ERIC Number: ED534908
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 16
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Listening to Experts: What Massachusetts Teachers Are Saying about Time and Learning and the Expanded Learning Time Initiative
Massachusetts 2020
Across the country, schools operate on a schedule of about 180 six-hour days. This is not because they think it is the best schedule or the right schedule but because it has been in place for generations and would be difficult to change. But does this schedule really provide enough time to help all students achieve academic proficiency? The Massachusetts program, known as the Expanded Learning Time (ELT) Initiative, enables schools to develop and implement plans to redesign their whole day around an expanded learning time plan, in which every student has 300 hours more learning time embedded into the core schedule. The 26 ELT schools are spread across a dozen Massachusetts communities and serve 13,500 students who are taught by more than 1,000 teachers. By comparing the responses from these teachers to those of their colleagues in conventional-schedule schools, we can begin to see the effect that more time has on both student learning and teacher collaboration and professional development. This report aims to address a simple and essential pair of questions from the point of view of the people charged with the awesome responsibility of preparing our children for the ever-growing challenges of the 21st century. What do our frontline educators think about the quantity of time they have now, and how do those who work in ELT schools see their situation differently? (Contains 12 figures and 6 notes.)
Descriptors: Educational Change, Teacher Collaboration, Expertise, Teacher Surveys, Comparative Analysis, Teacher Attitudes, Inservice Teacher Education, Public School Teachers, Teaching Conditions, Elementary School Teachers, Middle School Teachers, Time Factors (Learning), State Programs, Educational Policy, State Policy, School Schedules, Extended School Day, Program Effectiveness, Learner Engagement, Educational Improvement, School Effectiveness, State Surveys
Massachusetts 2020. 24 School Street 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02108. Tel: 617-723-6747; Fax: 617-723-6746; Web site: http://www.mass2020.org
Publication Type: Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Education; Elementary Secondary Education; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A