Over the year, we’ve seen districts expand their learning time in big ways and small. Conversations have started in states – Iowa and North Carolina – and with leadership from Governor Cuomo, a new ELT Initiative is beginning in New York. Five states announced that they are joining an initiative to develop high-quality, sustainable models of expanded learning time schools. We’re seeing more and better learning time become weaved throughout strategies for school turnaround and transformation. All in all, it’s been a year of progress and momentum.

Through all of that, I will say that the best moment of the past year for me came when we launched Time to Succeed Massachusetts at the Massachusetts State House. Governor Deval Patrick spoke as did Representative Alice Peisch and Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, Co-Chairs of the Legislature’s Education Committee – all TSC-MA Signatories. They were eloquent about the need for expanded learning time for students across the Commonwealth, but the person who stole the show was a young woman named Krystal. Krystal is now a senior at a Boston high school and was a middle school student at the Edwards Middle School during its first three years as an ELT school. Her honesty, candor, and poise were remarkable as she talked about the impact the redesigned and expanded schedule at the Edwards had on her life – she credited the school with giving her opportunities to shine. The teachers gave her intensive individualized academic support while also exposing her to enrichment opportunities she would not have otherwise had, including apprenticeships. As Krystal prepares to head to a four-year college on a full scholarship, the impact is clear.

I’ve been working on the issue of expanded learning time for the better part of six years. What I’ve learned is that sometimes, in the day-to-day advocacy and policy work, it is easy to lose sight of why we do what we do. But Krystal is why. Krystal is extraordinary, that is for sure, but she will tell you that she is where she is because teachers had the time to help her get here. And she is not alone – there are thousands more Krystals out there. We just need to give teachers the time to teach, reach, and inspire them.

Painting a picture of a “typical” high school dropout is not an easy task. The reasons behind a student’s decision to leave school can vary from specific life events, such as pregnancy or work obligations, to no longer seeing a reason to come to school due to boredom or frustration. One thing we do know is that the dropout crisis disproportionately affects high-poverty communities. Low-income students fail to graduate at five times the rate of middle-income youth and six times that of higher-income youth, according to a recent study by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

So how can schools and communities in these high-poverty areas combat the high number of students dropping out of school? And where does expanded learning time (ELT) connect to preventing school dropouts?
There are strong examples across the country of how completely redesigning the way schools use time allow them to better serve our high-poverty communities. From those examples, a few themes emerge – engaging opportunities, strong school culture and individualized support – and it is clear that these schools are working hard to shed the historical ideologies of what “school” looks like.

Students want to see the connection between school and the real world, and ELT allows schools to be more engaging by offering hands-on, experiential learning. Students also want opportunities to express themselves outside of traditional subjects, and ELT enables schools to have time for subjects such as art, music, and physical education that open students’ minds to new ways of thinking and build different skill sets, such as teamwork, collaboration and leadership.

Secondly, research shows that one distinguishing feature of a high-performing, high-poverty school is its high expectations for student behavior and academic achievement. Redesigning the school day with the help of more time allows schools to establish and maintain a school-wide culture that sticks. Clearly, time allocation is not the only driver affecting school culture, but high-performing ELT schools invest time in their schedules for activities that build a culture of high expectations.

One of my favorite examples of this comes from IDEA College Preparatory Donna (ICP Donna) in Donna, Texas. The Peer Assistance Leader (PAL) Program runs an orientation session for all new students at the beginning of the school year to teach the expectations, values and routines of the school. Each student is paired with a “PAL” with the goal of the program being to ensure that each student persists from year-to-year at ICP Donna. Students are able to provide one another with valuable and unique support, and they also are able to alert the adults if more social or academic support is needed. It is a pretty remarkable program that would take away from critical instructional time if ICP Donna did not have an expanded day and year.

Additionally, for struggling learners, more individualized instruction is the key to helping them stay engaged and motivated. When teachers have the time to review student assessment data and identify problem areas, they are able to individualize instruction based on students’ unique learning needs, recognizing that each student learns at his or her own pace, and that different strategies may work for different students.

