Return on Learning: Recapturing Time and Improving Outcomes
Written by Jesse Roy, Education Strategy Director with PowerSchool.
With costs rising, many districts are contending with budgets that represent reduced resources for supporting students and staff. However, this hasn’t changed hardworking educators’ primary goals: continuously improving academic and non-academic student outcomes. As has often been the case, schools are being called on to do more with less.
Maximizing Resources for Student Success
Outside observers of education often point to budget as the most critical asset for promoting student success, and the importance of school funding is hard to argue against. However, funding is not the only essential resource available to schools that can be recaptured and recommitted to furthering district priorities.
Since 80 to 90 percent of general funds are committed to personnel costs, district spending reflects what research suggests is the most important factor in raising positive student outcomes: how highly effectively staff use their time. Funding does not directly impact student outcomes—personnel does. Understanding this transforms the budget from an immovable object to a more flexible tool for optimizing teaching and learning.
But even then, filling every position isn’t what moves the needle. What matters is how teachers and district and school leaders are spending their days. And while budgets may be seemingly set in stone, the demands on staff are not. The more time staff can recommit to efforts proven to raise outcomes, the greater the “return on learning” of funds spent.
More Time Can Make a Difference
We asked educators, “If you had more time in your day, what job-related activity would you spend that time on?” Their answers varied from engaging in professional development to enhancing data analysis.
Consider what an hour of administrative tasks repurposed each week to these research-supported practices could mean for student outcomes and staff climate:
Engaging in Professional Development: Effective professional development can improve teaching practices and student achievement. Darling-Hammond and other researchers discuss the elements of effective professional development in their 2017 study published by the Learning Policy Institute.
Lauren Michener, a Learning Coach at 21st Century Cyber Charter School, PA, says she would “continue to learn more about all of the amazing technology out there and help to figure out how we can use it to best support our students” if she had more time.
Attending to Teacher Well-Being: Kimberly Schonert-Reichl’s work confirms the critical importance of teacher well-being for student well-being and achievement.
Increasing Instructional Time: Research shows that increased instructional time is positively correlated with student achievement. For example, a study by Rifkin and Schiman (2015) highlights the benefits of extended learning time for student outcomes.
Developing High-Quality Learning Materials: Effective teaching materials are crucial for student learning. Studies like Chingos and Whitehurst’s (2012) on classroom instruction support the use of high-quality resources.
Danielle O’Haren, a 6th Grade Math Teacher and Technology Liaison at Elizabethtown Area School District in PA, says she would spend time “planning effective instruction and engaging activities and resources for students” if it was available during the day.
Supporting Student Well-Being: In their seminal 2011 meta-analysis, Durlak and other researchers demonstrated the critical impact of addressing students’ social and emotional needs on academic performance.
If Angela Valentine, Learner Support Administrator at Delta County Joint School No. 50/Vision Charter Academy, CO, had more time in her day, she says she “would spend more time working with data. I would especially like to do more analysis to help us identify trends that can be addressed at all Tiers for behavior, attendance, etc.”
Engaging in Mentoring: Research on teacher mentoring programs, such as a study by Ingersoll and Strong (2011) in the Educational Researcher, shows positive effects of mentoring on teaching quality and student achievement.
Collaborating With Peers: A study of 9,000 teachers in Miami-Dade public schools revealed strong positive effects of collaboration on teacher development and student achievement.
Redefining ROI for a Bigger Impact
While financial return on investment matters, a school’s primary purpose is not to preserve revenue for revenue’s sake but to set students up for lifelong success. In this light, extending the ROI conversation beyond dollars to the daily work that a district’s existing funds are and could be committed to is essential.
By viewing revenues and expenditures through lenses of time spent and return on learning, districts can explore new and impactful flexibilities in constrained budgets and position themselves for future savings on academic interventions, teacher turnover, and operational overhead.