Teachers’ time is one of our most precious resources in schools. A teacher’s day is a whirlwind of tightly scheduled tasks, from planning and preparation to delivering instruction and engaging with students.
To craft and implement policies that make the best use of time to support teachers to be effective, we need to look at how districts expect teachers to use their time and how that compares across the country. In this month’s District Trendline, we take a deep dive into NCTQ’s Teacher Contract Database (TCD) to explore requirements on how teachers spend their time. We analyzed and compared the following:
- length of the workday and school year
- required time on campus
- allocated planning time
- instructional time for specific subjects
- time dedicated for professional development
Length of the teacher workday and year
Comparing the workday of teachers to other professions with similar educational requirements can be challenging due to the unique structure of the school day and calendar. Teachers working in districts that are part of NCTQ’s sample1 are contracted to work an average of 191 days2 per year (including both school days with students and days without students).3 There is a broad range across the nation. Tulsa Public Schools (OK) and Anchorage School District (AK) have the shortest contract years at 180 days, while districts in North Carolina require 215 employment days.
Despite the common belief that teachers work less than a standard 8-hour day, most teachers in NCTQ’s sample are contracted to work between 7.5 and 8 hours a day, generally aligning with the conventional 40-hour work week. Over 20% of districts do not address the length of the workday at all. Only six districts require significantly shorter work days of 6.5 hours or less. Stockton Unified School District (CA) has the shortest workday, determining its teachers’ workday based on instructional time. This ranges from just over 4 hours a day for middle school teachers to 4 hours a day for K–6 teachers.4
However, contracted hours often do not reflect the full scope of a teacher’s day. In fact, a 2024 RAND survey found that while 92% of teachers reported that their contract requires 21–40 hours of work a week, 88% reported actually working from 41 to more than 80 hours a week.5
Time on site outside of the school day
Teachers often need to arrive on campus before school starts or stay after it ends for preparation and planning, meetings with parents or fellow faculty, and other school-related activities. But nearly half of districts make no mention of such requirements at all. And in districts that make requirements explicit, district documentation reveals that this time can vary greatly, ranging from as little as 10 minutes to well over an hour.
In districts that clearly define time on site beyond the student day, the most common requirement is 30 minutes or less, often split evenly in 15-minute increments before and after the end of the school day.6 But several districts require significantly less time. For instance, Little Rock School District (AR) requires elementary teachers to be on site just 5 minutes before and 5 minutes after the school day,7 while Los Angeles Unified School District (CA) requires secondary teachers to be on site five minutes before school and 2 minutes after school. On the opposite end of the range, Prince George’s County Public Schools (MD) requires elementary teachers to be on site for 90 minutes8 beyond the school day.
Finally, several districts leave the decision up to district personnel like the superintendent, school board, or principal. For instance, Milwaukee Public Schools (WI) specifies that “the board will determine the length of time teachers must be at school before students arrive and after they depart.”
Time spent on reading, math, social studies, and science
As one may expect, research has shown that increased instructional time generally leads to improved student outcomes.9 In fact, a 2011 OECD report found that about 25% of the variation in test outcomes between countries in reading and math, and 7% in science, could be attributed to how much time students spend learning.10 Despite a general consensus that more time spent learning leads to improved student outcomes, districts vary significantly in how much time they expect teachers to teach four core subjects: reading (ELA), math, social studies, and science.
Our analysis of district documentation, based on a subsample of 86 large districts,11 reveals that many districts provide minimal guidance or do not set requirements on how long teachers should be teaching these four core subjects.12
More districts provide explicit requirements or recommendations for reading13 and math than in other subjects. Forty-five percent of districts provide explicit instructional time requirements or recommendations for reading, which may include a range of times. The remaining 20% merely require “sufficient” time without defining what that means or only broadly reference that reading instruction should be provided.14
Reading requirements vary from a minimum of 150 minutes per week for 3–5th graders in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools (TN) to 900 minutes per week for K–2nd graders in Round Rock ISD (TX). Many districts set a minimum instructional time requirement. For instance, Atlanta Public School’s (GA) PK–12 literacy plan notes that “the daily schedule should provide an opportunity for students to receive at least 120 minutes of literacy instruction.” In math, 34% of districts recommend or require a specific amount of instructional time, with roughly 300 minutes (five hours) per week being the most commonly cited. Still, that leaves 66% of districts with vague or no guidance on time dedicated to math instruction in the documents NCTQ reviewed.
