MoreTime,More Learning

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April 2010

Just a few years ago, ClarenceEdwards Middle School inthe Boston neighborhood ofCharlestown, Massachusetts,typified the achievement gap

challenge we face across the UnitedStates. The middle school, which servesstudents in grades 6–8, had low scoreson standardized achievement tests, analarming level of bad behavior, anddwindling enrollment. Now, three yearslater, the school could be a nationalposter child for school improvement.

What changed? The school redesignedits education approach around expandedlearning time.

Much remains the same there. Thestudents still have the sort of demo-graphics that generally overwhelmschools and tend to be concentrated inthe lowest-performing schools—about90 percent of the students qualify forfree or reduced-price lunch, about 90

percent are minority, nearly one-quarterhave limited English proficiency, andalmost one-third are classified as havingspecial needs. The school is still charac-terized by a high degree of studentmobility.

Yet substantial improvements havetaken place. In the past, Edwardsstudents lagged far behind the state aver-ages in their scores on Massachusetts’sstandardized tests. Bear in mind thatMassachusetts is a predominantlysuburban state with the highest NationalAssessment of Educational Progress(NAEP) scores in the United States.Eighth graders at Edwards have nownarrowed that gap by two-thirds inscience and by more than 80 percent inEnglish language arts; they now

score substantially higher than the stateaverages in math.

Failure rates have plummeted acrossthe board, and the percentage of learnersscoring in the highest band of success inmath, advanced, has gone from aboutzero to level with the state average —19percent. Every traditionally challengedsubgroup has shown improvement. Justfour years ago, only 15 percent oflimited English proficient 8th gradersreached proficiency in math; last year,71 percent of this subgroup reachedproficiency, compared with the stateaverage of 12 percent.

The greatest opportunity thatexpanded learning time offers for

More learning time can transform high-poverty schools—but only when schools do it right.

Chris Gabrieli

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improving academic achievement comesfrom being able to better individualizeinstruction—putting the right teacherswith the right students and focusing onthe right skills. The single biggest changein the academic program at Edwards wasadding an hour each day during whichstudents receive small-group instructionand tutoring in the subject in which theylag most. Students receive either Englishor math support in the afternoon, withthe students who are strong in bothsubjects focusing on science during thatslot. In addition, more time has enabledthe school to offer both science andsocial studies four days each week—twice the previous level.

The academic gains are matched bygrowth in opportunities for students toparticipate in enrichment activities. Theschool has a performing arts programthat sends many students to Boston’saudition-based performing arts highschool—the Boston Arts Academy, alsoan expanded learning time school.Edwards is the only Boston middleschool fielding teams in a variety ofsports, including a football team thatplays nearby suburban schools. Andevery 6th grader participates in theCitizen Schools program, which featureselective apprenticeships with suchprofessionals as corporate attorneys andsoftware engineers from Google.

There’s now a sense of positive energy,enthusiasm, and optimism in thebuilding. Students have learned thatthrough hard work, they can excelagainst the odds. But this requires time:Monday through Thursday, students atEdwards start school at 7:20 a.m. andfinish at 4:00 p.m.—that’s close to anine-hour day. On Friday, their dayfinishes at 11:40 a.m.

Given the positive results, every middleschool in Boston has now petitioned tobecome an expanded learning timeschool. And families are interested, too.Just three years ago, only 17 studentspicked Edwards as their first choiceduring Boston’s middle school selection

process. Last year, 250 chose Edwards—there’s now a waiting list to get in.

With President Obama and U.S.Secretary of Education Duncan nowchallenging educators to move beyond aschool schedule and calendar developedfor a farm and factory era, expandedlearning time is moving to center stage.At a time of diminishing resources,American Recovery and ReinvestmentAct (ARRA) stimulus dollars are boostingthe model because the Department ofEducation’s regulations identify“increased learning time” as a core inno-

vation that schools should promote. Butsimply expanding time willy-nilly atschools is not a silver bullet for success.We need to follow the example ofEdwards—and use the time well.

