Calls for more school instructional time are coming from multiple quarters. Academic standards and frequent assessments have changed the nature, but not the length, of the instructional day. Schools find themselves "robbing Peter to pay Paul," taking time from the arts, recess, and physical education to give to reading and math, subjects that carry heavy weight in state accountability systems. Distinguishing between Allocated Time (the time on the school calendar for a given content area) and Academic Learning Time (the amount of time students are working on rigorous tasks at the appropriate level of difficulty for them), mitigated by Student Engagement (the time students are paying attention), the paper advocates that it may at times be necessary to provide additional Allocated Time to the school calendar, while recognizing that scheduling and budgetary challenges exist. By confirming that extended allocations of time for core curriculum are used for high-demand academic learning adapted to individual student needs, and focusing additional funds on the students who need it most, many of these barriers may be overcome. (Contains 12 endnotes and 4 figures.)