Evaluating Expanded Learning Time � The Quick and the Ed

Evaluating Expanded Learning Time � The Quick and the Ed

Evaluating Expanded Learning Time

by Elena Silva

We know, we know…American kids are falling behind each other and other nations because we’re stuck with an outdated “agrarian” school calendar. President Obama and Secretary Duncan have both made public statements about the need to modernize school schedules, and over the past several years states and districts have been steadily moving toward a new phase of school time experiments (the 1990s saw a similar spate of time reform after 1982’s A Nation at Risk called for extending school from the average 180 to 200 days and then the National Education Commission on Time and Learning put out recommendations in the early 90s for time reform). Year-round or “modified” calendars are now back in the news, and extended school days and years, including a wide range of alternative start and stop times, have been proposed and implemented by schools and districts around the country.
Massachusetts’ Expanded Learning Time initiative, established in 2005, has been the best signal that today’s time reform efforts might have some staying power. The state supported initiative has been growing annually, more than doubling school and district participation. Its creator, the nonprofit advocacy group Mass2020, just-released its 2010 progress report touting the ELT initiative’s successes. The ELT model, says the report,

QUICK Hits

by Forrest Hinton

Quick Hits is a short compilation of question-raising news stories, blog posts, and video clips that Education Sector team members are reading and viewing each day.

• Taking summer school courses while sitting by the pool? Virtual learning comes to Chicago schools. (Chicago Sun-Times)
• Why do graduates wear those ridiculous-looking robes? (Slate)
• Is the U.S. headed for a gross mismatch between educational training and labor market demand? (Inside Higher Ed)
• What’s the latest development in federal edujobs money? (Politics K-12)