Across the country, an educational revolution is taking root. Kids are learning more. Teachers are free to teach beyond the test. And parents aren’t worried about what their kids are up to after school. What accounts for this change? The answer is simple: More time to learn.


Christopher Gabrieli and Warren Goldstein, authors of Time to Learn: How a New School Schedule is Making Smarter Kids, Happier Parents and Safer Neighborhoods, believe that many of the shortcomings of the American public school system can be traced to a time shortage in schools’ standard daily schedules. The current school day—6 hours and 180 days per year—is obsolete, the co-authors argue, because it simply cannot provide students with the academic foundation and well-rounded education they need to succeed in the twenty-first century. This includes basic math and science courses, extra-curricular activities like drama, and high-tech instruction in subjects like robotics, which stimulate young minds and provide a more well-rounded education.

The book also explores how the old school day is out of step with the new reality faced by many modern working families. Without a stay-at-home parent to manage their children’s after-school time, school-structured extracurricular activities not only round out kids’ learning, but they offer valuable, enriching care, particularly for at-risk youth. Time to Learn describes how utilizing an additional one to two hours to create “a new school day,” allows children time to master core academic subjects, receive individualized instruction and tutoring, be exposed to a broad array of academic subjects, and explore enrichment activities (including art, music, drama and sports)—every day, for every student.

Time to close achievement gaps

The evidence Gabrieli and Goldstein present is impressive. “New Day Schools,” as the authors refer to those schools which have adopted the expanded schedule, often serve America’s most challenging students, students whose family and neighborhood poverty tend to relegate them to high dropout rates and low academic achievement outcomes. Yet these schools have shown the ability to significantly, even dramatically, raise student success on core academic measures, while also offering a far more well-rounded education.

A large part of this success is credited to the New Day Schools’ shift from traditional homework assignments to a system in which kids complete practice assignments (particularly the most challenging exercises and projects) in a classroom setting, with support from teachers instead of parents. It’s an intriguing idea, even for middle-class and affluent parents who might be able to afford the time and resources to help their kids with homework but are frustrated by the ways in which homework time cuts into family time.

Many parents too, no matter what their education level, feel under-equipped to help kids with more sophisticated assignments on topics they may not have studied for over a decade, if ever. An expanded school schedule can take that pressure off parents and allow educators more time to work with students who may be struggling, before they fall behind their peers.

Time to embrace change

Some of these schools are charter schools, such as the KIPP schools, (the name stands for “Knowledge Is Power Program”), a national network of fifty-seven elementary, middle and high schools. There are twelve KIPP programs right here in California, although none in Sacramento to date. Using 60% more time than conventional school schedules (students are at school from 7:30am to 5pm every day, attend 18 Saturdays and a month in the summer), they post some astounding results.

Many issues still need to be addressed, including how California schools might generate stable funding for longer school days, how exactly schools should go about redefining homework expectations, and how to allow high-school students time for part-time jobs, not to mention the work that lies ahead in convincing those who will be hesitant to embrace change. Those challenges aside, Time to Learn reveals many ways that parents, teachers and policy makers can begin working together to provide more adult mentorship and supervision to school-age children, decrease the “opportunity gaps” that exist between diverse communities, and ensure a better education for all students. It is definitely thought-provoking and offers positive solutions for an education system that is long overdue for a serious overhaul.