Minimum amount of instructional time per year and policies on textbooks, by state: Selected years, 2000 through 2023

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Table 234.20.Minimum amount of instructional time per year and policies on textbooks, by state: Selected years, 2000 through 2023
State	Minimum amount of instructional time per year												Policies on textbooks, 2022
	In days											In hours	Textbook selection level
	2000		2006	2011		2014		2020		2023		2023	State		Local education agency
1	2		3	4		5		6		7		8	9		10
Alabama	175		175	180		180	¹	180	¹	180	^1,2	1,080	X
Alaska	180		180	170	³	180	⁴	180	¹	180	^1,4	740 (K-3); 900 (4-12)			X
Arizona	---		180	180	¹	180	¹	180	^1,5	180	¹	712⁵ (1-3); 890⁵ (4-8); 720⁵ (9-12)			X
Arkansas	178		178	178	³	178	⁴	[⁶]		[⁶]		1,068			X
California	175		180	180/175	⁷	180/175	⁷	180	⁸	180		600 (K); 840 (1-3); 900 (4-8); 1,080 (9-12)	X	⁹	X
Colorado	[¹⁰]		160	160		160		160		160	⁴	450/900 (K); 990 (1-5); 1,080 (6-12)			X
Connecticut	180		180	180		180		180		180		450/900 (K); 900 (1-12)			X
Delaware	[¹⁰]		†	†		†		†		[¹⁰]		1,060¹¹ (K-11); 1,032¹¹ (12)			X
District of Columbia	180	¹²	180	178		180		180		180		[¹⁰]	X
Florida	180		180	180		180		180	¹	180	¹	720 (K-3); 900 (4-12)	X
Georgia	180	¹²	180	180		180		180	^1,13	180	^1,4,13,14	[¹⁰]	X
Hawaii	184		179	180	¹⁵	180	¹⁵	180	^3,15	180	^3,15	1,080^15,16 (1-12)	X	¹⁷	X
Idaho	180		†	†		†		[¹⁰]		[¹⁰]		450 (K); 810 (1-3); 900 (4-8); 990 (9-11); 979 (12)	X
Illinois	180	¹⁸	176	176		180	⁴	185	¹⁹	185	¹⁹	[¹⁰]			X
Indiana	180		180	180		180		180		180		[¹⁰]			X
Iowa	180		180	180		180		180		180		1,080			X
Kansas	186		186 (K-11); 181 (12)	186 (K-11); 181 (12)		186 (K-11); 181 (12)		186 (1-11); 181 (12)		186 (1-11); 181 (12)	²⁰	465 (K); 1,116 (1-11); 1,086 (12)			X
Kentucky	175		175	175	³	170	³	170	⁴	170	²¹	1,062	X
Louisiana	175		177	177	³	177	^3,22	177	¹	177	¹	1,062			X
Maine	175		175	175	³	175	³	180	²²	180	^4,22	[¹⁰]			X
Maryland	180		180	180		180		180		180		1,080; 1,170 (Public high)			X
Massachusetts	180		180	180		180		180	²²	180	^14,22,23	425 (K); 900 (1-5); 990 (6-12)			X
Michigan	180		†	165		175		180		180	²⁴	1,098			X
Minnesota	[¹⁰]		[¹⁰]	†		†		165 (1-11)		165 (1-11)		425/850 (K); 935 (1-6); 1,020 (7-12)			X
Mississippi	180		180	180		180		180		180		[¹⁰]	X
Missouri	174		174	174/142	²⁵	174/142	²⁵	†		†		522 (K); 1,044 (1-12)			X
Montana	180		90 (K); 180 (K-12)	†		†		[¹⁰]		[¹⁰]		360/720³ (K); 720³ (1-3); 1,080^3,22 (4-12)			X
Nebraska	[¹⁰]		†	†		†		†		[¹⁰]		400²⁰ (K); 1,032²⁰ (1-8); 1,080²⁰ (9-12)			X
Nevada	180		180	180		180		180		180	^2,4	[¹⁰]	X
New Hampshire	180		180	180		180		180	^1,22	180	^1,2,22	450 (K); 945 (Elementary); 990 (Middle and high)			X
New Jersey	180		180	180		180		180		180		[¹⁰]			X
New Mexico	180		180	180		†		†		[¹⁰]		450/990^4,20 (K); 990^4,20 (1-6); 1,080^4,20 (7-12)	X
New York	180	¹²	180	180		180		180		180		450/900 (K); 900 (1-6); 990 (7-12)			X
North Carolina	180		180	180		185		185	¹	185	¹	1,025	X
North Dakota	173		173	175	³	175	³	†		[¹⁰]		481.21/962.5^4,21 (K); 962.5^4,21 (1-5); 1,050^4,21 (6-12)			X
Ohio	182		182	182	⁴	†		[¹⁰]		[¹⁰]		450/910^4,20 (K); 910^4,20 (1-6); 1,001^4,20 (7-12)			X
Oklahoma	180		180	180	⁴	180		180	^1,4	180	^1,21,26	1080^4,26	X
Oregon	[¹⁰]		†	†		†		†		[¹⁰]		450/900^4,20 (K); 900^4,20 (1-8); 990⁴ (9-11); 966⁴ (12)	X
Pennsylvania	180		180	180		180		180	¹	180		450 (K); 900 (1-6); 990 (7-12)			X
Rhode Island	180		180	180		180		180	¹	180	^1,2,22	1,080			X
South Carolina	180		180	180	³	180	³	180	⁴	180	^4,21	[¹⁰]	X
South Dakota	---		†	†		†		[¹⁰]		[¹⁰]		437.5⁴ (K); 875^4,14 (1-5); 962.5^4,14,22 (6-12)			X
Tennessee	180		180	180	³	180	³	180	⁴	180	⁴	[¹⁰]	X
Texas	187		180	180		180		†		[¹⁰]		1260¹⁶	X
Utah	180		180	180		180		180		180		990	X
Vermont	175		175	175		175		175	⁴	175		[¹⁰]			X
Virginia	180		180	180		180		180	¹	180		990	X
Washington	180	¹⁸	180	180		180		180	²⁷	180	²⁷	450 (K); 1,000 (1-8); 1,080 (9-12)			X
West Virginia	180		180	180		180		180		180		[¹⁰]	X
Wisconsin	180		180	180		†		†		[¹⁰]		437²⁰ (K); 1,050²⁰ (1-6); 1,137²⁰ (7-12)			X
Wyoming	175		175	180		175		175		175		450 (K); 900 (Elementary); 950 (Middle/junior high); 1,000 (High)			X
---Not available.
