Do longer hours equal more learning?

Pressured to produce better students, 10 Massachusetts public schools pack more hours into their schedules.

from the June 14, 2007 edition

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Minilessons help break up time

"People initially panicked at the 90-minute [blocks]," says special-education teacher Sandra Carreiro. Everyone learned quickly to break that time into minilessons, weaving in experiences that drive the concepts home. In a recent fifth-grade math class that she coteaches, students were outside flying paper airplanes – charting distances, analyzing design elements, and remaking the planes to outfly the class record.

What the teachers have done with longer classes has been "immensely powerful," says Principal Eckel. "I was so used to seeing in a 45-minute class ... such a frantic pace, such a rush." Now, "the depth and breadth [means] kids are much more prepared to go home knowing what they're to do as follow up.... I can't help but believe that over time that's going to lead to better achievement, more well-rounded students."

Because there's time for project-based learning and collaboration, teachers in pilot schools throughout the state were "shocked" at how satisfying it was to teach a longer day, says Anne Wass, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association. All teachers are paid for the additional time.

Of the more than 100 teachers and staff at Salemwood, just three opted to transfer to other schools before the start of the new schedule in 2006-07, Eckel says.

Parents are solidly behind the change as well. Fifty families transferred their children last year, but 70 others enrolled. Of the parents surveyed by Massachusetts 2020 at three of the pilot schools, 77 percent said their child was doing better in school as a result of the expanded schedule.

Mary Shank is one of those true believers. "It gives us extra time to get home from working," she says, waiting outside to pick up her kids as a choral class rehearses on the steps. "My son is developmentally delayed, and he's doing awesome now. He's willing to do homework when you ask him, and he's not having as many troubles."

That's not to say the extended day has been easy for everyone, or universally accepted.

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More time for...: For students at Salemwood School in Malden, north of Boston, extended hours give them more time for math games and computer labs. Joanne Ciccarello – Staff