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In this paper, we examine the fundamental and complex role that time plays in the learning process. We begin by developing a conceptual framework to elucidate the multiple obstacles schools face in converting allocated time into learning time. We then synthesize the causal research and document a clear positive effect of time on student achievement of small to medium magnitude, but also with likely diminishing marginal returns. Further descriptive analyses reveal how large differences in the length of the school day and year across public schools are an underappreciated dimension of educational inequality in the United States. Finally, our case study of time loss in one urban district demonstrates the potential to substantially increase learning time within existing constraints.

Three years after the onset of the pandemic, there is little evidence of academic recovery in the U.S. The latest data reveal a sobering reality: In spite of many school districts' efforts to accelerate learning, students remain far behind pre-pandemic levels of achievement. Even more troubling, many students did not accelerate their progress at all last year; on average, their rate of learning decelerated, putting them even further behind. Between fall 2022 and spring 2023, according to a recent study, students in grades 4-8 made significantly slower progress in reading and math than was typical in pre-pandemic years (and progress was especially slow for students attending high-poverty schools and students of color). Schools have always looked for ways to accelerate the progress of students achieving below grade level. However, researchers have found that some of the most common approaches to helping those students catch up to their peers (such as grade retention, accelerating entry into advanced courses, and providing optional, on-demand virtual resources) tend to be ineffective. At times, such interventions even exacerbate inequalities, having negative long-term effects that outweigh any benefits students may experience in the short term. In that case, what can educators do to identify and support students who've struggled academically since the onset of the pandemic? Fortunately, certain interventions have proven to be effective at helping students catch up and keep making progress, while allowing them to participate in core classes with their peers. This brief is an updated and revised edition, building upon the original EdResearch Brief "School Practices to Address Student Learning Loss."

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that all students, including those with disabilities or special healthcare needs, must have equal opportunity to safely take part in school-sponsored before, after, and extended school year programs and activities, also known as Out of School Time (OST). The registered professional school nurse (hereinafter referred to as school nurse) has the knowledge, skills, and expertise required for assessing, planning, coordinating, implementing, and evaluating student healthcare needs so that all students may fully participate in OST programming and activities. This statement provides the background and rationale for NASN's position. [This Position Statement was initially adopted in January 2014 and revised in June 2018.]

After eighteen months of school closure and disrupted learning, civic leaders, researchers, and educational leaders are getting a clearer picture of how students fared through the pandemic, and what new reality school systems face as they return to in-person schooling in 2021-22. Increases in community infection rates and parent hesitancy have thrown districts back into uncertainty, making it all the more critical to ensure continuity of learning and well-being for students who may not be able to return to classrooms as quickly as planned, and may face continued disruptions due to quarantines. As students return to a third year of disrupted learning, school and system leaders cannot lose sight of our schools' most critical charge this year: addressing unfinished learning and restoring student well-being. While gauging the academic impacts of the pandemic through spring 2021 has been challenging, a body of evidence is emerging from a range of public and private institutions studying this question from different angles. The best interpretations of the most reliable information available underscore a few critical observations: (1) the average student mastered less academic content this year because of the pandemic and associated disruptions to schooling; (2) the pandemic's average impacts on academic achievement, while significant, mask substantial variation in impacts across subjects, grades, demographic groups, and geography; (3) the evidence to date likely understates both the average academic impacts of the pandemic and the opportunity and achievement gaps it has produced; and (4) declines in student well-being indicators could diminish future conditions for successful learning. We propose the following six principles, some of which districts are already applying, to ensure students experience a positive, healthy, and restorative schooling experience this year: (1) provide each student an individualized, three-year instructional plan that uses data to address their academic, social, and emotional needs; (2) prioritize strategies that honor and re-engage students most impacted by the pandemic; (3) use tutoring, extended learning time, and early diagnostic systems to strengthen student foundations in math and early literacy; (4) provide at least one quality remote option while safely reopening schools in person; (5) pilot new structures for learning, such as flexible schedules, prioritizing content mastery over seat time, and new ways of structuring school; and (6) create coherent, aligned systems of support for educators and families. This moment demands new, bold leadership from all of us who touch the lives of students--from civic leaders to policymakers to system leaders to educators. Fast action and transformative change can prevent long-term harm. [The COVID Collaborative contributed to this report.]

