Increasing instruction time in school does increase learning.
Increasing instruction time in school is a central element in the attempts of many governments to improve student learning, but prior research-mainly based on observational data-disputes the effect of this approach and points out the potential negative effects on student behavior. Based on a large-scale, cluster-randomized trial, we find that increasing instruction time increases student learning and that a general increase in instruction time is at least as efficient as an expert-developed, detailed teaching program that increases instruction with the same amount of time. These findings support the value of increased instruction time.
Department of Political Science, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus, Denmark; TrygFonden's Centre for Child Research, Aarhus University, 8210 Aarhus, Denmark; sca@ps.au.dk mhumlum@econ.au.dk.
Simon Calmar
SC
Andersen
Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University, 8210 Aarhus, Denmark sca@ps.au.dk mhumlum@econ.au.dk.
Maria Knoth
0000-0002-1678-8379
MK
Humlum
Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University, 8210 Aarhus, Denmark.
Anne Brink
AB
Nandrup
D002648:Child; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D013663:Teaching; D013997:Time Factors
education; randomized controlled trial; school performance; school resources