School Schedules

Start times. Snow days. Year-round schooling. Block scheduling. Four-day weeks. Get research and insights into school calendars

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Year-Round Schooling Explained
Get the facts about year-round schooling, including pros and cons, statistics, and key definitions.
Student Achievement Billions Lost Making Up for Summer Learning Loss, Say Business Leaders
The United States wastes $21 billion dollars a year making up for summer learning loss, according to an analysis of scores of studies by ReadyNation, a nonprofit working to strengthen the workforce by pushing policymakers to fund expanded learning programs.
Kathryn Baron, December 30, 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 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
School & District Management Opinion School Start Times Can Leverage Deeper Change
Take advantage of the interest in changing school schedules and roll the rest of what needs to change for 21st century learning into this conversation.
Jill Berkowicz & Ann Myers, December 2, 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 Vermont Prepares for Mandatory Personalized Learning Plan for All
Vermont public schools have until next fall to prepare for a new law requiring all middle and high school students to have personalized learning plans that map out a path to college and/or career.
Kathryn Baron, October 23, 2014
3 min read
School & District Management Opinion More Is Not Better: #TBT
If the conversation about longer school days and years is going to continue (and we think it is) there are a few things we need to do before it becomes another external solution even if imposed with the best of intentions.
Jill Berkowicz & Ann Myers, October 23, 2014
6 min read
Juanita Obataiye welcomes students to A.P. Hill Elementary in Petersburg, Va.
Juanita Obataiye welcomes students to A.P. Hill Elementary in Petersburg, Va.
Patrick Kane/The Progress-Index/AP
School & District Management Popularity Grows Anew for Year-Round Schooling
Behind the recent upswing are grant programs in Michigan and Virginia aimed primarily at reducing time out of school for students from low-income families.
Madeline Will, October 7, 2014
7 min read
School & District Management News in Brief In Pennsylvania, 'Snow Day' Could Be an Endangered Species
Snow days may soon be a thing of the past in Pennsylvania.
Benjamin Herold, September 30, 2014
1 min read
School & District Management Connecticut School Gets Attendance Bump From Longer Days
Attendance and test scores increase at a Connecticut elementary school now in its third year of an extended school day.
Kathryn Baron, September 5, 2014
1 min read
School & District Management Free, Full-Day Kindergarten Begins for Minnesota Children
Minnesota offers free, full-day kindergarten for the first time to help close the opportunity gap.
Kathryn Baron, September 2, 2014
3 min read
School & District Management Pediatricians: Start School Later So Teens Get Enough Sleep
The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a new policy statement declaring that middle and high schools should delay their start times to ensure that adolescents and teenagers get enough sleep.
Kathryn Baron, August 25, 2014
5 min read
School & District Management Pediatricians Call for Later School Start Times to Combat Sleep Deprivation
Later start times in high school and middle school would accomodate shifting sleep-wake patterns associated with puberty, the American Academy of Pediatrics says in a new position statement.
Evie Blad, August 25, 2014
1 min read
School & District Management High Schools Letting Students Sleep In to Improve Grades and Health
More high schools are starting the day later as a growing body of research finds that teens' grades and health are suffering due to sleep deprivation.
Kathryn Baron, August 14, 2014
2 min read