This brief is one in a series aimed at providing K-12 education decision makers and advocates with an evidence base to ground discussions about how to best serve students during and following the novel coronavirus pandemic. It addresses one central question: Recognizing longstanding educational inequities, what research-backed practices can district administrators, school leaders, and classroom teachers use to support English Learner (EL) students' academic success and linguistic development in an instructional context transformed by COVID-19? In order to answer this question, the brief breaks down the issue into three points: (1) EL students are a rapidly growing and diverse population entitled to English language development instruction that will allow meaningful access to academic content; (2) Complex federal laws govern the education of EL students and continue to hold state and local education agencies accountable for their academic performance even during the pandemic; and (3) School leader and teacher training rarely provides sufficient support for how to meet the unique needs of EL students. Based on these points, the brief provides five strategies to consider and two strategies to avoid. [This brief was co-prepared by the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and the University of Texas at Austin, College of Education.]

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced school leaders to make difficult decisions about how to balance students' educational needs with the health, safety, and social-emotional well-being of students and teachers. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Rescue Plan) recently enacted by Congress offers unprecedented amounts of potentially transformative funding to elementary and secondary schools. The Rescue Plan has the potential to simultaneously spur post-pandemic learning recovery efforts and address long-standing socio-demographic gaps in academic achievement and opportunity. This brief is intended to help state and local education leaders consider how to approach this opportunity to meet a persistent problem: the need for more educators of color to serve students. To do this, the authors encourage local education agencies (LEAs) to act strategically by leveraging the findings and evidence-based practices (EBP) of two distinct research bases: (1) High-dosage tutoring, extended-day programs, and summer learning programs are effective options for learning recovery; and (2) Students benefit from exposure to a diverse, representative educator workforce.

The 2019 Student Opportunity Act creates a once-in-a-generation moment for Massachusetts students: the Commonwealth has committed $1.5 billion dollars over seven years to make good on the promise that best-in-the-nation education can be a reality for all Massachusetts children, especially English learners and students from low-income families. But daily demands don't evaporate with expanded funding, and it can be difficult for district leaders to know: can we really afford the kinds of changes that will transform school for our kids? Our team at ERS examined real Massachusetts districts to test what's possible with expanded SOA funding. Using state funding allocations and school data, we found a set of strategies to support new teachers, give attention to students who are struggling, and help kids build the social-emotional skills to succeed -- all made possible by funds districts didn't have a year ago. This briefing shares strategic practices that take advantage of this moment to make big changes and help students succeed.

Over the last decade, the State of Michigan Public Education Report has marked annually Michigan's progress and performance based on important data-driven measures and outcomes. This year, for the 2020 report, The Education Trust-Midwest (ETM) reports on these important measures while also noting the unprecedented moment in which Michigan, the nation and world finds itself during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of The Education Trust's rapid response to the crisis, The Education Trust and ETM are working to find national and state-level solutions to support student success during this time and offer best practices based on demonstrated evidence from around the country and state. In this report, they share these solution-oriented recommendations and best practices to inform Michigan's leaders' important efforts to support schools and students' educational recovery process. While this report includes recommendations for supporting the continuation and recovery of student learning--including through fair investment; honest information, transparency and public reporting; extended learning time; quality virtual instruction and access; inclusivity and socioemotional supports; and transitions to postsecondary opportunities--it also reports on Michigan's progress toward key goals for becoming a top ten state in education. Since the launch of the Michigan Achieves! campaign five years ago, ETM has tracked Michigan's performance and progress towards the goal of becoming a top ten state for education opportunity and achievement, focusing on key data-driven indicators. Following recommendations for state and district leaders to support the long-term recovery of student learning, the report presents the 2020 Michigan Achieves! Indicators and provides updated information on Michigan's progress and performance based on important data-driven measures and outcomes. [For "Opportunity for All: 2019 State of Michigan Education Report," see ED598174.]

The vast majority of American students are neither prepared nor sufficiently engaged to become science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-literate citizens or innovative STEM professionals (National Research Council, 2007; Carnegie Corporation and the Institute for Advanced Study, 2009; National Science Board [NSB], 2010; President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology [PCAST], 2010). The Citizen Schools Expanded Learning Time (ELT) model is defined by two core components: Apprenticeships and Academic Support, both of which are built into a lengthened school day. The Apprenticeships are the cornerstone of the Citizen Schools ELT program model; they are designed to engage student interest in a broad array of subject areas and experiences by leveraging expertise and commitment from local communities. Over the past several years, Citizen Schools has endeavored to increase both the number and range of STEM-focused apprenticeships, responding to increased demand and recognizing the importance of engaging middle school students in STEM subjects through a combination of hands-on learning and exposure to enthusiastic ambassadors for professional careers in STEM fields. This study examines whether the STEM-focused apprenticeships, in particular, serve to engage students in STEM learning, and increase their interest in STEM subjects more so than apprenticeships in other topics. [The report was prepared for Citizen Schools.]