Some districts vary time requirements by grade level. For instance, Anne Arundel County Public Schools (MD) sets mathematics instruction requirements at 300 minutes per week in kindergarten, 325 minutes per week in grades 1–3, and 350 minutes per week in grades 4–5. This strategy is common across all four subject areas.
Districts were far less likely to provide instructional time requirements in social studies or science. In districts that do provide some form of guidance, instructional time varies significantly. In social studies, instructional time ranges from as little as 60 minutes per week in Orange County Public Schools (FL) to as much as 300 minutes per week in Omaha Public Schools (OK). Similar variation appears for science, with instructional time ranging from 60 minutes per week in kindergarten and 1st grade in Miami-Dade County Public Schools (FL) to as much as 300 minutes per week for 4th and 5th graders in Baltimore County Public Schools (MD).
Planning time
For teachers, time allocated for planning is often considered a sacred part of the day. In fact, a recent survey in Arkansas revealed that 85% of teachers view their planning time as important. However, nearly 40% of teachers in that same survey reported not receiving any planning time.
Planning time serves multiple purposes: reviewing curricula, refining lesson plans, finishing paperwork, grading assignments, collaborating with peers, calling parents and families, and numerous other tasks essential to maximizing instructional time when students are in the classroom.
According to the most recent analysis from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), public school teachers receive roughly 53 minutes of planning time per day, or just under 4.5 hours per week. This is slightly greater than the average across the large districts in NCTQ’s sample. In our sample, elementary and secondary teachers have an average of 51 minutes of planning time per day.15 It should be noted that 7% of the districts in our sample don’t provide an explicit amount of time for teacher planning, and 11% don’t mention planning time at all, making calculating an exact figure challenging.
About one-third of the districts in our sample (45) allocate roughly four hours per week for teacher planning time. This amounts to approximately 48 minutes or about one class period per day. This figure remains relatively consistent with the last time NCTQ analyzed teacher planning time in early 2023.
Two districts stand out for providing significantly more planning time, with eight hours per week. The School District of Manatee County (FL) offers both elementary and secondary teachers at least 50 minutes per day for planning during the school day, plus an additional three hours and 45 minutes before or after the student day each week. On the flip side, San Bernardino City Unified School District (CA) provides just 50 minutes of planning time per week for elementary teachers, specified in its contract as 1,720 minutes throughout the year.
While many districts differentiate planning time allotments between elementary and secondary teachers, Fresno Unified School District (CA) has the most significant gap,16 offering eight hours per week for secondary teachers but just four hours for elementary teachers.
Paid leave for professional development
Conversations about paid leave for teachers often spotlight key issues like paid parental leave or sick leave, subjects that NCTQ monitors and reports on frequently. However, there is an often overlooked type of leave that deserves attention: leave for professional development.
Teachers may need short- or longer-term professional learning time spent away from their classrooms for various reasons, including learning new instructional methods, attending conferences, and observing other classrooms to enhance their own practices.
While districts in the TCD generally offer paid leave for professional development, many fail to specify how much time teachers are permitted away from the classroom. Some districts determine eligibility based on the needs of other teachers in the district or school. For example, Boston Public Schools (MA) provides 2,000 paid days annually across the district, which the district’s Career in Teaching Panel allocates to schools by. In contrast, while Hillsborough County Public Schools (FL) does not limit individual teachers’ time for professional leave, it stipulates that approved paid leave is limited to a maximum of 10% of teachers in the same subject area group on any given school day in cases where teachers would need to take leave together.
