2020 Summer Journal of Scholarship and Practice

The articles in this issue deal with the concept of time and how critical it is in educating today’s students. While these articles were chosen prior to the onset of COVID-19, it is clear that the coronavirus has exacerbated any discussion of time.

In the first research article the researchers—Sarah Cannon, Cassandra Davis and Sarah Fuller—discuss “Preparing for the Next Natural Disaster: Understanding How Hurricanes Affect Educators and Schooling.” Looking at the impact of two major hurricanes, the writers determined that supporting teachers’ physical, social-emotional, and classroom needs was necessary to assist and expedite recovery.

The second research article, “Does Start Time at High School Really Matter? Studying the Impact of High School Start Time on Achievement, Attendance, and Graduation Rates of High School Students” is written by Holly Keown, Antonio Corrales, and Michelle Peters. Does start time really matter?

The third research article is titled “The Influence of Length of School Day on Student Achievement in Grades 8 and Grade 11 in New Jersey” and written by Phyllis deAngelis and Danielle Sammarone. The results suggest that longer school days benefit students from wealthier school districts more so than students living in poverty or middle-class students. The conclusion might surprise the reader.

The last article is an evidenced-based practice commentary by Souhail Souja and titled “Effects of Time Metrics on Student Learning.” The author provides a research-supported perspective on lessons learned and lost about the use of time in educational institutions.

As this issue is published, Mitchell suggests that school district leaders across the U.S. are being faced with the challenge of developing timelines for the upcoming school year that must ensure student safety but also face potentially insufficient resources of both money and time. He further suggests that when considering the fiscal impacts “time may be the only thing we have.”