Instructional time is a fundamental educational input, yet we have little causal evidence about the effect of longer school days on student achievement. This paper uses a sharp regression discontinuity design to estimate the effects of lengthening the school day for low-performing schools in Florida by exploiting an administrative cutoff for eligibility. Our results indicate significant positive effects of additional literacy instruction on student reading achievement. In particular, we find effects of 0.05 standard deviations of improvement in reading test scores for program assignment in the first year, though long-run effects are difficult to assess.

The 2013 Washington State Legislature enacted legislation (Revised Code of Washington [RCW] 28A.165.100) requiring additional data reporting for the Learning Assistance Program (LAP). Under the guidelines provided in the law, the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) produces an annual report to the Legislature summarizing the findings from the prior school year. This report is a synthesis of the district data and reports annual gains for specific LAP practices. These data are disaggregated by student group.

Because of its continued commitment to and investment in high-quality early & elementary learning, West Virginia has established itself as a national leader in the area of early learning. This accolade is not uncommon for West Virginia's early learning system, as West Virginia has a history of leading the nation in early learning and with efforts to close achievement gaps. Building on the successes of its Universal Pre-K program, West Virginia has continued to demonstrate a strong commitment to early & elementary learning that spans through grade five. State leaders including the State Superintendent of Schools, legislators, and the Governor have capitalized on the successes of pre-k and kindergarten to support a comprehensive approach to early learning that reaches through fifth grade. This support has been coined as the Campaign for Grade-level Reading. The Campaign for Grade-level Reading is a comprehensive approach that tackles areas like school readiness, attendance, summer learning loss, and improved classroom instruction. In December 2017, West Virginia was recognized as the first state in the nation to develop and implement a statewide Campaign for Grade-level Reading. These efforts combined have resulted in an increase in achievement by West Virginia students. To tell the story behind the data included in this annual report, a timeline of early & elementary learning accomplishments is below. Beginning with the development of five-day, full-day kindergarten for all students in the mid-1990s, West Virginia has continued to foster a progressive approach to early & elementary learning to best meet the holistic needs of all young children in the state. [For the 2017 annual report, see ED594497.]

West Virginia is a nationally recognized leader for its strong commitment to high-quality early learning education programming. West Virginia is one of a very small handful of states in the nation with free, full-day, five-day kindergarten for all children AND voluntary universal pre-k to all four-year-old children (and three-year-old children with special needs). The National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) (2017) notes that West Virginia is one of five states in the nation to meet all current 10 quality benchmarks for its Universal Pre-K Program, and places West Virginia as sixth in the nation for access to four-year olds (seventh in the nation for access for three-year-olds). Ten new quality benchmarks were introduced in the 2016 NIEER State of Preschool. The new benchmarks were introduced to reflect current research and focus on process quality. West Virginia meets 9 of those in the first year. While the Universal Pre-K program is voluntary, the state participation rate is 76%. West Virginia has continued to foster a progressive approach to early learning to best meet the holistic needs of all young children in the state. This annual report is divided into five sections. Part One provides an introduction to early learning in the state. Part Two defines "Universal" in WV Pre-K, and contains an overview of West Virginia's Pre-K program. Also provided are key facts and data about universal Pre-K in the state. Part Three contains WV universal Pre-K access and collaboration trend data. Part Four contains WV Universal Pre-K quality current and trend data. Part Five discusses closing the early literacy achievement gap in West Virginia via the WV Leaders of Literacy Campaign for Grade Level Reading. The long term goals of the WV Leaders of Literacy: Campaign for Grade-Level Reading are to improve student achievement and close the 3rd Grade Literacy achievement gap, ultimately ensuring all West Virginia students graduate high school with the skills and dispositions required for college and/or career readiness. [For the 2016 Annual Report, see ED594492.]

