May 2010

More Time for Learning: Promising Practices and Lessons Learned
 

Massachusetts 2020 is pleased to announce the release of our new publication, More Time for Learning: Promising Practices and Lessons Learned, the 2010 Progress Report of the Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time (ELT) Initiative. The report, based on lessons we have learned over the past four years of the Initiative, highlights how successful expanded-time schools are using additional time to accelerate academic achievement, increase student engagement, and improve instruction.
The report will also give you a glimpse of how the pioneering work done in Massachusetts is inspiring other states and districts to join the “time reform” movement in order to provide all students with the high-quality, well-rounded education they need and deserve.
Our experience over the last four years proves that more time alone is not a panacea. But it has also shown that expanded school time, when combined with effective teachers and leaders and the strategic use of data, can have a dramatic effect on student achievement.
This report, and the findings it contains, is the result of the continued hard work of all 22 schools in the Initiative. We applaud their ongoing efforts, demonstrating to the country the difference Expanded Learning Time can make.

Budget Update

The six-member Conference Committee is currently trying to reconcile the differences between the House and Senate versions of the FY11 budget. ELT needs you to push for level funding so that no schools lose their funding for an expanded school day next year. Your voice is critical to the effort to keep funding at $15.6 million. Please contact your Representative and Senator let him or her know how important ELT is to your community, your school, and most importantly your students.
We thank you for your continued efforts to get full funding for Massachusetts’ pioneering ELT schools! 

Boston Globe Advocates for Increased Learning Time to "Make Up Lost Ground" 

Last week, The Boston Globe highlighted the importance of increased learning time as a critical component of urban districts' reform efforts. The Globe stated that the benefits of extra school time seem clear and urban districts can’t succeed with an outdated school calendar. Click here to read the editorial.