In 2021, California committed to providing universal prekindergarten (UPK) for all 4-year-olds and income-eligible 3-year-olds by 2025-26. UPK includes several early learning programs, including transitional kindergarten (TK), the California State Preschool Program (CSPP), Head Start, and expanded learning opportunities to provide full-day early…

This guide was created to help district leaders understand the benefits and drawbacks of the four-day school week, assess their district's readiness to make the switch, and evaluate the results of implementing the new schedule. This guide begins with an overview of common goals and outcomes for the four-day school week. It then provides a set of…

The Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time (ELT) initiative was established in 2005 with planning grants that allowed a limited number of schools to explore a redesign of their respective schedules and add time to their day or year. Participating schools are required to expand learning time by at least 300 hours per academic year to improve student…

This report explores the extent to which states (and several large cities) are positioned to provide high quality preschool education on a large scale. States and cities that are already doing so or that could do so with modest improvements offer opportunities for advocacy to advance access to high quality early education as well as for rigorous…

The link between time and learning is one of the most consistent findings in educational research. This handbook describes a process for developing effective use of instructional time through the identification of important decision-making criteria and the use of these criteria to create a school schedule. The handbook describes an 11-step…

Compares time-block scheduling efforts at two Pennsylvania high schools. The small-town school chose a semester-block system; the small rural school chose a trimester arrangement. Despite setbacks arising from changing leadership in one school and changing programs (mastery learning) in the other, the intensive time scheduling projects will…

This study describes the major forms of year-round education, evaluates their potential costs and educational benefits (including effects on student academic achievement, learning retention, socialization, and employability), and assesses such programs' feasibility as to legal requirements and effects on school personnel and the larger community.…

This resource guidebook provides planning and implementation models for year-round school schedules, including operational and instructional details. Section 1, "Statement of Needs," discusses California's overcrowded facilities, student retention, teacher compensation, and teacher shortage. "Planning Process Model," section 2, recommends methods…