Since 2006, Boston Public Schools (BPS) has been implementing expanded learning time (ELT) in schools to improve student outcomes, close opportunity and achievement gaps, and enhance preparation and planning opportunities for staff to support these efforts. In 2015, the district and the Boston Teachers Union agreed to add 40 minutes to the school…

The ExpandED Schools national demonstration was implemented in 12 schools from Baltimore, New Orleans, and New York City between the 2011-12 through 2015-16 school years. ExpandED Schools offer students more time for a balanced, well-rounded curriculum that supports individualized learning through school-community partnerships. In the ExpandED…

This article explores the All-Day Neighborhood Schools (ADNS) program, operated as a partnership between the New York City Board of Education and local philanthropists from 1936 to 1971. Designed to expand the resources available to children and parents, the program included after-school activities, additional teachers, professional development,…

In 2012, things were not looking good for Grant Beacon Middle School in Denver, Colorado. Enrollment numbers were declining, students were not reaching required academic levels, and the Denver Public Schools district designated the school as on watch. By implementing a plan that emphasized expanded learning opportunities--adding five hours to the…

According to the literature, practitioners' use of research appears to play an important role in facilitating high-quality applied practice. Previous studies indicate that teachers have a positive attitude towards using research, but that they are rarely successful in implementing it in their actual practice. There appears to be a scarcity of…

This article analyzes the work of pedagogues in the Danish Primary School and Leisure-time Center. With a reform in 2014, schooldays are prolonged and hours for leisure-time pedagogy in the afternoons have become fewer. Time pressure and a focus on effectiveness have become crucial, and core pedagogical ideas are seemingly changing. On the basis…

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced school leaders to make difficult decisions about how to balance students' educational needs with the health, safety, and social-emotional well-being of students and teachers. The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Rescue Plan) recently enacted by Congress offers unprecedented amounts of potentially transformative…

A growing number of public schools have adopted reforms that increase the amount of time students spend in school. However, the potential costs of such reforms are not well understood. In this article, we report findings from a resource-cost study conducted in four schools that participated in the Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time Initiative.…

In Sweden and in Germany, an extensive system of extended education programmes and activities has been established within the last decades. Prototypic examples of this development are school-age educare centres in Sweden and all-day schools in Germany. In this article a bi-national comparison, aiming to find some similarities and differences by…

This paper investigates the effect of primary school students' utilization of extended education offerings and of the quality of extended education on reading achievement in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. All-day schools are being set up. Among other reasons, as a means to level the increasing scholastic demands in the primary schools.…

In schools across the country, educators recognize the power of the arts to change young lives. They know that students' sustained engagement with enriching, high-quality experiences in the arts promotes essential skills and perspectives--like the capacity to solve problems, express ideas, harness and hone creativity, and persevere toward a job…

For the past dozen years, the federal government has held schools accountable for students' achievement in reading and mathematics. Schools that have not demonstrated improved student scores have faced heavy sanctions, including reconstitution and closure. In response to this high-stakes environment, schools appear to have extended the time…

The present article uses two empirical studies to look at multiprofessional collaboration between teachers and other educational staff at German all-day schools. A quantitative study is used both to develop an instrument for the measurement of multiprofessional collaboration and to analyse the connections between collaborative action and…

After eighteen months of school closure and disrupted learning, civic leaders, researchers, and educational leaders are getting a clearer picture of how students fared through the pandemic, and what new reality school systems face as they return to in-person schooling in 2021-22. Increases in community infection rates and parent hesitancy have…

Expanded learning time (ELT) is a practice that entails increasing the length of the school day for all students, with the goal of improving student outcomes, especially in low-performing schools. Boston Public Schools (BPS) has been implementing ELT as an improvement strategy in low-performing schools since 2006. In 2015 the district drastically…