The Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time Initiative

The Entry Point to a Smart Education System

A public/private partnership between the state department of education and an intermediary organization that supports schools, with the help of community providers, offers academic and enrichment opportunities in an expanded school day to improve student performance and increase engagement.

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In 2005, the state legislature approved $500,000 to provide planning grants of at least $25,000 to twenty-five schools in sixteen districts, and in April 2006, implementation plans were approved for seventeen schools in eight districts. Of these, five districts were able to negotiate labor agreements, and the state legislature provided $6.5 million to support ELT in ten schools in these five districts at $1,300 per student. The following year, nine additional schools received implementation grants, and funding for the program increased to $13 million in 2007-08. For the 2008-2009 year, the legislature approved $17.5 million for ELT bringing the number of schools funded to 26 in 12 districts serving 13,500 students.

A key component of a district’s success with ELT is the involvement of multiple stakeholders from the outset. Each district receiving a planning grant must form a task force of teachers, parents, principals, and community leaders to explore ELT and submit a proposal to increase learning time by 25 percent to 30 percent, or at least 300 hours per year. The specific features of ELT look different at each school, but in all schools, the additional time is mandatory for all students and is used not simply for “add-ons,” but rather the entire school day is restructured to provide enhanced instruction in core academics via hands-on instruction, project-based learning, enrichment courses, individualized instruction, and time for teacher planning and professional development.

ELT has seen promising results. The ten schools that initially implemented the program in 2006-07 made greater gains in proficiency on the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) than they had in previous years. ELT schools also narrowed their achievement gap with the state in English language arts by more than seven points. And according to surveys conducted by Massachusetts 2020, 77 percent of parents and 70 percent of teachers have noticed a positive impact on students since ELT was implemented. Proficiency gains in the 10 ELT schools showed a 44% increases in math, 19% increases in science and 39% increases in ELA. The comparisons were 2007 MCAS scores vs. 2002-2006 average. The achievement gap between students in ELT schools in English Language Arts and students across the state shrunk by 35% in one year.

On August 1, 2008 Senator Ted Kennedy and his Senate colleagues introduced the Time for Innovation Matters in Education (TIME) Act, a proposal that would provide funding to other states to implement the Massachusetts ELT model. A similar proposal is also pending in the House of Representatives.

ELT in Action

The Clarence R. Edwards Middle School, located in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, was one of the first to implement ELT. After failing to make adequate yearly progress for several years, Edwards faced the possibility of state takeover and chose to use ELT as its restructuring plan. Now the school operates from 7:20 am until 4:15 pm Monday through Thursday; students are dismissed at 11:40 am on Fridays. Expanded time features extra instruction in core academic subjects and electives including a variety of sports, karate, cooking, Latin and jazz dance, musical theater, robotics, and music production.

Community partners help support the elective portion of Edwards’ expanded day. A major partner is Citizen Schools, a national nonprofit that runs experiential education programs in thirty-six urban schools in six states. The Citizen Schools model includes hands-on “apprenticeships” taught by community volunteers. At Edwards, all sixth grade students choose two apprenticeships each semester, each running for two hours a week for eleven weeks. They also learn “school navigation”--organization and study skills--and participate in Second Step, a violence prevention program.

As a result of these efforts, Edwards made AYP in math and English in 2006-07 and saw sharp increases in student performance on the MCAS. And the increases in student achievement and engagement also encouraged more teachers to take part in the expanded day.

Work with the Annenberg Institute for School Reform

Leaders from Massachusetts 2020, the Edwards School, and Citizen Schools participated in the 2008 Emerging Knowledge Forum. The panel led a discussion of ELT and its implications for building smart education systems in other communities, and panel members participated in discussions of measuring a broad set of outcomes and the challenges of scaling up.