Halstrom High School Blog

Increasing Times and Getting Yourself On Track in High School

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Increasing the time allotted for teaching and learning is gaining popularity as a school reform strategy. At the high school level, where achievement gaps are particularly wide, increased learning time may help struggling students get on track for graduation.

Additional time may be used to help students recover credits, receive additional academic support, and pursue expanded learning opportunities, such as internships, career training, or community service, that encourage their interests and keep them engaged with school. Increased time can also be used for teacher collaboration, which is especially important at the high school level where students work with several teachers in different content areas.

Collaboration time allows teachers to develop and implement a coherent instructional program and work together to identify strategies to support student learning across content areas.

Although increasing time may help high school students stay on track, it is far from sufficient.  Many steps must be taken before and after reorganizing time. For example, an Early Warning System (EWS) can be used to identify students who have fallen off-track for high school graduation. Interventions can then be matched to students’ individual needs and increased time can be used to accommodate interventions that require additional time to implement.

Similarly, time for teacher collaboration is helpful only if used well. The National Center on Time and Learning (NCTL) recently presented a webinar for a community of practice focused on school turnaround and highlighted the following key components of effective collaboration:

• Sufficient time is provided for teachers to identify student learning needs and share, review, and provide feedback on instructional practices that address these needs.
• All teacher collaboration and professional development is a mechanism for teachers to improve instruction and build expertise.
• District and school leadership see frequent collaboration as the primary vehicle for the ongoing improvement of instruction and ultimately, student performance.
• Teacher collaboration is purposeful and part of a coherent school-wide plan with clear goals and consistent practices used across all teams.
• Organization promotes sharing honest feedback and a commitment to improving classroom instruction among teachers and administrators.

NCTL also provides case studies of schools that have increased time for student learning and for teacher collaboration and provides examples of how high schools have reorganized to use increased time effectively.