OSSE Ed Digest
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Vol. 5, Issue 2
February 2008
Bringing urban P-16 education resources to policymakers, parents, advocates, and district and school staff in the District of Columbia
Research on DC Schools
National Lessons Learned
New Ideas
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education does not endorse the views expressed in the resources and reports contained in the OSSE Ed Digest.
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“The structure of the day for American children youth is more than time worn…It is obsolete”
--Dr. Vincent L. Ferrandino, Executive Director, National Association of Elementary School Principals, Chair, Time, Learning, and Afterschool Taskforce
The traditional calendar upon which most PK-12 schools currently operate was created in the nineteenth-century to accommodate the needs of a largely agrarian society. Today, in an era of increasingly high standards, and educational accountability, the average 180-day calendar no longer meets the needs of American students. With students in the United States in school 13 days less than the international average, we are also not meeting the requirement to ensure that our students are internationally competitive. As we seek to compete in global markets, our students lack the preparation and skills necessary for the 21st century workforce. The designs of our schools, including the amount of time children spend in them, must, therefore adapt to provide students with richer and more intense learning opportunities.
This issue of the OSSE Ed Digest presents a range of research and information on expanded learning opportunities (ELOs) and out-of-school time initiatives. This issue is especially relevant at this time as the District seeks innovative ideas and designs to improve its schools and organizations such as the Center for American Progress are advocating expanded learning time options on Capitol Hill. ELO advocacy groups have developed a federal legislative proposal to expand learning time and the Expanded Learning Time and School Redesign demonstration program has been included in the House No Child Left Behind (NCLB) discussion draft.
Resources
Articles
Reports
Resources
Articles
New York Times: Failing Schools See a Solution in Longer Day (March 26, 2007)
Reports
The FBI reports that the lack of structured and supervised after-school programs in American communities contributes to a higher incidence of drug and alcohol use, and delinquent or criminal behaviors. After-school programs provide an ideal time to reinforce learning gains, provide enrichment opportunities and supplement the academic curriculum offered at school – and over 90% of Americans see value in after-school programs. This report – meant to assist municipal leaders – examines the efforts of eight cities that participated in a 30-month effort to improve quality and increase the availability of after-school programs. The report discusses their accomplishments, lessons they learned and recommendations for other municipal officials embarking on this work.
This report presents data on participation in after-school activities and programs in the United States. After-school programs and activities addressed include information about student participation in care arrangements in private homes with relatives and with care providers not related to them, participation in school-based or center-based after-school programs, participation in after-school activities that were not part of a school- or center-based program and self-care.
A crescendo of support from education researchers, analysts, reform advocates, and lawmakers about the need for additional learning time for our nation’s under-performing students may well result in the coming months in meaningful reform. The expansion of learning time can serve as one effective vehicle to modernize our schools because it allows teachers, principals, community organizations and leaders, and parents to build multiple curriculums to best educate our children to succeed in the 21st century. Expanded learning time turns dissatisfaction with the limitations of the current six-hour, 180-day school year into a proactive strategy that will create a new school structure for children. Making more and better use of learning time by lengthening the school day, week, or year doesn’t just change what happens between the hours of 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Expanding learning time changes what happens from 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and often encompasses additional days in the school calendar throughout the year to accelerate student learning and development. In short, expanding time for learning will revolutionize the way we teach our children. To navigate through this forthcoming and thorough-going school reform effort, this paper will define what expanded learning time means, highlight what model programs look like when used effectively, and address how to successfully implement such reform efforts. As will become clear, expanded learning time is all about using time in ways that greatly benefit our students.
