NCJ Number
160438
Date Published
1994
Length
56 pages
Annotation
A nine-member commission established through Federal legislation enacted in 1991 examined the relationship between time and learning in the country's schools and concluded that students are being asked to learn as much as their foreign peers while spending only half as much time in core academic subjects.
Abstract
The National Education Commission on Time and Learning spent 24 months meeting; visiting 19 schools and education programs; gathering information from more than 150 teachers, administrators, parents, students, and other experts on education; and visiting schools and research institutes in Japan and Germany. Results confirmed that people learn at different rates and in different ways with different subjects. However, fixed schedules for classes, buses, and vacations have defined the boundaries of student progress. Therefore, the reform efforts of the past decade are destined to founder unless they are linked to more time for learning. The commission recommends eight actions to achieve this goal. The country should reinvent schools around learning, not time; use time in new and better ways; establish an academic day; and keep schools open longer to meet the needs of children and communities. In addition, the country should give teachers the time they need, invest in technology, develop local action plans to transform schools, and share the responsibility rather than trying to evade it or blame others for problems. Glossary and appended lists of information sources