More Education Plays

Because our society is growing increasingly complex and our economy ever more global, young people need a wide range of knowledge in the core academic subjects, including reading, math, science, and social studies, while developing an unprecedented array of skills in computers and technology, problem-solving and critical thinking, written and oral communication, and teamwork. Yet in many schools, we continue to prepare our children for the challenges of the 21st century with a 19th-century approach to education. While it is true that most states have now adopted higher standards of learning, the basic structure of schools has not changed: schools are forced to squeeze an expanded curriculum into just 180 six-hour days, leaving teachers little time to help students explore, experience, and master material. On the flip side, the focus on standards and tests, along with funding limitations, have also meant that many of the activities that can engage children in learning and broaden their skills (e.g. arts, music, sports) have been reduced or eliminated. As the National Commission on Time and Learning declared eloquently in 1994, "Learning in America is a prisoner of time.... The boundaries of student growth are defined by schedules for bells, buses and vacations instead of standards for students and learning."

But now, several urban school districts around the nation, as well as one state, are finding ways to break free from this "prison of time" and provide schools significantly more time to broaden and deepen teaching and learning. What makes these innovations different from the more traditional approach to extending learning time (e.g., remedial tutoring or summer school) is that the additional time is for all students in the schools, thus allowing a more comprehensive redesign to take place. Taking a page from charter schools, where a significant majority operate on a longer day and/or year schedule, leaders of these schools and districts are becoming more realistic about what it takes to enable all students to reach high standards. Such efforts require incentives for teachers and school leaders; a willingness to act boldly, but reasonably, within an institution that often resists change; and a commitment from policymakers to stick with this innovation, as school reforms often take several years to bear fruit.

"The extra time in the classroom is already proving to be a plus. We need to continue to produce competitive students who can hold their own internationally in areas such as math and physics. While we don't need to reinvent the educational wheel, increased learning time will further assist today's students to become tomorrow's leaders." -- State Rep. Barry Finegold, Massachusetts

At the State Level

In Massachusetts, a unique partnership between legislative leaders, a nonprofit education organization, Massachusetts 2020, and the State Department of Education had led to an ambitious initiative to significantly expand learning time for all students in a subset of schools. The "School Redesign: Expanded Learning Time to Support Student Success" Initiative began in 2005-2006 as 16 districts underwent a planning process to explore if and how they could convert existing schools to a schedule that was 30 percent longer for all students. Five districts, covering 10 schools, were able to successfully navigate this planning process and craft new provisions in the teachers' contract to fairly compensate teachers for the additional hours. (The funding to pay for the higher teacher salaries, as well as other costs associated with the expanded hours, come entirely from the state at $1,300 per student.) But more than just adding time, this initiative required schools to undertake a wholesale redesign of their educational program. At base, the ELT initiative forced educators to ask the question: "What should we be doing to best educate our students?" As a result, many of the schools significantly expanded class time for math, reading, and science, allowing for a more consistent integration of project-based learning and a deeper exploration of curriculum. In addition, schools offer a choice of enrichment classes to every student, and designated periods for individualized instruction.

Led by Democratic legislators, including former Senate President Robert Travaglini, House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, and Senator Robert Antonioni and Representative Patricia Haddad, co-chairs of the Joint Committee on Education, the Massachusetts Legislature allocated $6.5 million to the initiative in FY 2007, enabling all 10 schools -- serving a total of 4,700 students -- to become the first cohort of this statewide initiative to expand learning time. In the fall of 2006, another 84 schools across 29 districts were awarded a planning grant for the purpose of opening ELT schools in September 2007 and/or September 2008. Massachusetts 2020, which helped to drive the design and implementation of this policy, has provided and will continue to provide technical assistance to the districts and schools undergoing the conversion to a longer school day. In addition, a national evaluation firm has been contracted by the Massachusetts Department of Education to track the impact of the initiative.

At the School District Level

One key local authority innovator is Miami/Dade, Fla., the fourth largest school district in the country. Serving over 350,000 students across nearly 370 schools, this district, like most urban districts, struggles to ensure that all children receive a quality education and achieve high standards. When Superintendent Rudy Crew, the American Association of School Administrators 2008 National Superintendent of the Year recipient, came to the district in summer 2004, he decided to focus his most intense attention on chronically underperforming schools. To enable their improvement, Crew actually created a mini school district of 39 schools (20 elementary, 11 middle, and eight high schools) where the schools would be given "intensive care" to help lift student achievement. Dubbed the "School Improvement Zone," one of the core structural changes was to lengthen the school day by an hour and the school year by 10 days. This extra time is used to integrate intensive reading tutoring and test prep for struggling students. For working more hours and to help encourage teacher retention, teachers are paid 20 percent more and given intensive professional development.

The new superintendent of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, Mark Roosevelt, has developed a similar program in his district. Starting this school year, eight Accelerated Learning Academies (ALA) have implemented "an innovative enhanced school model that has a proven record of success." Again, one of the core changes to these schools has been lengthening the day for at least 45 minutes to allow for more instruction time in literacy, math, and science and to add 10 days to the school year. All told, students attending an ALA school for grades K-5 will experience 1.2 more years of school than peers attending a conventional Pittsburgh school.

For Additional Information

National Center on Time and Learning
http://www.timeandlearning.org/

Miami Dade School Improvement Zone
http://thezone.dadeschools.net/

Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time Initiative
http://finance1.doe.mass.edu/Grants/grants07/rfp/226.html

Center for American Progress Case Study on Massachusetts's Expanded Learning Time Initiative
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/
2007/01/massachusetts.html

National Commission on Time and Learning Report, "Prisoners of Time"
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/PrisonersOfTime/index.html

Massachusetts 2020's planning guide to becoming an Expanded Learning Time School
http://www.mass2020.org/toolkit/homepage.html

Time for a Change: The Promise of Extended Time Schools for Promoting Student Achievement
http://www.mass2020.org/full_report.pdf

"Failing Schools See a Solution in Longer Day,"
By Diana Jean Schemo, N.Y. Times, March 26, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/26/us/26schoolday.html?
ex=1332561600&en=9e82c4bf9a3be6a2&ei=5088
&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

"Overdue: Extended School Years,"
By David Boling, ArkansasBusiness.com, January 22, 2007
http://www.arkansasbusiness.com/
article.aspx?aID=96805.38299.108929

"World-class Learning,"
By David Boling, Arkansas Democrat Gazette, August 28, 2006
http://www.dlc.org/documents/Ark_Dem_Gazette_oped.pdf

Contacts

Lise Zeig
Administrator, School and District Intervention
Mass. Department of Education
350 Main Street, 5th Floor
Malden, MA 02148
(781) 338-3516

Ben Lummis
Policy Director
Massachusetts 2020
One Beacon St., 34th Floor
Boston, MA 02108
(617) 378-3924

Diana L. Taub
District Supervisor -- Miami Dade Schools
School Improvement Zone
(305) 995-1861

Patricia Fisher
Manager
Accelerated Learning Academies/K-8 Schools
Pittsburgh Public Schools
(412) 622-3703

Jason Newman
State and Local Policy Director
Democratic Leadership Council
600 Pennsylvania Ave., SE
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20003
(202) 546-0007
jnewman@dlc.org