Successfully expanding learning time means carefully planning all time with students – not just programming additional hours or days. Before adding more time, administrators and teachers must be single-minded in their efforts to conserve and optimize the time they have with students. At successful expanded-time schools, leaders create a sense of urgency, messaging to all members of the school community the need to maximize time for learning and eliminate unproductive time in the schedule. Learning begins as soon as students walk into the classroom and lessons are carefully planned to keep students engaged and attentive throughout the day. School leaders and teachers also work to minimize disruptions such as frequent locker breaks, transitions between classes, and lengthy dismissal procedures.

This section provides information on the range of strategies expanded-time schools use to make every minute of the school day count. Among the implementation tools, schools will find resources that will help them analyze how they are using time now in order to make better decisions about how to use additional time.