The Urban Education Task Force recommends that Rhode Island launch an expanded learning time initiative in the five urban school districts and implement it through a partnership between the Governor’s office, RIDE, and appropriate Rhode Island community-based organizations, with targeted technical assistance from the National Center on Time and Learning.

SAMPLE ACTION STEP Stakeholders to be involved in the planning include, but are not limited to: union representatives, principals, teachers, community- based and school-based afterschool and summer programs, and other community partners, including businesses, higher education, parents, youth, legislators and legislative staff, the Governor’s office, and RIDE.

• Implement expanded learning time at demonstration sites selected through a voluntary, competitive proposal process.
  
  
• Ensure that the planning and implementation process is inclusive.
  
  
• Include a series of key design components in the ELT initiative that have been adapted from successful models to the Rhode Island context.
  
  
• Target specific age ranges with appropriate learning opportunities.
  
  
• Implement the ELT initiative at the state level initially by hosting it through a public-private partnership that is governed by a Statewide Expanded Learning Steering Committee, in order to maximize capacity and efficiency and ensure that this initiative is a catalyst for change and not a one-time project. The Task Force recommends that this public-private partnership include the Governor’s office, RIDE’s Office of Middle and High School Reform, and the Rhode Island Afterschool Plus Alliance.
  
  
• Engage the Rhode Island higher-education community in the ELT initiative.
  
  
• Allocate specific roles and responsibilities to the partnering organizations in the public-private management structure according to the functional needs of the ELT initiative.
  
  
• Offer ongoing technical assistance and professional development to both the local participating schools and the Steering Committee to ensure that practice and policy are responsive to best practice.
  
  

The Task Force recommends that a comprehensive evaluation of the ELT initiative be conducted by a highly qualified outside evaluator. The specific outcomes will be defined by the local sites during the planning process, in partnership with the Steering Committee, but will include both academic and youth development outcomes.

Downloads

• Expanded Learning Time Recommendations & Action Steps [PDF: 6 pages]
  Introduction, current work in Rhode Island, recommendations, action steps
  
  
• Expanded Learning Time Supplements [PDF: 9 pages]
  Supporting data, information about the recommendation
  
  
• Executive Summary [PDF: 16 pages]
  Introduction, outline of the recommendations
  
  

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