A remarkable coalition made up of over 100 pioneers in education and other fields has come together to advocate for extend classroom time in order to reverse the academic decline in low-income schools. Expanded learning, adopted via a redesigned school schedule, including multiple shifts, longer school days, and lengthened academic calendar, is an approach that has been successfully tested in many low-income communities in both United States and abroad. There are pilot expanded learning time programs being tried in Chicago, Boston, New York, Newark and many other localities. The positive results being achieved by these limited test cases are what motivated the formation of the Time to Succeed coalition whose goal to see the number of schools taking advantage of similar tools double over the next two years.

The Obama administration is supporting the expanded time experiments with over $4.6 billion in federal funding, with additional money being allocated at the state and local level.

Luis A. Ubiñas, President of the Ford Foundation and one of the first signatories to the coalition charter, explained that there although there have been many changes in the American day-to-day life in the past century, the school days are still structured to accommodate a way of life that no longer exists.

“To build a vibrant future as a nation, we have to equalize learning opportunities for all children,” said Ubiñas. “Afterschool programs, while engaging and educational, are not available to all kids, and are not enough to solve the core problem. What is needed is a strategic redesign of the school day, where teaching practices are modernized to accommodate the unique needs of today’s world, today’s economy, and today’s family life.”

The Coalition is focusing its effort on low-income communities and disadvantaged schools, where achievement is hampered by inadequate time for learning and a dearth of opportunities outside of school for engagement, and growth.

Research into the reconfigured and expanded school calendar showed that a well-designed school day amplifies the effectiveness of other improvement strategies. In addition, more hours of class time, means that there is less of a tradeoff between time dedicated to bring kids up to class level in literacy and numeracy, and teaching them other essential subjects such as science, music, history, and even physical education.

The coalition co-chair Chris Gabrieli sites the results shown by one of Arizona’s poorest school districts as an example of what can happen when students get more time to learn:

The Balsz Elementary School District #31 in Phoenix, Arizona, has expanded the school year by 20 days for all its students. With the expanded time, the students—90% of whom qualify for free or reduced lunch—are seeing dramatic gains on their reading skills. By the time a kindergärtner in this district reaches eighth grade, they will have received an additional year of school.

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Carolyn Crowder, executive director of the Denver Classroom Teachers’ Association, said:

“We are not against extended learning opportunities, but the district so far has refused to negotiate with us.”

DPS officials will now have to sit down with representatives from the teachers union to try and resolve the issue through a negotiation process. If they come to no agreement within seven days, then the case will go to an arbitrator.

The plan proposed by the DPS would see the school day extended by an hour in the afternoon, writes Yesenia Robles at the Denver Post. However, the union would want to ensure that schools themselves have the option of implementing the plan.

The union says:

“DPS communication to parents has centered around announcing changes instead of soliciting ideas. The planning teams from the fourteen schools were told to design their own plans and “think outside of the box” and yet, this past week were given “one-size-fits all” directives.”

However, the district disagrees. It sees the process as allowing schools to apply for funds to extend the day, and from which officials are able to pick schools based on the best proposals.

DPS spokesman, Mike Vaughn, said:

“The opportunity for extended learning time for our students has remarkable promise for additional enrichment, student advancement, and extra learning for students who are behind.

“We look forward to receiving the school-based proposals for how they might extend their time and benefit their kids.”

Teachers should be able to create their own guidelines on student supervision, says Crowder, who would also want to see teachers paid at the regular rate.

“As I understand what they propose is to pay teachers the professional development rate that they pay when teachers stay an extra day for a training session for instance, but this is not the same thing.

“We’re not asking for them to make more money, just their regular teaching rate.”

However, Vaughn insists that the district has no intention to milk teachers dry and would absolutely be sticking to contract.

“Any teacher who volunteers to work a longer day in these extended-time pilots will, of course, receive the extra pay specified in the collective bargaining agreement.

“We do not believe that this needs to be a conflict in any way with our teachers’ union.”

Longer days are also on the table for public schools in Chicago, with Mayor Rahm Emanuel pushing on with his decision to lengthening Chicago’s school day to 7.5 hours.

However, the teachers’ union and a parent group maintain that there is not enough research to support the move.

Raise Your Hand co-founder Wendy Katten said:

“Parents want a longer day, but the parents we hear from don’t believe we need the longest day in the nation.

“Parents at Skinner North (who have already adopted a 7.5-hour day) feel their kids are already exhausted.”

Chicago Teachers Union staff coordinator Jackson Potter said that the union will be looking for compensation for teachers who will be spending extra time in the classroom, a point currently being negotiated as part of new contract talks.

“Why do we have this lock-step approach?” Potter asked.

“Why can’t parents’ concerns be addressed, and why are we fixated on 7 1/2 hours?”

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The parent group Raise Your Hand said a survey they conducted late last year shows that most parents don’t support the action. Critics say that there’s a reason no other school district in the country has a 7.5 hour day systemwide.

Raise Your Hand co-founder Wendy Katten said:

“Parents want a longer day, but the parents we hear from don’t believe we need the longest day in the nation.

“Parents at Skinner North (who have already adopted a 7.5-hour day) feel their kids are already exhausted.”

Mayor Rahm Emanuel and schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard spoke at a news conference at Mays Academy, one of two public schools that switched on Monday to a longer day, writes Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah at the Chicago Tribune.

“Mays’ s joined 38 charters that voted for the extra 90 minutes of instruction starting in January, in exchange for a $75,000 bonus for the school and an $800 stipend for teachers.

“The neighborhood schools new schedule will allow teachers to add time each day for math, language arts, social studies and science.”

The Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board recently denounced the plan to give children 90 more minutes a day of schooling, saying that it would cause “irreparable harm”. Emanuel disagrees:

“Seven-and-a-half hours is based on what you need to build to get kids to be career- and college-ready,” Emanuel said.

Chicago Teachers Union staff coordinator Jackson Potter said that the union disputes the idea that of the 10 major cities in the nation, Chicago ranks last in time spent in the classroom.

The union will also be looking for compensation for teachers who will be spending extra time in the classroom, a point currently being negotiated as part of new contract talks the city is having with the union.

“Why do we have this lock-step approach?” Potter asked.

“Why can’t parents’ concerns be addressed, and why are we fixated on 7 1/2 hours?”

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