CAP on School Time

Newest report on expanding learning time by the Center for American Progress. CAP is an ardent supporter of more school time so it's not surprising that the report serves to bolster the argument that increasing school time is a necessary strategy for improving low-performing, low-income schools. It provides a great framework for understanding the promise of more school time, describing four main constructs: time as an enabler (helps us to get it all done w/o narrowing curriculum), time as a catalyst (helps schools move toward reform), time as a unifer (brings together community and school b/c it relies on outreach and collaboration); and time as a preference (increases choices for parents/students a la "if you want more school, you can have it"). It also includes examples of "model ELT programs" and a chart of characteristics that these models share- bold leadership, teacher prep and leadership, use of data, community support and partners and focused, aligned use of time that engages students.

Elena Rocha, the author of this CAP report, is right that expanded school time can make a difference for a lot of kids (although it stands to benefit low-income kids most- an important point since many middle class parents will fight increased school time in their districts and states b/c of this). But I have three concerns about the wholesale endorsement of more school time. First, our worst performing schools- the ones that really need help- will have to find that bold leadership (and data and community support, etc) before they can even think about extending the school day or year- otherwise it won't work. Look to Mass2020 for clues about how long this process takes and how careful we need to be in selecting schools and districts that are prepared to do this. Second, those bold leaders and the teachers they bring on board and try to support are going to burn out if we don't look outside of the school for resources to expand learning opportunities. Community-school collaborations are part of this but we need to think harder about how we can create more and better learning opportunities for kids inside and outside of school. Not all learning has to happen inside those same walls. And finally, we can't shy away from the real and very high cost of extending school time. Depending on scope (statewide, districtwide) we're talking about hundreds of millions, potentially billions, of dollars to add two hours to the day, or two weeks to the year for public schools. We don't yet know if this works and certainly have reason to believe it won't w/o other reforms in place (e.g. KIPP is successful not b/c of more time but b/c of time plus its four other core strategies).

Rocha knows this and makes all the right references to the need for quality learning time and well-implemented programs. Still, I feel compelled to remind us that quality learning time is not easy to come by, particularly in low-performing high poverty schools and that well-implemented programs take, well, time. Both to carry out successful school reform, and to evaluate if it works. With that said, kudos to CAP and Rocha for keeping school time alive on the reform agenda. There's something there- I'm just not so sure we really know what it is.