Using Summer Programs To Explore the Relationship between Time and Learning.

To date, we simply don't know whether more time spent in school increases children's learning. Rather than just run the assembly line for more hours, Mr. DeBlois suggests another way to find out whether or not more learning time would be a good investment. Sometimes it is probably good that education reform moves slowly. Such is the case with suggestions that the school year be lengthened from 180 days to somewhere between 200 and 220 days. However, if we struggle hard enough with the ideas that motivate this suggestion, it is just possible that we might enhance the opportunities of children to learn a great deal over the summers. The suggestion for a longer school year is frequently made, and serious discussion on this topic takes place occasionally. Fourteen years ago, A Nation at Risk suggested lengthening the school year, and, largely as a result of this suggestion, Congress formed the National Educational Commission on Time and Learning. The report produced by this body, Prisoners of Time, appeared in the spring of 1994 and stated,among other things, that U.S. students are falling behind many of our international competitors because students are not spending enough time in school. This aspect of the report received widespread attention in the media and heightened the public perception that U.S. students have it easy in school. Not surprisingly, research on the topic of time spent in school points to the fact that learning is a complex thing and that time is only one of many components that are necessary for worthwhile education. Much of the work on the relationship between time and learning was done by John Carroll in 1963. He noted that the time allowed for student learning was only one of five factors necessary for learning. The other four factors were student perseverance, special aptitudes, general ability to understand instruction, and quality of instruction.(1) In essence, there is no significant research that suggests that an extension of time in school will result in a proportional increase in student learning.(2) In fact, some research findings cast doubt on whether any increase in student learning will occur simply by lengthening the amount of time that students spend in school.(3) It is also very important that the costs of extending the school year be considered. Estimates of the costs of extending the school year range from $20 billion, as calculated by the National Educational Commission on Time and Learning, to $80 billion, according to the late Albert Shanker, president of the American Federation of Teachers. A study undertaken by the Massachusetts legislature suggested that increasing the school year by 40 days would cost about $1 billion for that state alone.(4) It would be a political disaster to invest so much in a change that is not supported by a solid research base, and so schools should exercise the utmost caution in lengthening the school year. Now What? Some sectors of society are calling for an extension of the school year so that students can accomplish more, a seemingly logical supposition. At the same time, research does not support the proposition that students will learn more simply by spending more time in class. Yet this conflict should not force us into a state of paralysis. We know that too many of our students are dropping out and that many of those who graduate do not possess the skills they will need to communicate and learn throughout the rest of their lives. We know that too many children come to school unprepared. We know that far too many children are not developing the habits necessary for learning or the social habits and skills necessary for successful transition to a job. We know that far too many children are growing up without the guidance or social and academic enrichment that will help them make proper decisions and understand the impact that these decisions will have on their lives. We know that too many children are involved in behaviors that threaten their futures, if not their lives, and that they cannot make a successful transition to adulthood in the midst of the chaos brought about by these behaviors. …