Using time to enable success in teaching and learning is a critical part of every school's, district's and state's journey to success. It seems that there is never enough time in schools, and leaders struggle to make the most of what they have. How best to use this precious resource is a critical question. While time in isolation from other…

It is possible to create a literacy block where teachers meet with students for guided reading and writing conferences, and provide daily explicit instruction in both reading and writing. A comprehensive look at literacy and learning, "100 Minutes" shows teachers how to fit balanced literacy into a daily 100-minute literacy block using a framework…

This qualitative study examined the amount of time that fourth and fifth grade teachers devoted to literacy instruction within the time allotted to them within the daily literacy block. Prior research of the literacy block focused largely on primary grades (Allington, McGill-Franzen et a1.,2010; Cunningham & Allington, 2003; Morrow, 1992);…

Three years ago, the staff at Bethel (Connecticut) Middle School made a commitment to establish the school as a professional learning community (PLC). As they delved into the PLC concept, they realized that the first step was to take a close look at how they used time during the school day. Specifically, they needed to determine how to best…