What Savings are Produced by Moving to a Four-Day School Week? PDF - Because of the economic downturn more districts than ever are moving to a four-day school week, but the question still exists — what cost savings, if any, will this move produce? Making use of national and local spending data, this report shows what savings a district might realistically expect to realize when moving to a four-day week. (Michael Griffith, Education Commission of the States, May 2011)...

Driving Education Reform with Stimulus Funds: Redesigning Schools and Expanding Learning Time MS Word PDF - Lengthening the school day can enable policymakers to address several education challenges through one reform strategy. These challenges include: (1) closing the unrelenting achievement gap; (2) broadening curriculum options in order to better engage students and counter the dropout crisis; and (3) the need to improve teacher skills.(Jennifer Davis and Kathy Christie, National Center on Time & Learning and the Education Commission of the States, June 2009)...

Cost Per-Day for Extended School Year MS Word PDF - Extending the school year has become a topic of interest to many state and federal policymakers. Prior to deciding to extend the school year it is important for policymakers to understand the associated costs. This ECS StateNote gives a rough estimate of the total cost and the instructional cost of school operation in each state. (Michael Griffith, Education Commission of the States, February 2008)...

The Four-Day School Week: Nine Years Later - This brief intends to provide information and guidance for school districts and policymakers considering the possibility of a four-day school week. The brief discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the modified schedule, the steps a school might take to make the switch, and recommendations for districts considering the change. Examples of districts that have made the switch are also included. (CEEP, November 2012)...

International Data Table Library - Over 100 statistical tables present data from a range of sources and compare different facets of education in the United States with those of other countries. Tables are organized by topic and are regularly updated as new data become available. Topics include participation in education; educational outcomes; school contexts; students' experiences and attitudes about education; and education system characteristics. Recent additions (Spring 2012) have been made available that highlight in-school and out-of-school instructional time per week allocated to core subjects, which can be found in Section C, subsection c3. (NCES, 2012)...

Turning Back the Clock: The Inequitable Impact of Shortening California's School Year - For the last two years California's policymakers have made the inequitable decision to systematically reduce the amount of instructional time that school districts are required to provide. Given that California has some of the widest achievement gaps and lowest student performance in the nation, reducing learning time should not be an option. (Arun Ramanathan, The Education Trust--West, November 2011)...

Municipal Leadership for Afterschool: Citywide Approaches Spreading Across the Country - This report presents the broadest look yet at a growing trend in America's cities--the emergence of city-led efforts to build comprehensive afterschool and out-of-school time (OST) systems that meet the needs of children and youth in the communities. (Bela Shah Spooner, National League of Cities, October 2011)...

Time Well Spent: Eight Powerful Practices of Successful, Expanded-Time Schools - The NCTL's new report profiles 30 expanded learning time schools across the country in 11 states and large cities like New York, Chicago, Boston, New Orleans, and Philadelphia that serve large percentages of low-income kids. All the schools examined in the report have used various expanded-time models and seen improvements in students, staff, and the schools overall. (National Center on Time and Learning, September 2011)...

Organizing Schools to Improve Student Achievement: Start Times, Grade Configurations and Teacher Assignments - Authors Brian Jacob of University of Michigan and Jonah Rockoff of Columbia Business School present the evidence on several organizational changes that could provide significant “bang for the buck” in student achievement. While simple, these changes have the potential to substantially improve K–12 student performance. Suggestions include: (1) changing the start time for school days for middle and high school students; (2) taking measures to address the difficult transition from elementary to middle school; and (3) assigning teachers to grades and subjects to increase the gains from specialization. (Hamilton Project, September 2011)...

Collecting and Using Information to Strengthen Citywide Out-of-School Time Systems - This guide presents examples of how mayors, council members and other municipal leaders across the country have implemented each strategy to improve the out-of-school time opportunities available in their cities and towns. The powerful role city leaders can play in supporting data collection at the program and city levels is highlighted. (Lane Russell and Priscilla Little, Wallace Foundation, September 2011)...

Out-of-School Time Programs in Rural Areas - Out-of-school time programming can be vitally important to families in rural areas where resources to support children's learning and development can be insufficient. This report highlights findings from evaluations and research studies of nine programs located in rural areas. (Harvard Family Research Project, March 2011)...

Focus on the Alternative School Calendar: Year-Round School Programs and Update on the Four-Day School Week - This report provides an overview of year-round programs and examines the advantages and challenges that are inherent to most, if not all, of these programs. It also provides an update on actions relating to the four-day school week. Although only a small percentage of schools in the SREB region have year-round programs in operation, it is important for education leaders and legislators to explore whether this type of calendar contributes to stronger academic achievement results for students. (SREB, January 2011)...

Tracking an Emerging Movement: A Report on Expanded-Time Schools in America - Fifteen years ago the National Center on Time and Learning explained that the American school calendar of 180 days needed to be rethought. Today, a small but growing number of schools have begun to operate with school days substantially longer than the six-hour norm and, in many cases, a calendar that exceeds the standard 180 days. (David Farbman, National Center on Time and Learning, December 2009)...

Time for Learning White Paper - Policymakers should think of the time available for learning as a resource, just as they consider financial support, instructional materials and teacher expertise to be essential resources for learning. As with all resources, learning time needs to be well used to be of benefit. (National Academy of Education, November 2009)...

After-School Programs in Public Elementary Schools: First Look - This study provides a national profile of various types of formal after-school programs physically located at public elementary schools in 2008. (National Center for Education Statistics, February 2009)...

Time: A Precious Resource for Learning - Because additional time for learning can improve outcomes, policymakers should support summer school, extended day programs that significantly extend instructional time. First, promising policies to increase enrollment and regular attendance in school should be developed and tested as well. Finally, pilot programs that greatly expand schooling time should be funded and carefully evaluated. (National Academy of Education’s Education Policy Briefing Sheet, November 2008)...

Alternatives to the Traditional School-Year Calendar - The second in a series, this policy brief examines the use of year-round and extended school-year calendars, reviews the research on the effectiveness of these options, and addresses emerging alternative policies on the use of instructional time. (Shaun P. Johnson and Terry E. Spradlin, Center for Education and Evaluation Policy, University of Indiana, Spring 2007)...

Is it Time to Change Indiana’s School-Year Calendar? - This study uses Indiana as its platform to compare with the nation and abroad the length of the school year and the effect on students of increasing instructional time. It examines the literature regarding professional development and contact time, and makes recommendations to Indiana for extending the school day and retaining the length of the school year. (Kelly Prendergast, Terry Spradlin and Vincent Palozzi, Center for Evaluation & Education Policy, Winter 2007)...

On The Clock: Rethinking the Way Schools Use Time - Extending the amount of time our children are in school may seem like the way to combat poor performance. As this report explains, more time spent in school can bring improvement, but not as a general result. Specific uses of the time and quality of the instruction play a larger role then just school day or year extension. This study examines research from all areas of the school year extension argument and makes recommendations to states that are considering lengthening school time. (Elena Silva, Education Sector, January 2007)...