In recent years policymakers have increasingly looked to Extended Learning Time (ELT) as a means of improving student outcomes. As a result, some school districts have increased academic time for students by adding time to the school day or days to the school year. In other communities, schools and community-based organizations have partnered to…

The educational achievement and attainment of young people in the United States has been a long-standing issue of concern. While analyses of long-term trend data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) show that students in the United States have made gains in reading and mathematics over the past few decades, a sizeable…

Bethpage Union Free School District in New York is a high-performing district by almost any current accountability measure. Yet administrators and teachers worried that they were not doing enough to prepare their students as critical thinkers for the 21st century. Inspired by the curriculum framework of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, the…

This study, the third in a series of reports, is limited to an analysis of the energy use and cost implications of nine school calendars proposed by the New York State Department of Education. These calendars are characterized as (1) traditional; (2) ten-month school year; (3) mid-August start, two semesters; (4) four-day week; (5) four-day, 7.5…

THE PROGRAM WAS DEVISED TO DEMONSTRATE A WORKABLE PLAN FOR EXTENDED USE OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS, AND TO EMPHASIZE THE ROLE OF THE SCHOOL IN CREATING A WHOLESOME ENVIRONMENT FOR CHILDREN. GOALS INCLUDED--(1) A SCHOOL DAY THAT PROVIDES FOR EDUCATIONAL, EMOTIONAL, AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN, (2) EXTENSION OF THE SCHOOL DAY INTO A SPECIAL…

Massachusetts 2020 is a nonprofit operating foundation with a mission to expand educational and economic opportunities for children and families across Massachusetts. Massachusetts 2020, with support from the L.G. Balfour Foundation, a Bank of America Company, set out to understand how a select group of extended-time schools in Massachusetts and…

Extending the school day and year is not easy. The conventional calendar remains one of the most intractable features of the American educational system. Altering the traditional school schedule has significant ramifications for parents, students, teachers, and school administrators. This reform impacts student and family schedules, transportation…