful schools. Be a bit more prudent when spending taxpayer dollars.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/12/15/081215fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=all
“Eric Hanushek, an economist at Stanford, estimates that the students of a very bad teacher will learn, on average, half a year’s worth of material in one school year. The students in the class of a very good teacher will learn a year and a half’s worth of material. That difference amounts to a year’s worth of learning in a single year.”
Tony
December 8th, 2009
9:50 am
“Time on task” and its importance for student learning has been well known for quite some time. This study does not provide any new information any reasonable educator did not already know. We have also known the importance of increasing the amount of time for at risk students whether by race, ethnic group, or socioeconomic status. Nearly every successful school has structured the school day in such a way as to maximize the schedules for students to benefit the most.
Tony
December 8th, 2009
9:53 am
catlady said, “…children are engaged in teacher-led, diadactic instruction …”
catlady – this quote made me literally laugh out loud because of all the reports you’ve given about scripted programs in your school. May I also presume that your emphasis is on the first syllable of the word “DIE – dactic” because of the boredom of the children?
Our Kids & Today’s Education Link-Ups… « The Queen's Pen
December 8th, 2009
9:55 am
[...] –>Does more time in class produce higher achievement? – Does more time on task matter in student achievement? A new study suggests it may for middle and high school students. In state math and language art exams, students in schools that have extended time scored three to eight points higher than their counterparts ts in middle grades and in 10th grade. (The study only looked at 10th grade in high school.) [...]
mystery poster
December 8th, 2009
10:15 am
My first thought was the same as Chris’, 6 – 8 points out of what? The article didn’t specify. It could be statistically significant or not.
V for Vendetta
December 8th, 2009
11:43 am
It’s as simple as this:
The schools with the biggest gains are predominantly minority–or, more accurately, are predominantly socioeconomically “disadvantaged.” The students spend proportionally more time in a positive and structured environment, less time in a depraved and anti-intellectual one.
And we’re surprised by these results?
Kawla
December 8th, 2009
11:45 am
Truly- I think children spend way too much time in school as it is. Family time is going to soon cease to exist. What little there is is eaten up by homework.
Not so crazy college professor
December 8th, 2009
12:12 pm
catlady’s point about the lack of time to reflect on what is being discussed is an important one to consider. A longer school day with a shorter school year will further reduce the opportunities for reflection.
There are many ways that we can increase the “time on task” without costing us anything. For example, include 10-15 minutes break in between each period, including in elementary schools. Teach students to take care of their personal business during those breaks. This will also allows any office announcement to take place outside of instruction time. There should NEVER by “Teachers, pardon the interruption…” In HS and MS, to avoid chaos, they should let students stay in the same rooms (homerooms) and make teachers move. That way, we don’t have to have all students go out to the hallway in between any class break. This will make each school day longer, but teachers are still teaching the same number of periods.
Oh, a balanced schedule will also provide some opportunities for students to reflect on what they are learning, too.
high school teacher
December 8th, 2009
3:35 pm
Not so crazy college professor, have you ever taught high school? When I have 137 students in a day, I would at least like to have them come to me instead of my attempting to remember which papers and materials I need for which classroom. I also think that a change of scenery is rather nice for kids. You are acutally suggesting that high school students be confined in the same four walls al day long, and not be allowed out during their 10-15 minute break except to go to the bathroom? Also, you would create a scheduling nightmare by requiring that homerooms consist of homogenous students (the students in Math Support would all have to be in the same homeroom according to your theory, and they would have all of their classes together all day, which is taboo in education these days).
What do you mean by a balanced schedule?
Not so crazy college professor
December 8th, 2009
4:03 pm
HS teacher,
No, I have not taught in HS. Does that disqualify me for offering a suggestion? Are the only ones who can suggest are teachers who are currently in the system that isn’t exactly doing that well?
Anyway, I have never said students are to be confined in the rooms. If they have 15 minutes break, some may decide to go visit their friends in other classrooms. But, at least it make the chaos that is HS breaks go away somewhat. HS breaks are just chaos and you are asking for unnecessary confrontation just putting so many people in a confined space.
Scheduling wise, if you want to do it, you can do it. It may not be possible to have everyone take the same schedule, but you can have a group of kids take 4 same courses be in one group, and for the other two, if they have to move, they move.
I guess you haven’t been reading about the scheduling controversy in Cobb (about their proposed balanced calendar)…
PublicFan
December 8th, 2009
5:52 pm
There are simple solutions available that would improve public education. An extended day would not be at the top of the list. For example, one could:
i.) abandon the fiction of “pre-college” education and (re)implement a serious vocational program for the numerous students who have no interest in pursuing academic studies;
ii.) jettison the silly, multi-tiered disciplinary “system” and start expelling students from school quickly and ruthlessly for disrupting class.
The public school system is producing droves of “graduates” who are functionally illiterate. Furthermore, the public school system acts as a baby-sitting service for children whose lack of discipline cannot be addressed without holding parents accountable by cutting off access to the cost-free child care.
When reading these blogs, I often have the impression that many people simply do not understand just how far behind so many young people in this country are falling.
