Oregon students spend less time in class than their peers in almost any other state and research demonstrates that has a direct impact on their overall academic performance, a national expert told a panel of lawmakers Tuesday. “Based on a broad body of rigorous research, time in school is a fu ndamental resource for educational success,” said Matthew Kraft, a professor of education and economics at Brown University. “The findings [are] overwhelmingly clear that on average, more instructional time improves student learning outcomes, including student performance on state standardized tests.” Oregon is one of 19 states that does not specify how many days must be in the school year, said Jennifer Thomsen, a consultant at the Denver-based Education Commission of the States, a nonprofit that analyzes state-by-state education policy. Instead, the state requires hours: elementary and middle school students must get 900 instructional hours, while most high schoolers must be scheduled for 990 hours of class time. (The exception is seniors, who typically graduate several weeks before the end of the school year and are supposed to receive 966 hours of instruction.) Kraft said that the most recent set of national data, from the 2017-2018 school year, shows that the average American student spends 1,231 hours in class each year. That’s about 35 more school days than Oregon high schoolers, and 47 more days than elementary and middle school students, given the average length of a school day at nearly seven hours. Based on that data, “Oregon ranks 47th out of 50th in total hours of time in school during an academic year,” Kraft told the members of the House Interim Education Committee. Comparing instructional time across states is like comparing apples not just to oranges, but also to pineapples, kiwis and persimmons, Kraft and Thomsen both warned, because every state uses different metrics. For example, some factor in a combination of recess, lunch and passing time while others exclude it. The hours actually available for substantive instruction are further impacted by the rhythms of the school year, in Oregon and elsewhere, some lawmakers suggested. “We’re not even talking about the week that school starts [when students are settling in and getting used to new routines], the week before Christmas break and the two weeks before summer, when little kids get the wiggles and high school students check out,” and teachers tend to focus on getting struggling students over the finish line, instead of teaching new material, said Rep. Emily McIntire, R-Eagle Point, who is the chair of her local school board. Compounding the issue: as in some, but not all, other states, Oregon law allows for school districts to count up to 30 hours of professional staff development as instructional time, along with up to 30 hours of parent/teacher conference time, though not every district does so, said Alexa Pearson, an assistant superintendent at the Oregon Department of Education. Schools may also choose to count up to 60 hours of recess as instructional time for kindergarten through third grade students, under state law. The state does not collect any information about how many districts factor conferences, recess and professional development into instructional time, said Susan Payne, who works with Pearson at the state education agency, because of concerns about reporting burdens on school districts. And it relies on local districts to report whether they are in compliance with the required number of instructional hours, Payne said; the state agency only investigates after districts have self-reported that they fell below the minimum required hours. Instructional time is not the only factor that contributes to student success, Kraft cautioned. So does instructional rigor, well-supported, highly qualified teachers and uninterrupted learning time, he said. And he conceded that Oregon’s high rate of students missing at least 10 percent of the school days they do have — at 33%, behind only Alaska and Washington, D.C. — is a parallel problem not solved just by adding more lesson time. Kraft also suggested that Oregon should “examine its current policies around teacher absences in collective bargaining agreements,” including whether educators are “incentivized” to use up all available personal days and sick leave because they are prohibited from rolling it into the subsequent year. This article was originally published by The Oregonian/OregonLive and is reprinted with permission. Contact reporter Julia Silverman: [email protected]. STORY TIP OR IDEA? Send an email to Salem Reporter’s news team: [email protected]. LOCAL NEWS DELIVERED TO YOU: Subscribe to Salem Reporter and get all the fact-based Salem news that matters to you. Fair, accurate, trusted – SUBSCRIBE The post Oregon’s classroom hours among lowest in nation, experts tell lawmakers appeared first on Salem Reporter. ...read more read less