TIME AS A CONSTRUCT
School effectiveness researchers over the past three decades have ranked time—and time-related instructional variables—either number one or number two on a list of eight to ten factors that are important to student achievement (Scheerens & Bosker, 1997; Berliner, 1990; Good & Brophy, 2000; Greenwood, 1991; Tindal & Parker, 1987; Marzano, 2000).
A superficial look at that research may prompt one to say, “So what else is new? Obviously, if students spend more time on math and less time fooling around, they will learn more math.” But researchers are consistently in agreement that it’s not that simple. Within reasonable limits, the issue is not about adding more time but rather about how time is used (Aaronson, Zimmerman, & Carlos, 1999; Evans & Bechtel, 1996). Embedded in the research—and in the claims associated with it—is a delineation and hierarchical classification of various categories of time (see Figure 8.1). Starting with time in school, each of the
Controlling how time is used well has a big impact on student learning.
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PART TWO | MANAGEMENT | TIME
categories in Figure 8.1 includes and subsumes those below and inside its circle. The closer the category is to the core of the nested circles, the stronger the corre- lation is between time and student achievement. In this figure, time in school is the number of hours or days that a student should be, or is, in attendance. There are five categories of school time:
1. Allocated time is the amount of time in school formally scheduled for instruction (versus non-instructional activities such as lunch, recess, and changing classes).
Time in School
Allocated Time
Teacher Instructional Time
Student Engaged Time
Academic Learning Time
Interactive Instructional
Time
(Time on Task)
(Time Scheduled for Academic Subjects)
(High Success Time)
(Time Teacher Instructs Students)
Teacher Instructional Time