Task force studying instructional time in Iowa schools

DES MOINES - Time is money when it comes to extending the number of hours or days that Iowa students spend in the classroom.

Each contact day added to the current yearly school calendar would equate to about $14.5 million statewide in increased costs, according to state Department of Education officials.

“That's a real significant issue,” said Rep. Kevin Koester, R-Ankeny, a non-voting member of the Instructional Time Task Force that's considering extended learning time options for Iowa's 348 school districts. “The price tag is a huge issue.”

The 16 voting and five ex official members of the task force were directed by the Legislature and Gov. Terry Branstad to study possible changes to the traditional 180-day school calendar - including issues such as the school start date, length of the school day and school year, alternative calendars and after-school programming - and report their findings to state officials and policymakers by Oct. 15.

“Everything's on the table,” said Mike Cormack, a former state legislator from Fort Dodge who now works as the state Department of Education's legislative liaison. He's the lead facilitator for the task force, one of six study panels working during the legislative interim on education reform issues that likely will be a key focus of the Iowa General Assembly's 2013 session.

Iowa's K-12 education system is based on a minimum 180-day academic year, with schools averaging about 6.3 contact hours per day.

Jennifer Davis of the Massachusetts-based National Center on Time & Learning told task force members that most schools that have expanded their classroom time have done it through a longer school day rather than a longer school year. However, she said she expected to see more experimentation with longer school years due in part to “data around the summer learning lag.”

Generally, Davis said, teachers and families find that a longer school day matches better with their work schedules. Regardless of how it's done, she said, research within the last two years has identified increased learning time as a key element of high-performing schools, which has led to reform, redesign and reallocation of resources as education leaders make strategic choices to achieve better results.

“It isn't about more time. It's about more time well spent,” she said. That involves a combination of other factors, she said, that include flexible scheduling, staffing, broad and rigorous curriculum, technology, innovations and competency-based learning as new models emerge.

Jason Glass, director of the state Department of Education, said the overarching priority in exploring instructional time options should be “putting the interest of students at the very top.” He urged the group to make recommendations to the state Board of Education, governor and Legislature that are “guided by evidence wherever possible.”

Task force member and school superintendent Anita Micich of Mason City said she was disappointed that no students were appointed to the panel to provide their firsthand perspectives. Sac City task force member Shirley Phillips, a tourism and economic development official, said it is increasingly important for students to be trained to enter the workforce when they complete their education.

The task force is slated to hold two more meetings before issuing its recommendations.