High-quality extended learning and development opportunities can positively impact student achievement and other developmental outcomes. This policy statement advances a broad vision of extended learning opportunities (ELOs) that includes diverse strategies designed to extend and expand the time that our nation’s children and youth spend engaged in enriching learning experiences. The statement posits that ELOs are one vital component within a range of supports and services that should be part of a highly effective system of education. Moreover, it advances the notion that high-quality ELOs are a vehicle for rethinking the time and learning continuum; a necessary element in ensuring that all students have sufficient time to develop the 21st century skills and competencies essential for lifelong success. The policy statement affirms the critical role that state education agencies play in implementing, sustaining, and ensuring student access to high-quality extended learning opportunities and includes a diverse range of policy recommendations that are intended to advance state-level discussions focused on increasing and improving student access to high-quality extended learning opportunities outside of the regular school day.
In Washington, DC and around the country, out-of-school time programs have become increasingly important because of their potential to enrich the lives of children and youth. With greater attention given to out-of-school time programs, there has been a growing movement to raise their quality and effectiveness. With input from a wide range of community stakeholders, the DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation (Trust) has been the lead organization on a project to develop and implement quality standards for out-of-school time programming in the District of Columbia. This report — its first and most formal presentation – is a concerted and strategic effort to encourage meaningful dialogue on the Standards’ fundamental role in out-of school time programs in the District of Columbia. While the Standards presented in this document are primarily intended for community-based organizations, they also provide useful information to parents, teachers, school administrators, and funders seeking to understand the components of a high quality after-school program. The Standards are divided into two major categories: Organizational Standards and Program Standards. The Organizational Standards address human relationships, the indoor and outdoor environment, community development, safety, health and nutrition, and administration. The Program Standards address program activities and program areas related to cognitive development, recreation, workforce development, artistic development, civic development, and open time.
This longitudinal study evaluated after-school program (ASP) participation and the development of academic performance (school grades, reading achievement) and teacher-rated motivational attributes (expectancy of success, effectance motivation) over a school year. Participants were 599 boys and girls (6.3 to 10.6 years) from an urban, disadvantaged city in the United States. An ecological analysis of after-school arrangements identified 4 patterns of care: ASP care, parent care, combined parent/self-sibling care, and combined other-adult/self-sibling care. Aspects of academic performance and motivational attributes were significantly higher (p<.05) at the end of the school year for children in ASP care compared with those in the 3 alternative patterns of care. Differences were marked for children rated as highly engaged in ASP activities.
Many of the American high schools succeeding at raising student achievement and closing the achievement gap have figured out ways to increase the length of their school day and/or year. The idea of expanding the time for learning as we raise standards and expectations for students deserves more attention in high school reform debates, particularly for students in low-performing schools who are unlikely to reach higher standards without more time and support. This paper examines high schools that implement an extended learning day as part of the required educational program for all students (rather than providing voluntary after-school programs). It explores particular issues related to expanding time at the high school level, presents examples of how schools accomplish this, and analyzes the implications that would arise for school design, capacity, and financing if such approaches were applied on a more systemic scale. The paper advocates more systematic experimentation with extended learning time. This will require supportive public policy at the state, and to a lesser extent, the federal level. It also will require an iterative process of working through some of the challenges associated with extending learning time at the high school level in terms of culture, capacity, and cost and adapting policy accordingly. One of the greatest potential benefits of expanding the time and place for learning is the chance to experiment with the kinds of “out-of-the box” approaches to high school education which are sorely needed if we are to reach our goals for raising student achievement and eliminating inequities in achievement and graduation rates.
There is a growing realization that reaching our goal of ensuring that all young people can graduate from any public high school with competitive, marketable skills will require high-quality educational opportunities both during and beyond the school day. The inequities in educational opportunities in schools have been well documented. But the significant gaps within school-day learning opportunities tell only part of the story. There are larger gaps outside the proverbial schoolhouse in the kinds of supplemental services that are essential for young people to develop the “capital” needed to succeed. Access to high-quality enrichment activities can narrow the opportunity and achievement gaps by helping students develop a variety of necessary competencies to transition into adulthood and awareness of the larger world around them. These competencies include not only academic abilities; they also include social competencies that enable young people to succeed in the workforce and society. This issue of Voices in Urban Education suggests some possibilities of what a high-functioning extended learning system would look like, such as: using language as a vehicle to offer students the chance to “focus” learning; creating a “third space” between children’s worlds in and out of school that links the two in an educative and engaging way; and creating alternative high schools that erase the line between in-school and out-of-school learning. The essays in this issue show that extending learning helps develop not just academic knowledge and skills, but a broader set of outcomes as well. And they show that creating meaningful opportunities involves a deliberate effort to link schools with community organizations and agencies.
