While researchers acknowledge that students experience learning time differently, there has been
a general consensus that most students in public schools experience roughly similar amounts of
allocated time – the amount of time when a school is open for instruction during the school day
and year. Moreover, research to date has suggested that modest differences in allocated time
between schools are not associated with the race or social class of students served. In a white
paper on learning time prepared for the National Academy of Education, Rowan and colleagues
conclude that, while “the amount of time U.S. students spend in school varies by state, district,
and grade level … instructional time seems to be equitably distributed.”6