†Not applicable.
X Denotes that the state has a policy. A blank denotes that the state does not have a policy.
¹Or an equivalent number of days, hours, or minutes of instruction per year.
²Allows for adjustments in extreme circumstances such as natural occurences, health-related occurences, or other extenuating circumstances that result in the cancellation of an instructional day. In New Hampshire, 60 additional hours must be scheduled to provide for instructional time lost.
³Does not include time for in-service or staff development or parent-teacher conferences.
⁴Includes limited time for in-service, staff development or parent-teacher conferences.
⁵Instructional hour requirement includes lunch.
⁶The Standards for Accreditation of Arkansas provide school districts with a choice of school calendar options.
⁷Districts were allowed to shorten the 180-day instructional year to 175 days without fiscal penalty.
⁸Select districts are required to have 175 days.
⁹Statewide textbook adoption is only at the elementary level. Secondary textbooks are chosen by local governing boards. Adoption practices were suspended until the 2015–16 school year.
¹⁰No statewide policy; varies by district/city/school board.
¹¹Number of hours in a school day for grades K-12 is required to be at least 3.5, exclusive of lunch.
¹²1996 data.
¹³Testing, counseling, and health screenings are considered instructional time.
¹⁴Passing time between classes, recess, and lunch periods are not included. In Massachusetts nondirected study periods, school services, and optional school programs are not included.
¹⁵Does not apply to charter and multitrack schools.
¹⁶All times that students are on campus count toward the hour requirement.
¹⁷The state of Hawaii comprises a single school district.
¹⁸1998 data.
¹⁹Designed to ensure 176 days of student attendance.
²⁰Lunchtime is excluded from instructional time. Recess and passing time may be counted. In Ohio, morning and afternoon recess periods of not more than 15 minutes for K-6 are included. In Oregon, recess may count toward instructional time through grade 3.
²¹Must include a specific number of professional development days.
²²Instructional time for graduating seniors may be reduced.
²³Must schedule at least 185 days.
²⁴Time during which there is no pupil instruction because of strikes or teachers' conferences are not included.
²⁵174 days required for a 5-day week; 142 days required for a 4-day week.
²⁶Beginning in the 2021-22 school year, the minimum hours must be met within 165 days of instruction.
²⁷180 half-days for kindergarten.
NOTE: Minimum number of instructional days refers to the actual number of days that pupils have contact with a teacher. Some states allow for different types of school calendars by setting instructional time in both days and hours, while others use only days or only hours. For states in which the number of days or hours varies by grade, the relevant grade(s) appear in parentheses. For states that specify minimum hours both for part-day kindergarten and for full-day kindergarten, a slash separates the part-day hours from the full-day hours.
SOURCE: Council of Chief State School Officers, Key State Education Policies on PK-12 Education, 2000 and 2006; Education Commission of the States, StateNotes, Number of Instructional Days/Hours in the School Year (August 2011 and October 2014 revisions), retrieved September 22, 2011, from http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/95/05/9505.pdf and May 19, 2015, from http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/01/15/05/11505.pdf; Instructional Time Policies: What is the State's Requirement for Minimum Number of Days or Hours/Minutes in a School Year?, 2020 and 2023, retrieved April 7, 2021, from https://www.ecs.org/50-state-comparison-instructional-time-policies/ and June 13, 2023, from https://reports.ecs.org/comparisons/instructional-time-policies-2023-01; Textbook Adoption Policies (January 2022), retrieved June 22, 2023 from https://www.ecs.org/wp-content/uploads/State-Information-Request_Textbook-Adoption-Policies.pdf; and supplemental information retrieved from various state websites. (This table was prepared June 2023.)

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