The Emerging FieldFor a long time, expanding learning timewas more a vision than a reality. In 1994,the National Commission on Time andLearning issued a report titled Prisonersof Time, which referred to our currentschedule as a fundamental “design flaw.”The report argued that we needed to gofrom a system where seat time chieflydetermined advancement (that is, timewas fixed) regardless of achievement(that is, outcomes varied widely) to onein which we require that all studentsmeet defined learning levels. Strugglingstudents would need more time;advanced students would require addi-tional challenges.

Charter school laws that emerged inthe early 1990s gave some educationpioneers the chance to create innovativeschools. One celebrated example is theKIPP schools. Graduates of KIPP middle

schools not only show large academictest score gains, but also carry thatmomentum forward into higher rates ofcollege completion. One of the program’sfive core design pillars is an increase inthe school schedule by 60 percent:Students attend school Monday throughFriday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., amonth longer into the summer, andabout 18 Saturday mornings each year.

Two other leading charter manage-ment organizations—Achievement First(www.achievementfirst.org) andUncommon Schools (www.uncommon

schools.org)—also expand time withgood results. Harvard Professor RolandFryer (Dobbie & Fryer, 2009) hasrecently shown that New York City’sHarlem Promise Academies, part ofGeoffrey Canada’s Harlem Children’sZone, drive large gains for participants.By extending the school day and offeringtutoring on Saturdays and in thesummer, the academies provide 50percent more time for all students and100 percent more time for those whostruggle the most.

The most persuasive evidence of theimportance of expanding learning timeto drive academic gains comes fromCaroline Hoxby’s major ongoing studyof all New York City charter schools. Sherecently analyzed 30 different designvariables at these 42 schools—such ascurriculum, approach to discipline,teacher pay structures, and schedules—and found that the feature most convinc-ingly correlated with academic successwas increased learning time (Hoxby,Murarka, & Kang, 2009).

Our organization, the National Centeron Time and Learning, has just

Expanded time schools showhigher academic achievementthan their host districts.

published the first national census ofexpanded time schools (Farbman,2009). We identified 655 such schoolsin 36 U.S. states and the District ofColumbia. These schools add, onaverage, about 25 percent more timeeach year—or the equivalent of threeextra years of school for students whoattend such schools for their entireschool career. Longer days account formost of the time expansion, but 20percent of the schools have lengthenedthe school year as well.

These schools serve the needieststudents in the United States. Studentsin expanded time schools are twice aslikely to be minorities, and two-thirdsare poor. Three-quarters of the schoolsare charters, but the most rapidlygrowing group is in-district conversions.We were heartened to see that theseexpanded time schools show higheracademic achievement than the averagefor their host districts (Farbman, 2009).

ForWhom Shouldthe Expanded Day Bell Toll?The most compelling initial target forexpanding learning time is middle-gradestudents in high-poverty schools. Thenotable success of many expandedlearning time schools at this levelprovides strong encouragement that thisapproach can succeed.

Children in our highest-povertymiddle schools rarely participate inmany programs so familiar to their moreaffluent peers—tutoring, summer insti-tutes, martial arts courses, sciencecamps, sports leagues, and the like—andrarely have strong homework support athome. For these students, schools mustbe muscular enough to get most of thejob done.

Middle school is well documented tobe the level at which students seem todiverge into two groups. One grouptends to be well socialized to school,proficient academically, and on a strongpath to high school graduation; theother group tends to show alienation

from school and become at high riskof dropping out.

Through strong core instructioncombined with individualized support,expanding learning time can ensure thatat-risk students keep up academically;develop attachments to school throughsuch activities as sports, arts, and drama;and develop the beliefs and behaviorsconsistent with success.

Many elementary schools have bene-fited from expanding learning time byboth raising academic achievement andproviding a well-rounded day. Morelearning time could benefit high schoolsas well, but to lesser effect in the contextof the traditional high school structure.There are a number of impressive highschools across the United States that useexpanded learning time, but expandedtime did not drive their conversion.Rather, these schools have radicallyredesigned how they operate, and theyhappen to need and use more time toget the job done.

