Why We Need It

Of the 10 major cities in the nation, Chicago ranks last in the amount of time students spend in the classroom. Today, CPS students receive 22% less instructional time than the national average.

Academic studies, education experts, and high-achieving schools with extended time in Chicago and across the nation confirm that additional instructional time is a key factor in student success.

To help boost student achievement, CPS has set out on a number of ambitious initiatives and programs to meet this goal. The district is in the midst of implementing initiatives that together, ensure that we change what we teach, how we teach, and ensure we have the proper time to teach. The additional time is critical for the successful implementation of the Common Core State Standards as well as REACH Students, the district's new teacher evaluation system.

How Schools Use it

A 7-hour school day in elementary schools and a 7.5-hour day in high schools will benefit students by providing the opportunity to:

• Spend more time on core academic subjects including math, science, social studies.
• Work on literacy skills and provide reading intervention for struggling students.
• Broaden enrichment opportunities including physical education, art, music, library time.
• Give students an adequate mid-day lunch and recess period so that they can recharge.
• Provide students with individualized interventions to help improve skills in math, science and core subjects as well as behavioral interventions and supplemental work for gifted students.
• Provide teachers with more prep time and professional development each week.

In addition, the Full School Day will allow elementary students to have a full recess and lunch every day to give them time to relax, re-boot and return to the classroom ready to learn.

Read more on how schools are using the additional instruction time