With the additional time, ELT teachers report they also are able to foster more nurturing relationships with their students. These types of relationships are crucial in ensuring that students stay in school.

For the more than 1,000 ELT schools across the country that are excelling with additional learning time, time really is one of the game changers. These schools are using more time to foster deeper collaboration among teachers, strengthen instruction, and above all else, create more meaningful opportunities for both students and teachers to build relationships. If we can create meaningful opportunities and make connections that make students want to stay in school, then we – as teachers, parents, advocates – have done our job.

It sounds counterintuitive to say “to combat students from dropping out, keep them in school longer!” But it may be true. Time allows for the reimagining and innovation needed to truly transform schools and student learning. We know that building strong student-teacher relationships and making learning engaging both help students recognize the importance of their education. Now we just need to give more schools additional opportunities to redesign how they make that happen. Time is of the essence.

It is simple and impactful.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend the final planning session with nine school planning teams that are developing plans for implementing Expanded Learning Time (ELT) in the 2013-2014 school year. The teams have participated in six planning sessions over the course of about six months. Yesterday was the culmination of that time and effort: the schools presented their new proposed schedules.

At the end of the day, the facilitator asked all the participants to reflect on the process using the “I used to think…but now I think” protocol. Most of the participants confessed that they used to think ELT wouldn’t work and wasn’t worth the effort or cost, but now [they] think a redesigned school day and year for their students is a necessary step for school improvement and academic enrichment.

One participant, a teacher, said she used to think that the schools low test scores were caused by socio-economic factors and that the challenges facing the school and the students couldn’t be fixed by adding more time. Now, after spending the past few months with her team planning for a redesigned and expanded school schedule, she thinks that more time can be part of the solution and an opportunity for the school to address inequality head on in order to provide a brighter future for their students.

That shift in mindset is powerful! It is a shift from a place of helplessness to a place of hopefulness. And she is right. Education can be an equalizer.
We know that all students have the ability to succeed if they are given the opportunity to do so. Schools have the possibility to, and therefore the obligation to, close the achievement gap. The life experiences often afforded to students from middle and upper income families outside of school (piano lessons, soccer, karate, tutoring, etc.) can be provided to all students through strategic use of time. We know that it is not just more time that makes the difference. It is more time spent well. The planning process that those school teams have gone through will help to ensure that it will be spent well, and that is important. It is just as important, that through the process, mindsets can change to be full of hope and high expectations.

After learning more about ELT, how would you complete, “I used to think…but now I think”?

The first, an interview with Co-Chair Chris Gabrieli on FOX Boston News, showcased the exact naysayer conversation I wrote about last week. Is ELT a solution for all kids and all schools across America? Chris clarifies that by expanding learning time, schools in high-poverty communities are able to close the achievement gap and provide the range of educational and extracurricular opportunities that are often available in-school or out-of-school for students in higher-income communities. Watch the clip here:

                                       
Highlighting that point, the second news segment, this time from NECN goes into the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School in Cambridge, one of the first elementary schools in Massachusetts to implement a longer learning day in 2006. Today, teachers there still feel like the expanded time schedule is working. The segment shows the plethora of courses offered to its students through expanded learning time, including Mandarin Chinese. Check out the opportunities students at MLK enjoy through expanding learning time:

Our mental images of high school—the brick building, the metal lockers, the classrooms where students cycle through 50-minute classes—are so deeply embedded that to see the possibilities afresh, we need a new picture.

Below, we show you what high school learning anytime and anywhere looks like for three theoretical students. Sara has completed most of her credits and is right on track to graduate, but she’s feeling pressure to help support her family. Her flexible, forward-thinking public high school has arranged for her to take a 7 AM class at the Y for which she gets a phys ed credit (one of the places students in New York City often fall behind), and an independent study where she can earn credit for what she learns on the job.

Alex is struggling, but he hasn’t yet dropped out. His high school builds on his love of sports to keep him going, arranging for him to apprentice as a lifeguard while he keeps earning academic credits toward graduation.

Joe’s taken the most advanced academics available at his high school. He touches base at school each day for history class and an advisory, but he’s also taking Algebra on a college campus, and drama criticism with a community arts organization.