A Good FitTo succeed, expanded learning time hasto work for teachers, students, parents,and the education system. In general,

teachers agree that they don’t haveenough time to help all students reachtheir academic goals, especially whenstudents are already lagging. Teachersusually welcome the improved pace thatexpanded learning time provides as wellas the opportunity to engage students ina wider variety of instructionalapproaches, including more project-based learning. Teachers’ unions want toensure that established teachers areoffered choice and that they receiveadequate compensation for more time.Charter schools usually recruit with thelonger schedule as part of the plan andsometimes with moderately higheroverall pay.

Students are often initially skepticalwhen they hear about expanded learningtime, especially older students. But oncethey experience it, they typically accom-modate to it quickly as their standardschedule. Many students are pleasedwith the far greater opportunities forenrichment and engagement throughart, music, drama, robotics, sports, andthe like. They also notice that theirteachers have more time to supportthem and that their achievement typi-cally improves.

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Parents often flock to expandedlearning time schools when they areavailable. They usually believe that withmore time, schools can help their chil-dren do better academically; they alsoappreciate the better match betweentheir work schedules and their children’sschool schedules. Affluent parents aremore divided in their reaction to poten-tial expansions of school schedulesbecause they have often already investedtime and money in placing their childrenin structured, supervised out-of-schoolactivities to complement the content andschedule of school.

School districts are often eager toidentify new levers to drive achievementgains in their lowest-performing schools.Their greatest challenges are finding thenecessary funding and accommodatingschools working on a different schedule.Charter schools, which have blazed thepath, face fewer such challenges,although many raise private funding tohelp meet the greater costs.

With a Little Helpfrom Uncle SamIt takes resources and incentives to turnwill into reality. In the final Race to theTop guidelines issue in November 2009,the U.S. Department of Education callsfor time to be “significantly increased”and points to our research—that aminimum of 300 hours per year isnecessary to effect real change. Thedepartment indicates that for schools tosee the greatest improvements, theyneed to fully integrate expandedlearning time and implement a balancedapproach that provides more time forcore academics, for enrichment subjects,and for teachers to collaborate andimprove their craft. This high-bar defini-tion rules out the possibility of schoolsadding only modest amounts of time forsome students and calling it sufficient.

The Department of Education has laidout the acceptable approaches for state,district, and school use of AmericanRecovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

funding to turn around the lowest-performing schools. Of the four alterna-tives defined, two models, turnaroundand transformation, require the use ofincreased learning time. These regulationsbind the new competitive programs—Race to the Top and Investment in Inno-vation (i3)—but also cover the longer-term School Improvement Fund. Thelatter has attracted less fanfare butdeserves more attention: ARRA booststhis fund to $3.5 billion, which will flowto all 50 U.S. states, and as an element ofTitle I it will likely endure well beyondthe life of the stimulus package.

Ten Keys to SuccessIn view of these developments, theincreased learning time movement islikely to spread. The following keys arecrucial to a successful implementation ofexpanded learning time for disadvan-taged students.

Key 1: Schools must allot a sufficientlylarge amount of expanded time.

Modest amounts of increased time willnot help schools reach their goals. In ourexperience, schools need a minimum of300 hours each year—or an additionalone hour and 45 minutes each day—toestablish a balanced program and drivedeep change. Successful expandedlearning time schools range from thosethat offer about 25 percent more time tothose that offer as much as 60 percentmore time (for example, KIPP schools).

Key 2: Schools must fully integrateexpanded time into a redesigned overallschedule.Visitors to expanded learning timeschools often ask, “At what time should Icome to see the expanded time?” Theadditional time, however, is not tackedon to the end of the traditional schedulebut rather is deeply integrated into awholly reenvisioned day. A school couldextend a math or English language artsblock from 45 minutes to 60 or 90minutes; add time every day for socialstudies, science, or physical education;

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add an elective enrichment class in themiddle of the day while core teachers arefreed to collaborate in work groups; orexpand time for lunch and recess.