Expanded learning time (ELT) is a practice that entails increasing the length of the school day for all students, with the goal of improving student outcomes, especially in low-performing schools. Boston Public Schools (BPS) has been implementing ELT as an improvement strategy in low-performing schools since 2006. In 2015 the district drastically increased the number of participating schools, with a plan of expanding the day in 60 elementary, middle, and K-8 schools by 2018. How much additional time is added to the school day and parameters for using the extra time depend on the ELT funding source, but, in general, schools have wide latitude for program implementation. BPS collaborated with American Institutes for Research (AIR) on IES-funded grant R305H150013 to study its ELT program types, with the goal of understanding the impact of ELT on student academic outcomes. Looking at whether additional time alone affects student outcomes, researchers performed comparative interrupted time series (CITS) analyses to examine impacts on student performance in the first two years after ELT implementation. A statistically positive impact was found on ELA and mathematics achievement in the first and second year following ELT implementation. The impact was especially strong in mathematics (both in magnitude and statistical significance). These results suggest that by extending their school days, ELT schools in BPS improved student achievement in these subjects. Analyses of student demographic subgroups showed evidence of impact gains for Black and Hispanic students in mathematics and ELA during both Year 1 and Year 2 ELT implementation. Some gains were also observed for economically disadvantaged students and ELLs, primarily in Year 2 of ELT implementation. No impact was found for White or Asian students or students with disabilities. To further clarify how schools with longer days in BPS used their time, BPS staff members contacted ELT schools in October 2016 to provide total minutes per week spent on specific activities during the previous school year (2015-16). In general, ELT activities were more likely to be positively correlated with higher CPI scores in mathematics than in ELA, even when the activities the school implemented were focused on ELA. These academic achievement findings indicate that ELT is having a positive impact on student achievement in the district. The results are especially positive for Black and Hispanic students, who make up a large percentage of the student population in many Boston schools. Overall, results have been most promising for mathematics. This was also seen in the descriptive results, in which ELT schools that integrated intervention time into their day see more growth in their students' mathematics performance than schools that have not used ELT to add intervention time. This is true both for schools with intervention time focused on ELA and/or mathematics: results appear to be most promising for mathematics achievement. [For the Year 1 Findings Report, see ED621605.]

This brief examines the research on community schools, with two primary emphases. First, it explores whether the 2015 federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) opens the possibility of investing in well-designed community schools to meet the educational needs of low-achieving students in high-poverty schools. And second, it provides support to school, district, and state leaders as they consider, propose, or implement a community school intervention in schools targeted for comprehensive support. The brief is drawn from a larger research review, available at https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/comm-schools-equitable-brief. This review shows that the evidence base on well-implemented community schools and their component features provides a strong warrant for their potential contribution to school improvement. Sufficient evidence meeting ESSA's criteria for "evidence-based" approaches exists to justify including community schools as part of targeted and comprehensive interventions in high-poverty schools. This evidence also supports community schools as an approach appropriate for broader use. Policymakers who want to incorporate a community schools strategy into their ESSA state plans--as well as other plans for state and local school improvements--can benefit from the research-based lessons presented in this brief. (A list of notes and references is included.)

Since the 2012/13 school year Florida law has required the 100 lowest performing elementary schools in reading to extend the school day by one hour to provide supplemental reading instruction. In 2014 the law was broadened to include the 300 elementary schools with the lowest reading performance. A previous study of the state's first two cohorts of 100 lowest performing schools found that observed growth in school reading performance after one to two years of implementing the extended school day policy did not exceed what would have been expected because of natural variation (Folsom et al., 2016). The current study follows up on that study by describing the location, demographic characteristics, and school reading performance of the 300 lowest performing schools and analyzing how the lowest performing schools implemented the extended school day policy (for example, the methods used to add the extra hour, staffing, and delivery of instruction). As with Folsom et al. (2016), the current study was based on a request from the Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast Improving Literacy Alliance and Improving Low-Performing Schools Alliance--both of which have Florida Department of Education administrators as members. Based on publicly available data and survey and interview data collected by the Florida Department of Education, the study found: (1) The lowest performing elementary schools were located in 31 of Florida's 65 school districts and in all five regions of the state. The lowest performing elementary schools were smaller on average than other elementary schools and enrolled a larger proportion of racial/ethnic minority students and students eligible for the federal school lunch program. Ninety-nine percent of the lowest performing elementary schools were Title I schools; (2) On average, the school reading performance of the lowest performing elementary schools was 1.8 standard deviations below that of other elementary schools at the end of 2013/14 (the year they were identified as lowest performing) and 1.5 standard deviations below that of other elementary schools at the end of 2014/15 (after implementing the extended school day policy for one or more years); (3) The elementary schools that implemented the extended school day policy reported using a variety of strategies such as increasing reading instruction time each day, increasing staff, providing professional development for teachers, and providing instruction in the extra hour that differed from instruction during the rest of the day; and (4) Participants identified indirect benefits of implementation, including perceived student gains. Interviewees attributed these gains not to the extra hour of instruction but to improvements that occurred in conjunction with it, such as professional development and curricular and pedagogic changes. However, the empirical analyses could not demonstrate whether student gains actually occurred. Barriers to implementation identified by interviewees included lack of resources and issues around logistical planning, such as short timelines. The following are appended: (1) Data and methodology; (2) Florida Department of Education compliance survey and structured interview protocol; (3) Supplemental tables of school characteristics, school reading performance, and survey responses; and (4) Supplemental statistical tests of significance for school characteristics and implementation of extended school day policy in 2014/15. [For the previous study, "School Reading Performance and the Extended School Day Policy in Florida. REL 2016-141," see ED566657.]