As part of its work with out-of-school learning and its mission to support and share effective ideas and practices, the New York City-based Wallace Foundation commissioned RAND to provide an objective and systematic examination of the out-of-school time (OST) literature to clarify and inform the key issues in the ongoing discussions related to improving OST programming. RAND researchers undertook a literature review focused on group-based programs that provide care for school-aged children (6 to 18 years of age) during nonschool hours and that also attempt to improve the children’s behavioral, social, and academic development outcomes. The authors wanted to capture what is known with some certainty and what is more speculative about claims being made in five major issue areas: (1) the level of unmet demand; (2) the types of outcomes that participation in OST programs is expected to contribute to; (3) determinants of quality in program offerings; (4) determinants of participation; and (5) practices that ensure that quality programming is available to meet local demand. The authors find: unproven assumptions behind claims of unmet demand, some evidence that programs might have modest positive effects on participants if carefully constructed, and a set of factors that could be used to help improve programs. The authors also recommend a set of actions for improving the knowledge base to support better policymaking.
In 2005, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to undertake a systemic initiative to significantly expand learning time as a strategy for improving student performance and closing the achievement gap. For communities, states, and policymakers seeking to improve educational outcomes for our nation’s students, this ambitious initiative holds important lessons regarding: how to redesign the schedule and educational program of schools in order to increase student achievement; how to accelerate change in public systems; how to engage public policy leaders in innovative reform; how to build capacity in low-performing schools; and how to leverage partnerships between schools and community partners on behalf of students’ learning and development. This report explores the challenges and successes of creating a statewide initiative to expand learning time. The report chronicles the first year of the initiative and provides lessons learned from Massachusetts’ extended learning programs. It also provides policy recommendations for state and federal policymakers as well as philanthropic organizations.
Using examples from programs already in place around the nation and knowledge about student learning, the Time, Learning, and Afterschool Task Force analyzes the way students are spending their days, and the importance of afterschool programs. It makes suggestions to states and policymakers regarding the importance of real world experience and building and retaining student interest in academics.
This issue of Noteworthy, written primarily for school and district leaders, policymakers, and program administrators, draws largely from McREL’s recent research synthesis, The Effectiveness of Out-of-School-Time Strategies in Assisting Low-Achieving Students in Reading and Mathematics. This brief is intended to bring a research-based perspective to those who seek to enhance their understanding of out-of-school-time programming for at-risk students. In this brief, there are a number of out-of-school-time research reports that are not presented here because program effects on at-risk students were not studied, or because they did not meet the rigorous design criteria required for inclusion in McREL’s synthesis. The authors’ goal is that this publication to be an informative and practical resource for use in understanding, evaluating, and designing out-of-school-time programs.
As schools across the country struggle to meet the demands of the federal No Child Left Behind Act and their state accountability systems, educators are searching for ways to raise student achievement. Increasing numbers of school and district leaders are turning to one of the most fundamental features of the public education system: the amount of time students spend in school. This report examines both the educational and political dimensions of time reform. It presents the findings of a wide range of research on time reform, discusses the impact of various time reforms on the life of schools and beyond, and makes recommendations for policymakers about how to best leverage time in and out of school to improve student achievement.