Key 3: Schools should allocateexpanded time to a balanced program.Although most schools adoptingexpanded learning time want to driveacademic achievement gains, thereshould be a healthy balance between theadded depth allotted to core academicsand the added breadth allotted to restorea well-rounded education. Schoolsshould also strike a balance betweenexpanded time for students to learn andfor teachers to collaborate and improve.

Key 4: Schools must prioritizeand focus expanded time.Although expanded learning time is awelcome opportunity for principals andteachers because it holds the promise ofbenefiting all students, the mostcommon mistake we have seen has beenthe failure to prioritize and focus. Someschools set out to do too many thingsand end up doing none of them verywell. Including too many electives andenrichment opportunities can take awayfrom the core mission of improvingstudent achievement. It is importantnot to substitute a shallow exposure tomany fields for a deeper mastery of oneor two areas.

Key 5: Schools should change theschedule for all students.This does not mean that all studentshave the identical schedule. On thecontrary, expanded learning time allowsfor greater personalization, with studentsgetting the level of intensive support oradded challenge their skill levels dictateas well as the variety of education expe-riences that all children deserve.

Students accept the schedule as a factof life, a crucial feature for middle andhigh school students who are unlikely tovolunteer to stay longer after school.When all students stay, there is no sense

of academic detention for some. Theschool can redesign the whole schedule;some students will be in music at noonwhereas others will be in math at 3:30.Changing the schedule for all studentscommits the whole school to lastinginstitutional change.

Key 6: Schools should engage in aschoolwide planning process.Drawing the faculty and community intothe process of considering whether andhow to expand learning time is animportant opportunity to reinvigorate a

school and gain buy-in from the peoplewho will have to make it work. Whendone well, the process also forces aschool to self-examine and use data todefine strengths and weaknesses. A goodplanning process enables a shift to adata-driven, continuous-improvementculture, which is essential to long-termsuccess.

Key 7: Schools should focus onstrengthening core instructionand personalizing learning.Successful expanded learning timeschools are deeply committed to raisingthe quality of core instruction in everyclassroom through the use of data andcollaborative improvement. In addition,these schools use frequent, well-alignedformative assessments to properly assessindividual students’ strengths and needsand to place students into well-designedinterventions aimed at helping themcatch up. Many successful expandedlearning time schools offer students anextra class each day in the subject inwhich they struggle the most, with class-mates at a similar level and a teacher

who has expertise in this area. Someoffer small or one-on-one tutoringsessions.

Key 8: Schools should offer engagingenrichment and opportunities for bothexposure and mastery.Enrichment opportunities that arestructured as electives, taught by bothteachers and outside partners, andinterspersed throughout the day andyear can engage students who arebecoming increasingly alienated fromschool and who are at risk of dropping

out. Students should have the opportu-nity to experience a wide variety ofactivities and achieve mastery in at leastone of them.

Key 9: Schools should promoteeffective teacher collaborationand professional development.Expanded learning time offers theopportunity to embed considerablymore time for teachers to work togetherby grade or department and focus onspecific instructional strategies that theycan immediately put to use. However, itis easy to squander this time on low-intensity or administrative efforts andmiss the chance to improve instructionaleffectiveness.

Key 10: Schools must change studentand teacher beliefs and behaviors.A growing body of evidence suggeststhat an optimistic belief that hard workwill pay off is crucial to turning aroundour lowest-performing students andschools (see Blackwell, Trzesniewski, &Dweck, 2007). Struggling students fromdisadvantaged backgrounds often need

For children in our highest-povertyschools, schools must be muscularenough to get the job done.

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help seeing that hard work will berewarded with success and that delayinggratification and pursuing long-termgoals are necessary.

Many teachers believe that with moretime, they could succeed with far morestruggling students. Expanded learningtime enables students to do more of thathard work together and with teachersupervision—as opposed to the solonature of homework—and allows moreintentional efforts to build schoolcommunity culture and values.

