Student Achievement Blog

Time and Learning

This blog was written by contributing writer Marva Hinton, who, as the mom of a toddler, knew learning can happen at any time and anywhere. This blog is no longer being updated, but you can continue to explore these issues on edweek.org by visiting our related topic pages: learning time and instructional time.

Student Well-Being & Movement Slight Gains Set Aside for Extended Learning in Federal Education Budget
The federal education budget for fiscal year 2015 contains small signs of hope for extended-learning programs, with a slight increase in funding for the 21st Century Community Learning Center program, which is the largest federal source of funding for after-school programs.
Kathryn Baron, December 22, 2014
2 min read
Student Achievement Closing the Opportunity Gap Through Expanded Learning: A How-to Guide
The Annenberg Institute for School Reform releases a blueprint for high-quality extended-learning programs, based on a study of model programs in low-income schools in six large cities.
Kathryn Baron, December 19, 2014
3 min read
Student Achievement Students Gained in Math, Not Reading in RAND Summer-Learning Study
Students attending a full-day, free, summer program run by their district showed significant gains in mathematics but not in reading, according to the first report from the first longitudinal study of five large, urban school districts.
Kathryn Baron, December 16, 2014
6 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement Children of Married Parents More Likely to Do Extracurriculars, Survey Shows
Children living with two married parents are significantly more likely to participate in after-school sports, clubs, and enrichment activities, such as art, music, and dance, than children whose parents live together, but aren't married, according to a new report from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Kathryn Baron, December 11, 2014
2 min read
Student Achievement Creative Ways to Increase Learning Time When Money Is an Object
Expanding learning by lengthening the school day isn't always feasible; a new report profiles some California school districts that have turned to creative scheduling to give students more time to learn.
Kathryn Baron, December 9, 2014
4 min read
Student Achievement A Snag for New York State's Extended Learning Time Grants
Several New York State school districts awarded state grants for extended learning time decline the funds saying they weren't given enough time to properly implement the program.
Kathryn Baron, December 4, 2014
2 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement NASA Makes Out-of-School Time 'Out of This World'
NASA encourages girls to the reach for the stars through out-of-school programs designed to make the STEM field exciting through hands-on projects, community mentors, and robotics.
Kathryn Baron, December 1, 2014
1 min read
Teaching Tonight's Homework Assignment: Prepare for Disaster
Fifth grade students are getting homework from an unlikely source, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, through a school program developed to teach children how to prepare for natural disasters and emergencies and then develop those plans with their families.
Kathryn Baron, November 26, 2014
1 min read
Student Achievement Full-Day Kindergarten Twice as Good for Hispanic Children, Study Finds
Full-day kindergarten significantly increases literacy skills for all children, with the biggest gains seen among Hispanic children, according to a new study from the University of Virginia.
Kathryn Baron, November 25, 2014
2 min read
Student Achievement Low-Income High School Students Get Less Time to Learn, Calif. Study Shows
The difference between attending a high-poverty and a low-poverty high school in California is nearly two weeks of instructional time a year, UCLA researchers find.
Kathryn Baron, November 21, 2014
3 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement Study Aims to Track Career Choices of Staffers in Out-of-School STEM Programs
SRI International and the California School-Age Consortium are seeking volunteers for a study to determine if the young professionals working as science, technology, and math instructors in after-school, weekend, and summer programs for middle school students are influenced to pursue STEM careers based on the type of curriculum they're using.
Kathryn Baron, November 14, 2014
3 min read
Student Achievement Expanded-Learning-Time Program Expands its Reach
An additional 21 high-poverty schools have joined an initiative in five states to expand the school year by 300 hours and redesign the school day, in order to close the achievement gap through personalized learning, enrichment activities, and more time for teacher professional development and collaboration.
Kathryn Baron, November 12, 2014
3 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement After-School Arts 'Light a Fire' in Students, Says First Lady
First lady Michelle Obama presented $10,000 awards to 12 community-based, after-school, summer, and weekend arts programs through the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards, which was established to increase the number of arts-enrichment programs for underserved students.
Kathryn Baron, November 11, 2014
2 min read
Student Well-Being & Movement Grants Available to Study After-School Literacy
The deadline is drawing near for applications from university researchers to partner with out-of-school providers to study literacy in after-school programs through a competitive grant program from the National Institute on Out-of-School Time.
Kathryn Baron, November 7, 2014
2 min read