Over half of districts (52%) offer extended sabbatical or developmental leave, typically available in half-year or full-year increments. Teachers usually receive their full salary for a half-year sabbatical or half their salary for a full year. Most districts also have minimum service requirements before a teacher is eligible to take sabbatical leave, typically ranging from five to seven years. For instance, District of Columbia Public Schools (DC) requires six consecutive years in the district, while Buffalo School District (NY) restricts sabbatical leave to 1% of permanent teachers who have completed at least seven years of service. One unique approach emerges in Montgomery County Public Schools (MD): Teachers with seven years of experience are paid either 50% or 60% of their normal salary during their sabbatical if they agree to two or three years of service upon their return, respectively.17
Only Mobile County Public Schools (AL) and Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VA) explicitly allow for developmental leave but specify that it is unpaid.18
Conclusion
Teachers will likely always face significant demands on their time. Any policy changes that district leaders implement to benefit teachers or students will involve trade-offs. Increasing instructional time might require reducing planning time or extending the workday. Alternatively, increasing planning time could necessitate extending the school year or reducing instructional hours. The reality is that there are countless considerations and potential compromises that district leaders need to carefully weigh. But those conversations should continue to center on teachers and students, particularly if we want to build a profession where students and teachers thrive.
Endnotes
- The sample for this analysis, unless otherwise stated, is drawn from NCTQ’s Teacher Contract Database, consisting of 148 school districts in the United States: the 100 largest districts in the country, the largest district in each state, and the member districts of the Council of Great City Schools.
- NCTQ defines the days in the teacher contract year as the number of days teachers are required to work/report to school, including days both with and without students.
- Calculation includes only districts in the TCD with explicit annual requirements.
- While district documentation provides explicit preparation time requirements for middle and high school teachers, it is unclear how much preparation time, if any, elementary teachers are required to receive. District documentation does note that teachers “who do not have preparation time built into their schedules” are eligible for additional compensation for preparation time that is scheduled outside of the regular workday.
- 76% of surveyed teachers reported working 41–60 hours per week, 9% worked 61–80 hours, and 3% worked over 80 hours.
- When differing expectations are provided for elementary vs. secondary teachers, this analysis defaults to using expectations for elementary teachers.
- Little Rock board policies do provide instances where teachers may have to be on site longer than 5 minutes before or after the school day, such as for collaborative meetings.
- 90 minutes of planning time is calculated by identifying the difference between the student and teacher day length stated in the district’s board policy and may not fully represent requirements on teacher time.
- Yeşil Dağlı, Ü. (2019). Effect of increased instructional time on student achievement. Educational Review, 71(4), 501–517.
- Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2011). Quality time for students: Learning in and out of school.
- NCTQ’s sample of districts consists primarily of the largest districts in the country.
- Note that this is a new area of analysis for NCTQ. Relevant policies may be housed in documents that NCTQ did not review or that districts did not make public.
- For this analysis, reading encompasses instruction related to reading, English language arts, and literacy.
- NCTQ analysts reviewed district documents such as contracts, collective bargaining agreements, school schedules, and more to identify how much instructional time districts recommend or require for core instruction. As such, these figures do not include additional time that may be spent on intervention support.
- Average is calculated using districts where the amount of teacher planning time is explicitly identified. In districts where teachers receive one planning or class period per day, it is assumed to last 50 minutes.
- This information is pulled from Fresno Unified School District’s 2019–22 collective bargaining agreement. Planning time was not addressed in Fresno’s 2023–26 tentative agreement, so we assume this policy is unchanged.
- It is unclear whether teachers receive any salary during their sabbatical if they do not agree to two or three years of service upon their return.
- Virginia Beach does clarify via footnote in its board policies the following: “In exceptional cases where specialized education or training is required to address critical shortage areas or programs as identified by the division, the Superintendent may, with School Board approval, establish a special contract to provide paid academic leave.”