In a report we publish today with support from the Ford Foundation, The Pinkerton Foundation and the W.T. Grant Foundation, TASC summarizes what some of the most innovative New York City high schools are doing to personalize education to meet the needs of all students. Based on a strong body of evidence that shows adolescents learn better when learning feels relevant to their aspirations, we lay out a framework for high school improvement that builds on strong partnerships between schools and other institutions. We’re proposing that New York take a cohesive and robust expanded learning approach to high school education by helping students earn credits toward graduation through internships, apprenticeships and other coursework beyond the walls of schools.

Now this is one of my favorite misconceptions about expanding learning time; the belief that expanding learning time is more of the same. The initial push-back to the whole “more school” argument is understandable – to a degree. A typical conversation when telling someone what I do for a living usually goes like this:

Me: “I work for a coalition that advocates for a longer school year and/or day for students living in areas of concentrated poverty.”

Response: “More school?? Are you crazy?!” or my favorite: “Kids must hate you!”

I’ve worked hard on my elevator pitch and it only takes two crucial points to turn naysayers around. First, people need concrete examples of how a school day looks with an expanded learning time schedule. I emphasize the power expanded learning time has in redesigning how we educate students and utilize our community as well as how more time enables students to get more in-depth individualized support and more engaging classes like dance, robotics, science, and P.E. Secondly, expanded learning time isn’t for everyone. This point is critical. You have to remind people that when school is out at 2pm, not all students have the benefit of piano lessons, Girl Scouts, lacrosse practice or private tutoring. Schools have the unique opportunity to be an equalizer in our society, and by expanding learning time, schools in high-poverty communities are able to provide the range of educational and extracurricular opportunities that are often available in-school or out-of-school for students in higher-income communities. And like that, the Aha! moment happens.

The bottom line is that 21st century careers require both a greater depth of knowledge in specific areas and breadth of general knowledge. Critical thinking, problem solving, communication, collaboration, and creativity are some of the major skills critical to success in today’s world. It is simply impossible to meet these demands using the same time parameters established decades ago.

I understand that it is not healthy to work all the time and never play (I saw The Shining after all) but I think when it comes to expanded learning time, the ‘all work and no play’ argument is terribly flawed. As I’ve mentioned on this blog before, we have to shed our historical ideologies of what school is and shift our paradigms. The time parameters used a 100 years ago made sense for Jack back then, but 21st century Jack will no doubt be a dull boy if we refuse to rethink how we use people and time in our schools. And the more naysayers we can bring to that Aha! moment, the better.

This blog post was written by Anne Marie Frassica, a former teacher in the Boston Public Schools, who is currently earning her MBA at Harvard Business School.

Seeing the time problem from a kid’s perspective is important. It is eye opening to see how teachers are forced to marginalize recess, creative subjects, and even math and science. But it’s also important to see the effect of a school’s hours on a teacher’s time. With only 6.5 hours in the day, and no time allotted outside of the school day, teachers in my school get little in the way of professional development, collaborative meeting time, and just plain breathing time.

In turnaround schools in Massachusetts, time for teachers to collaborate, use data to plan interventions, and attend professional development is critical. In a school without turnaround supports such as extra time, teachers have little time for these activities. In my school:

• Teacher teams (by grade level) have only one hour of common planning time per week to discuss curriculum, student progress, etc
• The school’s data team has to meet before school because there is no time during the day
• Professional development occurs once a month for about two hours, after school

Not only do time restrictions mean that teachers don’t have time to be the professionals they want to be, but there are also quite a few requirements that eat into a teacher’s instructional time. For instance, consider some of these influences on my 2012 Kindergarten class’ time last year:

• Parent-teacher meetings (26 meetings @ ½ hour each = 13 hrs lost teaching time)
• Special education meetings (2 meetings twice / year @ ½ hour each = 2 hrs lost teaching time)
• English as a Second Language testing (7 testing groups @ 1 hr each = 7 hrs lost teaching time)
• Reading tests (26 students @ 20 min each, 2 times/yr = 17 hrs lost teaching time)

That’s about 40 hours, or six days of teaching time. All of the above activities are important – testing gives us critical insight into what our students need, parent-teacher meetings are necessary for communication, and special education meetings are required by law. If we want to incorporate data, community, and specialized support into our schools, we need more time.

