Minute by Minute: School Strategies for Optimizing Time. Case Studies of Promising Practices
Author: Corwin, Elise
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Urban Schools,Time Management,College Readiness,Career Readiness,High Schools,Case Studies,Access to Education,Courses,Teacher Collaboration,Faculty Development,Extended School Day,Student Development,Educational Opportunities,Secondary School Curriculum,School Schedules

In the last decade, there have been significant increases in the New York City high school graduation rates. Nevertheless, far too many students are graduating high school without the knowledge and skills they will need for college and career, and far too many continue to require remediation once they arrive at college. A central priority of the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) is to ensure that New York City schools provide all students with the academic coursework and developmental experiences they need to graduate ready for college and career. The Office of Postsecondary Readiness (OPSR) established a set of benchmarks to define the qualities and achievements that students need to complete in order to be ready to enroll, persist, and succeed in college or other postsecondary training, and gain entry into meaningful careers. These College and Career Readiness Benchmarks fall into four domains: (1) Common Core Learning Standards; (2) Academic and Personal Behaviors; (3) Academic Programming; and (4) College and Career Access. The focus of this report is on configuring academic programs that not only enable more students to meet the state graduation requirements but that also lead to college and career readiness. To maximize access to courses and opportunities that are predictive of college and career readiness, schools must optimize a fundamental resource--time during the regular school day. School Time Lab (STL), a two-year New York City initiative funded by the Michael &amp; Susan Dell Foundation, implemented by OPSR, and evaluated by the Research and Policy Support Group (RPSG), studies and bolsters how school leaders use this fundamental asset to provide opportunities for all students to enroll in the higher-level coursework and developmental experiences necessary for college and career. STL consists of two complementary projects. This report describes findings from Project 1: Case Studies of Promising Practices. The purpose of this project is to identify and document effective scheduling models and strategies from schools that are successfully graduating students prepared for college and career. Ten model high schools were selected for study. Key programming and scheduling strategies were identified across the schools and are described in detail through case studies. Following a guide to Key Themes and Case Studies, the following case studies are presented: (1) Academy for Careers in Television &amp; Film (ACTvF); (2) Channel View School for Research; (3) Edward R. Murrow High School; (4) High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology (HSTAT); (5) Manhattan Bridges High School (MBHS); (6) PACE High School; (7) Pelham Preparatory Academy; (8) The Urban Assembly School for Applied Math and Science (AMS); (9) The Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice (SLJ); and (10) Williamsburg Preparatory High School. The following are appended: (1) Sample Schedules; (2) Brooklyn Frontiers High School: Using Trimesters to Bolster Credit Accumulation; and (3) Susan E. Wagner High School: Creating a Senior Seminar. A glossary of terms and Minute-by-Minute Readers Guide is included.