The major challenge with time is finding it. Current school-day schedules and school-year calendars are leaner than ever because of budget reductions. States and districts have implemented furlough days to balance lean-and-mean budgets that show no sign of improving. Few are willing to take the leap toward reducing instructional time to improve…

Case studies about issues arising from education policy were written between 2003 and 2011 by doctoral candidates in Curriculum and Instruction who were career K-12 educators. Literary analysis was employed in grouping 57 case studies, which described primarily situations that occurred in school districts in one large metropolitan area, by topic…

This article discusses the challenge of finding time for learning teams to meet. The author firmly believes that teachers have the capacity to develop solutions that best meet their needs and the needs of their students. She believes that if the teachers know that their learning and teamwork is in the best interests of their students, they will be…

The purpose of this "Handbook" is to bolster the effective implementation of the intervention models and strategies outlined in the "2010 School Improvement Grant" (SIG) program--section 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)--in order to achieve the program's clear goal--rapid improvement of persistently…

One critical means of reaching the goal to improve student learning is to restructure school time for professional development. This publication examines issues in promoting professional development for all staff during regular school time. The overview describes alternative strategies for effectively finding and using time to support…

In November 1994, the U.S. Department of Education invited a group of exceptional public and private school teachers (n=114) to Washington, D.C., to hear their thoughts and to explore ways in which the federal government can work with educators to achieve the National Education Goals. The teachers centered on two dimensions of the time challenge:…

The Education Council Act of 1991 established the National Education Commission on Time and Learning as an independent advisory body and called for a comprehensive review of the relationship between time and learning in U.S. schools. This document serves as a supplementary volume to the commission's first report released in May 1994, which found…

In 1994, the National Education Commission on Time and Learning (NECTL) published "Prisoners of Time," an eye-opening study into how much schools are governed by the clock and calendar, and how families, administrators, and teachers are subsequently affected. This report expands and updates the 1994 report, adding informative questions and answers…

The Education Council Act of 1991 Established the National Education Commission on Time and Learning as an independent advisory body and called for a comprehensive review of the relationship between time and learning in American schools. The commission's report, released in May 1994, found that school reform is destined to founder unless programs…

The story of the process that Mundelein High School (located in a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois) as it moved from a traditional schedule to a block schedule is described throughout this book as a way to blend theory with practice. The book addresses types of block schedules; key issues for effective preparation; professional development…

This background paper is a result of a literature review conducted under Project FORUM that identifies research-based inputs and processes related to student outcomes. It was intended to provide background information for the participants attending the Wingspread Conference on Inputs and Processes in October, 1998. In addition, the report is…