Time for Learning

Boston Globe Editorial

TIME FOR LEARNING

October 11, 2005 

SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS in Boston, Lawrence, Springfield, and other districts with high rates of poverty and failure are wisely looking for help from the state Department of Education to lengthen the school day. They understand that six hours can't accommodate the rising academic expectations brought on by education reform. 

Ten years ago, the debate on the length of the school day focused largely on comparisons between the United States and democracies in Europe and Asia. But now the discussion is more immediate. The achievement gap between white and minority youngsters remains large despite consistent efforts to improve standards-based instruction and assessments. Interest in charter schools remains high due, in part, to the offer of longer school days. Even in suburbs with high-performing schools, interest is growing in the longer school day as a means to restore some of the enrichment programs, including art and music, that were squeezed out by the emphasis on standardized testing. 

Much of the evidence for the longer school day is anecdotal. But it could hardly be otherwise given how few traditional public schools deviate from the six-hour per day model. There are dramatic examples, however, of schools that use the longer day to powerful effect. At theCodman Academy Charter Public School (emphasis ours) in Dorchester, students attend school from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and again on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. Students come from mostly low-income backgrounds associated with poor performance, yet acceptance to four-year colleges, MCAS pass rates, and attendance are outstanding. 

Merely adding hours to the school day is not enough, according to Jennifer Davis, president of the Massachusetts 2020 Foundation, a nonprofit group that is urging the Legislature to support funding for the longer school day. The foundation is examining schools with longer hours for a report due out next month. Davis says most of these schools provide enrichment programs that aim to make the school day both more effective and more enjoyable. Across the country, dedicated educators are also creating ''full-service community schools" that integrate academics, health services, and social services for students and their families. 

Funding for such efforts will be important. But lack of funding should not be used as an excuse. Subsidies and grants now available for hit-or-miss after-school programs could be used to extend the school day. Staggered shifts for teachers could also be employed with a modicum of cooperation from teachers' unions. 

Classrooms should be places for unrushed learning, not some steely ring where students are forced always to respond to the bell. 

© Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company.  Used with permission.