A lot has changed in 150 years, so why haven’t our schools?

Spring is an exciting time! There is more daylight, and even in the streets here on the East Coast, you can see people moving with more energy. Schools across the country are looking forward and beginning to plan the next steps for the 2013-2014 school year. Legislative sessions are in full swing, and in eleven states, legislation is being considered that would give schools the opportunity, in a variety of ways, to expand learning time.

This might be one of my favorite times of the year. Why do you like spring?

CBS Evening News highlighted an ELT school in Massachusetts, the Matthew J. Kuss Middle School. The piece features interviews with Fall River Superintendent Meg Mayo-Brown, a TSC Signatory, and Kuss teachers. In 2004, the Kuss was the first school in Massachusetts to be deemed “chronically under-performing”. In 2006, the school was one of the first ten pioneering schools to participate in Massachusetts’ statewide Expanded Learning Time Initiative, and it has emerged as a model turnaround school. You can find out more and watch the CBS story here.

The National Center on Time & Learning released a case study on Tumbleweed Elementary School in Palmdale, California, the second in a series on schools leveraging federal School Improvement Grants to spark change and innovation. The profile highlights the dramatic gains in student performance since the school expanded learning time and takes readers inside the school’s turnaround.

The editorial page in Minnesota’s Post-Bulletin made a strong case for why they support expanding learning time in Minnesota schools this week. The newspaper looked at the current planning in Rochester, NY, for expanded learning time and pushed Minnesota leaders to begin exploring expanding learning time.

Michigan State Representative Lisa Posthumus Lyons, Chair of the House Education Committee, wrote an op-ed for The Detroit News about the impact Detroit’s Education Achievement Authority has already had on the bottom five percent of lowest achieving schools. One of the reforms included in the bill is an expanded school day and/or year, and with that and other reforms in place, twenty percent of students have already shown a year’s growth in math and reading since September.

TSC National Director Blair Brown released a statement in support of Oklahoma Senate Bill 268, which passed the state Senate this week. The bill, sponsored by State Senator Gary Stanislawski, would allow schools to add five days to the school year. The legislation now moves to the House for debate.

However, with a national ranking of 44th in education according to the 16th edition of Education Week’s Quality Counts annual report, the state is not using funding as an excuse to accept the status quo!

Last week, the Arizona House passed a bill that would increase funding for districts, charter networks and individual schools that expand the school year by 20 days. The current statute allows only districts to apply for the funding so this bill is both increasing funding and enabling more schools to become eligible. The original legislation proposed enabling funding for all individual schools who want to move forward with expanding their school year; however, an amendment by Rep. John Kavanagh (R) would prioritize schools labeled as “D” or “F”.

Given Arizona’s tight budget, the amendment makes fiscal sense while also ensuring that the students who need the additional time most have that opportunity. From our experience, allowing ‘ under-performing’ schools to expand their learning time, while also undertaking other reforms, can lead to powerful results. This weekend, CBS Evening News highlighted an ELT school in Massachusetts, the Matthew J. Kuss Middle School. The piece features interviews with teachers and Fall River Superintendent Meg Mayo-Brown, a TSC Signatory. In 2004, the Kuss was the first school in Massachusetts to be deemed “chronically under-performing ” In 2006, the school was one of the first ten pioneering schools to participate in Massachusetts’ statewide Expanded Learning Time Initiative, and it has emerged as a model turnaround school. With a school day that is 90 minutes longer compared to the national average, Kuss students receive 300 hours of additional learning time a year. With the extra time, the school doubles core subjects without having to sacrifice a well-rounded education. And the expanded school schedule is working. You can find out more and watch the CBS story here.

While I would love to see every student in every high-poverty community receive the benefits of expanded learning time, when life hands you lemons, make lemonade! And that is what we are seeing in Arizona. With the funding cuts, they are shifting their expectations, but still providing more opportunities for their students in some of the highest-needs schools.