Effectiveness of Time Investments in Education: Insights from a review and meta-analysis (SpringerBriefs in Education)

This book analyzes the productivity and effectiveness of a variety of time investments in education. It explores the methods used in education to optimize the time that students are exposed to learning content. Such methods include expanding official school time, optimizing “time on task”, providing homework assignments, and creating learning opportunities beyond lesson hours. The book presents a review of earlier reviews and meta-analyses, secondary analyses of international data sets, and new meta-analyses concerning the effects of instruction time, homework and extended learning, beyond official school time. It explores the concept of time as a condition to enhance student achievement and discusses methodological issues in separating “genuine” time effects from related facets of educational quality. The book shows that the dependence of time effects on the quality of content choice and delivery raises critical questions for both researchers and policy planners. It further shows that sophisticated research designs are required to properly assess time effects, and that policy makers should be concerned about the bluntness of time as an instrument to enhance educational productivity. Acknowledgments 5 Contents 6 1 Introduction 7 Abstract 7 The Meaning of Time as a Factor in Educational Productivity 7 The Carroll Model 9 The Focus of This Study 10 References 10 2 State of the Art of Time Effectiveness 12 Abstract 12 Time for Teaching and Learning at School 12 Conceptualization 12 Meta-analyses 14 Conclusions 17 Homework 18 Conceptualization 18 Meta-analyses 19 Conclusion 21 After-School Programs and Extended Learning Time 22 Conceptualization 22 Meta-analyses 24 Discussion 27 Conclusions 28 Annex to Chapter 2 30 References 31 3 Time in Internationally Comparative Studies 35 Abstract 35 Total Instruction Time at Primary and Secondary School Level in International Perspective 36 Intended Instruction Time Across Countries, Based on 2010, System Level Data 36 Total Instruction Time Across Countries, Compared Between 2000 and 2008, Based on System Level Data for 12--14 Years Old Students 36 International Comparative Data on Time in School, Out-of-School Programs, and Homework/Individual Study Based on PISA 2006, School Level Data 38 Evidence of Time Effects on Achievement in International Studies, Based on Simple Correlations 44 Influence of Time at School and Homework on Student Performance, Analyzed in International Studies 44 Regular School Time, Out-of-School-Time Lessons and Individual Study Analyzed on PISA 2006 Data 45 Change in Total Intended Instruction Time, Measured at System Level, and Country Average Achievement in Reading Literacy, Based on PISA 2009 Data 47 Time Effects in an International Study, Based on Multilevel Structural Equation Modeling 48 The Implementation Scenario 49 The Accountability Scenario 51 Conclusions 53 Closing Discussion on Instructional Time Seen from an International Perspective 54 References 56 4 Meta-Analyses 58 Abstract 58 Introduction 59 Search Strategy and Selection Criteria 60 Coding Procedure 62 Vote Counting Procedure 63 Calculation of Effect Sizes 64 Weighing of Effect Sizes 66 Data Analysis 67 Overall Approach 67 Moderators 68 Definition of the Time Variables 68 Sample and Study Characteristics Used as Moderators 69 Results 70 Learning Time at School 70 Homework Measured at the Individual Student Level 73 Homework Measured at the School/Class Level 74 Extended Learning Time 76 Comparison of Fixed and Random Effects for Time and Homework 77 Discussion 78 Appendix 79 References 140 Studies used for vote count and meta-analysis, References marked with an asterisk indicate studies included in the quantitative meta-analysis 141 5 Relevance of the Findings for Educational Policy and Future Research 146 Abstract 146 Recapitulation of the Main Results of This Study 146 Relevance for Educational Policy: The Case of Quality Oriented Policy in the Netherlands 153 Report on Education Time in Secondary Schools 154 Time as a Priority Area in the Quality Agendas for Primary and Secondary Education, and in the Inspection Frameworks 154 Broad Schools 157 Scientific Relevance, Suggestions for Further Research 157 References 159 Front Matter....Pages i-vii Introduction....Pages 1-5 State of the Art of Time Effectiveness....Pages 7-29 Time in Internationally Comparative Studies....Pages 31-53 Meta-Analyses....Pages 55-142 Relevance of the Findings for Educational Policy and Future Research....Pages 143-157