Longer School Days Effective

Massachusetts Public Schools Experiment Is Successful

Dec 11, 2007 Barbara Pytel

10 public schools in Massachusetts lengthened the school day by 25%, which gave more time for hands-on learning. It paid off.

Massachusetts Experiment

More time. What would the anticipated results be if the school days were extended from six hours to eight or even nine hours? A few charter schools and a small number of public schools decided to find out in Massachusetts. A total of ten schools extended the school day by 25%. Students received extra

• Reading time
• Writing time
• Math time
• Creative reinforcement of concepts taught

What many find effective is more time for hands-on learning to reinforce concepts taught that day.

Schools also reinstated former programs that were cut because of extra math and reading time added to focus on No Child Left Behind challenges. The following were added into a school day:

• Arts
• Sports
• Extra teacher training
• Team meetings
• Discussion on what and how to teach

MCAS Results

After one year, the following results were noted:

Least proficient students grew

• 7.2 percentage points in math
• 4.7 percentage points in science
• 10.8 percentage points in English

The growth is based on the MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System) which is the state’s assessment tool. The average growth of students achieving proficiency in the initial 10 schools was 12.7 percentage points in math on the MCAS.

US Senator Edward M. Kennedy

Senator Kennedy, after reviewing these statistics, is urging Congress to pass a bill that would make the longer school day a reform strategy for the nation. The bill would give schools funding to begin the longer day format. Future funding to continue the programs after the seed money is gone is unknown. Hopefully, this will not be yet another unfunded mandate by the federal government.

The school calendar was originally formed around a society based on agriculture. Children were needed on farms in the summer, before school and after school. Therefore, we have 6 hour school days and summer vacation. Is this system now evolving into year-round school and longer school days?

The Cost

The state of Massachusetts spent $20 million for this program with a $1,300 cost per student in 10 schools. The program was extended to 18 schools for the fall of 2007-2008 with 33 additional schools in the fall of 2008.

It’s Just One Year

Chairman of the Massachusetts state Board of Education, Paul Reville, cautions everyone to not interpret the results from one year as a solution. "It’s a very significant early signal that more time, used well, can make a big difference for students. But more time is a bit like more money. It doesn’t have inherent value; it depends on how you use it."

Charlestown Middle School

Clarence R. Edwards Middle School extended the school day by three hours or until 4:30. All 7th and 8th graders spent an hour each on "math league." Each student participated in the team format game project where students played games based on lessons taught that day.

The longer school day has not only raised scores but the reputations of the schools participating in the pilot program with some parents asking to transfer their children to the longer day schools.

Source: Tracy Jan, The Boston Globe, boston.com, November 30, 2007

Related articles: 10% of Schools Dropout Factories, Why Research Is Ignored

Read previous articles on Educational Issues.

Copyright article 2007 Barbara Pytel. All Rights Reserved.

The copyright of the article Longer School Days Effective in Educational Issues is owned by Barbara Pytel. Permission to republish Longer School Days Effective in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Longer School Days Produce Results	Students Participated in Hands-On Math League	Cost Per Student Is $1300
Sen. Kennedy Wants Extended Days To Be a Bill

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Comments

Feb 10, 2008 2:09 PM

stacie sherman :

has everyone forgotten about the children when they are considering extending the school day. have they thought about the time that they will be taken away from their neighborhoods, from their after school activities, from their families. or has everyone just looked at how much their test scores have increased. speaking of test scores - seriously there is far too much weight given to those things. too much pressure on teachers today to have their children perform. something is broke in the education system and i don't believe taking time away for kids is the answer. for crying out loud let kids be kids, let them learn outside the classroom. i don't know about anyone else but i had children to raise them myself not to let the school system come in and take over my role as parent. extending the school day would do just that. maybe i am just ranting but i just needed to say it.

May 18, 2009 9:42 AM

Guest :

im a student at central middle school and we have alot of kids that dont get good grades. some stay after school to do homework. the ones who dont get bad grade. do you know why this happens?

Oct 3, 2009 5:50 AM

Guest :

This is ridiculous. I would definitely want the school days extended. We have enough work to do already, and we are already not getting enough sleep from the stress of trying to do too many things in one day (that being homework, chores, out of school jobs, and whatever time we have left to relax or spend with some friends). We were talking about this in my history class the other day and one kid said they would drop out if they did extend the school days, and then right after almost the whole class agreed and said they would do the same. Including me.

Nov 30, 2009 2:22 PM

Guest :

im a student at Francis Granger Middle School. I think that this idea, partially, is good. I think they should add an hour or so to the school day, but, if they do that they should also remove a day from the week. It would save gas, and money. But, at the same time, it would stress the students out a little bit more. Because of the extended school day they would probably have less time to do their homework at home. If I could vote for this, I would vote for it only if they agreed to take off one day of the week. If they just added more time to everyday without taking a day off, I would definately vote againts it. If anybody wants to talk about this, you can contact me on facebook. I am Mikaela Keeney. Thanks so much whoever you are just to take your time and read this long, long, long, comment! Haha!

4 Comments