Author: Kaplan, Claire; Chan, Roy

Publication Year:

Media Type: Report

Summary:

National Center on Time and Learning's report, Time Well Spent: Eight Powerful Practices of Successful, Expanded-Time Schools, reshapes the field for expanded-time schools by outlining specific practices that can lead to dramatic increases in student achievement and preparation for success in college and the workforce. Time Well Spent offers an in-depth examination of 30 expanded-time schools serving high-poverty populations with impressive track records of student success, and demonstrates how these schools leverage their additional time in order to implement other critical reforms. 

Abstract:

Today, there are at least 1,000 schools across the US offering an expanded schedule, according to a 2010-2011 survey conducted by the National Center on Time & Learning (NCTL). As interest in expanded learning time grows across the country, so, too, does a corresponding concern for how schools can ensure that adding time truly translates into a better education for every student. Clearly, more time in school does not guarantee improved learning outcomes for every individual child or even for students in the aggregate. As with any initiative or change effort, the quality of implementation matters. 

Consequently, a new question is emerging for the field: How can schools maximize the great potential of expanded time and make the most effective possible use of this important resource?

Fortunately, we can learn from the dozens of outstanding expanded-time schools across the nation that are offering students a rigorous and well-rounded education and achieving impressive academic outcomes. Some of these schools belong to growing networks of charter schools, and others are the result of single site innovation in districts. These schools are demonstrating that with more time, strong leaders and teachers, and well-designed educational programs, schools can close the achievement and opportunity gaps for poor students. 

To unlock the secrets of such success, NCTL chose to explore time use at some of the nation's highest-performing, expanded-time schools that serve high-poverty students. Our primary goal for this study is to advance understanding of the ways high-performing, expanded-time schools use additional time. Through interviews and site visits, we have documented and analyzed how schools allocate their time, and, more significantly, the specific practices which ensure that expanded school time is use productively and well. 

Arts & Intersections:

Categories: Creative Youth Development, Arts Education