In the decade since the publication of Prisoners of Time, the report of the National Education Commission on Time and Learning, little has changed regarding time for formal schooling. The length of the school day and the school year are virtually the same today as they were throughout the 20th century. The profound changes Americans have experienced in technology, demographics and the economy have had minimal effect on the time students spend in school. This remains the case even as education leaders implement an education reform agenda focused on standards, assessments and accountability – an agenda that obviously calls for new ways to use time to achieve powerful learning. In the original report, the commission argued that while standards must be held constant, time can vary. The report calls not only for more learning time, but for all time to be used in new and better ways. This revised edition of Prisoners of Time is designed to refocus attention on the critical issue of using time as a resource for teaching and learning. It contains the same text as the original report but also includes some up-to-date examples of the creative and productive ways in which schools can use time. The authors call on state and local education leaders to take on this agenda as an important opportunity to improve student learning across a broad range of skills – and thus the economic and civic strength of our country.
This report identifies and reviews thirty-four programs that have been used as afterschool
programs by schools and/or communities, including extended day programs and some
supplemental school programs that have potential for after-school usage. Five categories of
programs are reviewed: 1. language arts after-school programs; 2. study skills programs; 3. academic programs in other curriculum areas; 4.tutoring programs for reading; and 5. community-based programs. The review discusses these programs in terms of their evidence of effectiveness for improving student outcomes and their evidence of replicability in other locations. The report also summarizes correlational research studies that have examined the effects of after-school programs. Based on the program evaluations and the correlational research, the report presents a set of components of effective after-school programs and presents
recommendations for implementing these components. The report concludes that stronger
evaluations of these and other current after-school programs must be conducted, and other well-designed programs need to be developed and evaluated, in order to produce after-school programs that can be considered to be effective and replicable for increasing student achievement or other student outcomes.
This paper argues that extra learning opportunities (ELOs) – before- and after-school programs – have the potential to enhance student academic achievement and support state initiatives in education, youth development, prevention, justice, health and economic development. The paper addresses the promise and potential of ELOs, what successful ELOs look like, the next phase of ELO research and what governors can do to enhance ELOs in states. Strategies governors can employ to enhance ELOs in their states include: (1) making explicit connections between ELOs and related policy priorities, (2) building a state policy infrastructure to support collaboration and coordination, (3) coordinating funding and leveraging new resources for ELOs; (4) engaging new partners to support ELOs, and (5) building an accountability system for improved ELO quality.
The 180 six hour day school calendar is a vestige of a nineteenth-century agrarian economy. It is not designed to meet the educational demands of the Information Age. Despite its irrelevance to the learning needs of today’s students, the conventional school schedule is adhered to almost universally across the country. Some schools have in fact managed to break free and build significantly more time into their days and years for the express purpose of enhancing teaching and learning. They have acted on the insight that in this age of high expectations and rigorous accountability, the decades-old school calendar can no longer accommodate their ambitious mission of ensuring that all students reach proficiency. Most of all, these schools offer some strong examples of exactly how much more can be accomplished when the conventional school schedule is shelved in favor of one that is truly responsive to the needs of students and teachers.
This report details the work of a handful of these “extended-time schools,” and describes and analyzes their effective practices. This study is not intended to suggest that extended-time schools automatically produce better results. Neither is it meant to prove that simply by extending time alone, schools will offer a superior educational product. Rather, this research was conducted to understand how these particular schools, which have already demonstrated themselves to be effective, capitalize on the additional time, and what benefits the schools’ educators perceive the additional time delivers. It is hoped that their examples are both inspirational and informational for those who seek to operate schools that purposely break from the conventional schedule in order to bring all their students to proficiency.
The 21st Century Community Learning Centers program has supported after-school programs since 1998, although research on its effects have been inconclusive. Using data colleted over three years, this study finds that elementary students randomly assigned to the 21st Century Community Learning Centers after-school program were: (1) more likely to feel safe after school, (2) no more likely to have higher academic achievement, (3) no less likely to be in self-care, (4) more likely to engage in some negative behaviors and (5) more likely to experience mixed effects on developmental outcomes relative to students not randomly assigned to attend the centers.
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