How Class Time Relates to Student Achievement

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For education in general time really is the currency of teachers. School days have only so many hours in them, and these school days tend to be broken up into several classes, a lunch period, time to travel between classes, and then time settling students into their seats and handing out materials. When taking into account the amount of time taken away from regular classes by assemblies, poor attendance, or class disruptions, the period of time per day actually spent in instruction and learning seems inadequate. John Goodland performed a study to determine the time spent in these different activities over several grade levels. He determined that about 74% of school time is spent in school instruction  However, when determining the efficiency of the that time he found a low amount of time spent on what he calls “academic staples” including reading and writing. Only 6% of time in elementary school is spend on reading, and only 2% in high schools. In contrast, the amount of time the student spent listening to lecture increased from 18% in elementary school to 25% in high school  Other research concludes that when more time is allocated for subject-matter learning, student achievement increases.

When asking the question “is class time related to student achievement” the answer is a resounding “yes”. Very few are the students that can skip class, read only the textbook, and ace the exams; this is true even of college students. More time spent in class means more time focusing on important concepts and certain hands on material that is better handled through discussion or experimentation. However, as previously seen, the method of instruction matter greatly when it comes to individual retention. It may be impossible to cover all the modes of learning in order to give every student the best possible chance to retain the information, there obviously is not time for that. If time cannot be begged, bartered, or stolen in order to get more instruction in the classroom, perhaps the answer is developing a more effective teaching method to interest a greater base of students in the subject and encourage home study.

1. Sadker, David Miller. Teachers, Schools, and Society, 2010.
2. Clock Image: "Teacher Clock". Unique Wall Clock .com. Accessed 2012 Nov 17. [http://www.unique-wall-clock.com/professional-clock-office.htm]