More to gain or more to lose?

It’s 3 p.m., and students at the Martin Luther King, Jr. School in Cambridge are still immersed in learning. Some are practicing a foreign tongue in Mandarin Chinese class, some are making strides in reading with extra literacy instruction, and some are discovering new interests in electives such as filmmaking, journalism, or gardening. This is not an elite private school or even a specialized charter school. Rather, it is a public school taking part in an initiative called “Extended Learning Time”, or ELT. The initiative is a collaboration between Massachusetts’ Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Massachusetts 2020, a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding educational opportunities, primarily through an extended school day.

Currently, Massachusetts requires children to be in school 6 hours per day, 180 days per year. This schedule was implemented a hundred years ago to accommodate farm and factory schedules, as children contributed to the economic survival of the family. While our society has morphed into a fast-paced, technologically driven melting pot, the typical school schedule has remained largely unchanged. Jennifer Davis, president of Mass 2020, posits that “Without more time, kids aren’t reaching the standards necessary to succeed in today’s society.” Certainly there have been endless conversations about how to close the achievement gap, how to reduce school dropout rates, and how to better prepare all children for an increasingly competitive global economy. Proponents of ELT say it can address all of those issues and more.

ELT adds about two hours to the school day. Although schools have flexibility in how they structure their day, if they are receiving a grant from the state the extra time must include each of these components: 1) additional academic instruction in core areas (such as math, science, and literacy), 2) enrichment activities (such as music, art, and community service), and 3) additional time for teacher planning and professional development. There are 1,000 schools with ELT across the U.S., but many of them are new charter schools. Massachusetts is the first in the nation to offer existing schools the opportunity to convert to an extended day through state grants, first offered for the ’05-’06 school year. So far, 18 schools in 7 districts have taken the state up on its offer including schools in Fall River, Malden and Worcester. Others have participated in a planning process, with 75 additional schools expected to come on board over the next two years.

Participation in the program is not compulsory for schools; communities must decide whether or not to adopt the longer school day. However, parents with children in ELT schools do not have a choice about whether their child stays for the additional time. Some resent the encroachment on after-school time. Deirdre Heck is a stay-at-home mom of two elementary school-aged boys, living in Chelmsford. She says, “My kids come home exhausted already. They need to just play, ride their bikes. I’m completely against ELT and would homeschool if my school district adopted it.” Amy Correia of Foxboro agrees. Referring to her second grader’s current school schedule, she says, “Six hours is enough. There needs to be time to be a kid. An extended school day would mean very limited family and homework time.”

On the flip side, some parents, teachers, and even kids rave about the new structure. Teachers relish having longer class periods which allows them to do more project-based, hands-on learning activities. They find that students gain a deeper understanding of subjects and can apply the knowledge to the real world. Martha Dewar, a 4th grade teacher, is quoted on the Mass2020 Web site as saying, “In the past, I always wished I had maybe half an hour more for those children who needed the extra help. Now I have that time.”

Preliminary feedback does show an increase in MCAS scores for those schools participating in the program. Schools with academic challenges have priority in receiving state grants, and children deemed at-risk may benefit most from the initiative. While children in wealthy communities regularly participate in music, sports, and many other costly enrichment activities, disadvantaged children on the whole do not. Jennifer Davis would like parents to “think about the investment they’re making to augment their child’s education, and whether all children should have those opportunities.”

ELT schools are encouraged to foster partnerships with community organizations, to incorporate existing after-school programs into the school. While some who work for after-school programs feel threatened, there is an opportunity to find a new model in which they reach more students. Davis of mass2020 comments, “There has been a lot of creativity with the partnerships.” Children in one school use the pool at the YMCA during the school day. Others participate in a gardening program which Little Sprouts brings to the school. Some even gain experience through internships in local businesses. The impact has not been lost on teachers, who reflect on how these types of activities engage the students, and foster an interest in learning.

School reform is necessarily a complex undertaking, with many different strategies and no lack of opinions about which is the right one. There may be significant advantages to the ELT approach, but it is important to consider factors such as parent support, student academic performance, and funding availability. Ultimately, each community must grapple with the issue and decide if it is the best course for their children. 

Suzanne Fesmire Gibbons is a mother and graduate student at Wheelock College, earning her master’s degree in child development.