Not Solely SufficientIf adding time alone were sufficient,every expanded learning time schoolwould be a great success. But not everyexpanded school succeeds. Experienceshows that a cluster of related schoolreforms needs to happen to enable thesort of performance one sees at EdwardsMiddle School or a high-performingKIPP school. At least three other driversare key to success.

First, schools need high levels of humancapital or, in plainer language, a strongprincipal and highly effective teachers.The process of planning for and imple-menting a redesign around more time isan extraordinary leadership opportunityfor a principal who is a true instructionalleader. Well-led schools can recruit andtrain excellent teachers and hone theskills of all incumbent teachers by usingfair evaluation systems to ensure highstandards.

Second, schools need to use data-driven instructional approaches. Althoughmost schools in the United States mightclaim they use such approaches, this hasnot been our experience. Managing indi-vidual students’ instruction on the basis

of objective measures of their progresswhile using broader data to drive thediscussion of how to improve enablesschool faculty to use added time mosteffectively.

Edwards initially used homegrowndata to assess students and matchinstructional supports to their needs.More recently, the school has partneredwith the Achievement Network(www.achievementnetwork.org) toimplement six interim assessments eachyear; the resulting data drive professionaldevelopment. The school credits thispractice with a major surge in its thirdyear in instructional effectiveness inEnglish language arts.

Third, schools need to focus onbuilding high-performance cultures inwhich teachers and students expect tosucceed. Planning for expanded learningtime leads naturally to a healthy discus-sion about the performance goals aschool should pursue. We alsoencourage policies that require an agree-ment on goals between the school andthe district or state. We favor focusingon exit-year proficiency—shouldn’t theschool’s overall goal be to prepare itsgraduates for the next level of educa-tion?—and on including, in addition toacademic goals, measures of studentengagement and commitment.

WhereWe Go From HereThe movement to match learning timeto student needs is still in the earlystages of development. We need to digdown into the specific classroom prac-tices that expanded time enables andfigure out which ones are the most effec-tive and which ones we can most readilyscale up. We need to learn how to better

use the resources of people, time, andmoney. For example, to what extent canwe use staggered start times for teachersand community-based organizations?Although many of the most successfulschools have all teachers at work for allof the expanded schedule, it may bemore cost effective and broadly appli-cable to find ways to vary the approach.

The challenge will be to use the waveof resources from federal ARRA fundingto launch thoughtful, well-targetedexpanded learning time efforts. We needto understand how to use more learningtime well to ensure that the U.S. idealof equal opportunity for all throughexcellent public education becomesthe norm—and not the celebratedexception.

ReferencesBlackwell, L., Trzesniewski, K., & Dweck,

C. S. (2007). Implicit theories of intelli-gence predict achievement across anadolescent transition: A longitudinal studyand an intervention. Child Development,78(1), 246-263.

Dobbie, W., & Fryer, R. G. (2009). Are high-quality schools enough to close the achieve-ment gap? Evidence from a bold social experi-ment in Harlem (Working Paper No.15473). Cambridge, MA: National Bureauof Economic Research.

Farbman, D. A. (2009). Tracking an emergingmovement: A report on expanded time schoolsin America. Boston: National Center onTime and Learning. Available: www.timeandlearning.org/images/12.7.09FinalDatabaseReport.pdf

Hoxby, C. M., Murarka, S., & Kang, J.(2009). How New York City’s charter schoolsaffect achievement. Cambridge, MA: NewYork City Charter Schools EvaluationProject.

Chris Gabrieli is Chairman of theNational Center onTime and Learning(www.timeandlearning.org); AdjunctLecturer at the Harvard Graduate Schoolof Education; and coauthor, withWarrenGoldstein, of Time to Learn: How a NewSchool Schedule Is Making Smarter Kids,Happier Parents, and Safer Neighbor-hoods (Jossey-Bass, 2008); chris@timeandlearning.org.

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Schools should strike a balance betweenexpanded time for students to learn andfor teachers to collaborate and improve.

Reprinted with permission from Educational Leadership, April 2010by the Reprint Outsource, 717-394-7350.

For more information about Educational Leadership, go to www.ascd.org or call 703-578-9600.