Even though schools across California offer similar amounts of instructional time each week, and instructional days during the school year, students in high poverty schools get far less time for actual learning.

That is a principal finding of a report issued today by the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education and Access, titled “It’s About Time: Learning Time and Educational Opportunity in California High Schools.”

The report is notable because it looks at numerous factors that affect the amount of instructional time a student is able to receive – and then contrasts how those factors affect schools with large numbers of low-income students compared to those with few low-income students.

High poverty schools were defined as those where 75 to 100 percent of students receive free and reduced price meals, while a low poverty school is one where 25 percent or fewer students qualified for the federal meals program.

Co-authored by John Rogers and Nicole Mirra of the UCLA Graduate School of Education, the report was based on a survey of 800 teachers at nearly 200 high schools across California.

Read the full story on EdSource Today.