Ole Guy
December 8th, 2009
6:13 pm
I’m not even sure if more time in the classroom is the answer to present day educational woes. Typically, I would think 50 minutes in any learning environment, for kids or adults, is about the optimal time. Following a given number of 50-minute “exposures” to the material, it’s time to call it quites; the brain, like a sponge, becomes saturated to the point where continued exposure yields diminishing returns in terms of subject retention. HOWEVER, these kids, whether college-bound, heading for trade school, or the world of work, should be exposed to one incontrovertible fact…FEEDBACK. Of the four learning steps, INGEST, DIGEST, ABSORB, and REGURGITATE, I feel that the educational establishment has been utilizing that last step, feedback/regurgitation, for the wrong reasons. Teachers ensure the first part; in offering instruction, they ensure that kids ingest the material. Meanwhile, it would appear that testing, the feedback component, is being utilized primarily as a political device, a show-and-tell mechanism by which the so-called “power brokers” in govt can say, “there, you see, we’re doing something”! The purpose of REGURGITATION/testing should be a “litmus” as to whether DIGESTION and ABSORPTION have indeed occured.
This arguement goes back to the time-worn refrain, “let teachers teach”. Get off their backs; letem conduct the educational process with minimal interference from those whose primary function is JOB JUSTIFICATION. All these gimmicks…and that’s essentially what they are…extended hours, revamped annual schedules, etc aren’t going to help the kids learn something UNTIL the problem(s) is I.D.d. Make kids fully accountable for the DIGEST/ABSORPTION parts of the equation…get off teachers’ backs and stop coming up with these idiotic B.S. efforts which, in the end, achieve absolutely nothing.
catlady
December 8th, 2009
6:22 pm
Why don’t we just install dorms and keep them 24/7? Of course, teachers would be required to cook and provide overnight supervision, but, hey, the contracts call for teachers to do whatever is necessary and assigned, no extra pay provided.
Our principal holds up to us as an ideal a teacher who drills the kids while they are in line to go to the bathroom! I am not kidding. We can’t waste any moment. I figure there will be kindle-type books put in the stalls so kids can use their bathroom time wisely.
high school teacher
December 8th, 2009
7:24 pm
Not so crazy, I apologize. Of course anyone can make suggestions. I do see a contradiction with your suggestions, however. I don’t see how you can suggest a 10-15 minute break in one sentence, yet then state that students can stay in their rooms to avoid all of them being in the hallway. Imagine being a high school student, trapped in a room with people you don’t like, and then being forced to endure a 15 minute break with the same group of people with no opportunity to see your friends. I also don’t see the benefit of students staying in the same classroom. The ADD kids would be jumping off the walls. Even elementary school kids go to different locations throughout the day (enrichment, computer lab, PE, etc). Now, if you wanted to open a charter school using this concept…
I am familiar with the balanced calendar issue in Cobb (though I think it’s humorous that many systems have gone to this in the past years with little to no public controversy; it takes Cobb County parents to make it headline news). I was thrown by your use of the term “balanced schedule.”
Not so carzy college professor
December 8th, 2009
9:38 pm
The purpose of 15 minutes break is just that, a break from lessons. Students may choose to do whatever they want, as long as they are back in their seats in 15 minutes to start the next lesson. Some may chose to go to different room to visit their friends. Some may actually have friends in the room and be happy to stay there during the break. Some will have to take care of their personal business. They can do whatever. But, I am suggesting that a certain percentage of them will stay in the room some breaks – not necessarily all the time. Under the current system, ALL students go into the hallway at EVERY break – with just barely enough time to go from one room to another. I’m suggesting we make schools a more humane place, not a prison in a different name.
ScienceTeacher671
December 8th, 2009
10:38 pm
James, how much do you think a good private school costs per year?
Gwinnett HIgh School Teacher
December 8th, 2009
11:47 pm
PUBLIC FAN-I totally agree with your comments. How ludicrous is it that Gwinnett builds an amazing technical school 6 years ago and plops it in the most remote part of the county(Grayson) so that only a minimal amount of students can take advantage of it? They see that the enrollment drops dramatically because transportation is an issue(they do not provide ANY transportation to the tech school) and they refuse to fix that problem. This beautiful state of the art school with excellent technical offerings like culinary, veterinary,law enforcement, landscaping, the list goes on and on will be closed down within 2 years. GCPS should be ashamed of themselves-not all students will go to college-they need a strong,practical, available vocational program!!!
Jennifer
December 9th, 2009
9:27 am
Gwinnett High School Teacher -
Unless I am mistaken, the Math and Science School is also moving to the same facility as the Grayson school (if that is the one that just got chartered). Now that those two will be physically together, I am pretty sure that the plan is to pick up students at their home schools and then bus them to the technical school and the Math and Science. When I read the technical school charter application, that is what I am pretty sure it said. I just can’t remember if it is the Grayson school that they just approved for a charter or the other one. But whichever technical school it is that turned into a charter – I am pretty sure transportation will now be taken care of.
Gwinnett HIgh School Teacher
December 9th, 2009
11:58 pm
No Jennifer, you are confusing Maxwell School of Technology-the one that has cosmetology and auto mechanics-its different than Grayson Tech.There will be no transportation provided to Grayson Tech-it won’t happen unfortunately!