Time allocated and time spent relative to time needed for learning as determinants for achievement

This investigation evaluated the extent to which spending or allocating less time than needed for learning affects overall achievement and retention of school-related material. The research participants were 171 fourth- and fifth-grade students. Time needed for learning was estimated by determining the number of trials needed to master a reading task to 100 % accuracy. Time spent in learning was designated as the number of self-determined trials chil-dren spent in learning an alternate, equivalent form of the task. Time allocat-ed for learning was systematically reduced for all children on a third alternate task form. The results indicate that spending and/or allocating insufficient learning time have a direct negative effect on achievement. Both degree of initial learning and 1-week retention dropped significantly when children spent or were given fewer trials than needed to learn the experimental task. The findings confirm the importance of these two time variables as determi-nants of school learning. Recently, educational researchers have given increased attention to time variables that are related to school learning. It has been documented that when learning time (time allocated or time spent) is held con-stant on any task, achievement among in-dividual learners varies markedly. In fact, the existence of individual differences in learning is one of the most widely accepted generalizations in education. A major focus of much educational research has been the discernment of factors that contribute to this variation in achievement. Implicit in the-oretical models of schooling (e.g., Bloom