The ExpandED Schools national demonstration was implemented in 12 schools from Baltimore, New Orleans, and New York City between the 2011-12 through 2015-16 school years. ExpandED Schools offer students more time for a balanced, well-rounded curriculum that supports individualized learning through school-community partnerships. In the ExpandED Schools approach, schools partner with community-based organizations to design a tailored plan for implementing high-quality, academic and enrichment learning opportunities guided by the core elements of the ExpandED Schools approach. In addition, a local intermediary organization provides support and technical assistance to the school and to community partners. This report highlights the practical lessons emerging from the evaluation of ExpandED Schools about what it takes to spread a school-community partnership initiative. The primary goal of the ExpandED Schools national demonstration was to test implementation of the approach and to learn about conditions that facilitated implementation of strategic school-community partnerships to expand the school day. This report is organized around three action steps through which the groundwork for diffusion is laid at each level of the school-community partner system. The findings reflect both the retrospective reflections of interviewed stakeholders on the operation of the national demonstration and prospective ideas on what would be required for spread to occur. [This report was prepared for ExpandED Schools.]

Academic achievement in the nation's lowest performing schools is troubling. Despite improvements in students' overall academic achievement over the past few decades, proficiency gaps in reading and mathematics remain across income, racial, and ethnic groups. One promising strategy for reducing achievement gaps is to expand the school day, often called Expanded Learning Time (ELT); evidence suggests that students' increased access--through ELT programming--to enrichment activities can improve their academic motivation and social-emotional skill development. Since 1995, Citizen Schools (CS) has developed and implemented its own ELT model. CS partners with middle schools serving predominantly low income, racial or ethnic minority, and academically struggling students. The CS model relies upon an additional shift of educators and community volunteers to engage middle school students in hands-on apprenticeships, while simultaneously providing individualized supports to ensure academic and future success. The study was designed to address questions about implementation to inform program improvement as well as questions about the impact on student engagement, aspirations, and achievement. The outcome-focused findings are mixed. The study finds positive effects on student engagement and aspirations and negative perceptions about students' CS ELT experiences. [SREE documents are structured abstracts of SREE conference symposium, panel, and paper or poster submissions.]

Expanded learning time (ELT) is a practice that entails increasing the length of the school day for all students, with the goal of improving student outcomes, especially in low-performing schools. Boston Public Schools (BPS) has been implementing ELT as an improvement strategy in low-performing schools since 2006. In 2015 the district drastically increased the number of participating schools, with a plan of expanding the day in 60 elementary, middle, and K-8 schools by 2018. How much additional time is added to the school day and parameters for using the extra time depend on the ELT funding source, but, in general, schools have wide latitude for program implementation. BPS collaborated with American Institutes for Research (AIR) on IES-funded grant R305H150013 to study its ELT program types, with the goal of understanding the impact of ELT on student academic and behavioral outcomes. Staff from both BPS and AIR collected data, using extant data and interviews to determine the amount of time added to each school's day, how the additional time is used, and the perceived strengths of ELT and challenges encountered by staff when planning for and implementing it. This report describes the results from the first year of the study, which sought to identify common uses of time in the 46 schools implementing ELT in school year 2015-16 as well as perceived strengths and common challenges. Overall findings from the study reveal the following: The district lacks centralized information about schools' time usage, a potential barrier to understanding ELT implementation. The amount of time added varies by ELT policy and funding type, with no single districtwide system. Allocation of time also varies, with some relationship to instructional focus. The greatest reported strength of ELT--teacher satisfaction about its potential for student outcomes--is at odds with the greatest reported challenges--lack of teacher buy-in and teacher burnout. In the next stage of research, AIR and BPS will collaborate to design and implement small-scale impact and cost-effectiveness analyses based on the findings about ELT described in this report. Of particular importance are considerations for how ELT is used in different BPS schools--considering not just how much extra time students receive but also what they do with that time. Another important consideration is schools' instructional foci and goals for ELT in relation to student outcomes.

For many years, the Kauffman Foundation has focused efforts on improving educa­tion for children in Kansas City. Prior to opening the Kauffman School, the Kauffman Foundation operated several programs that addressed the challenges faced in urban education, such as Project Early (an early childhood program), Project Choice (a high school dropout prevention program), and the Kauffman Scholars program (an after-school college preparatory program). The success of these programs led Foundation leaders to consider the impact they might have on students in Kansas City if they established a charter school. The path they followed and the lessons they learned may be of interest to those working to found and/or improve charter schools.