Registration is closed for this event. Click here to view the full program agenda.

Program

States, school districts and education reform organizations across the country are beginning to explore innovative ways to both redesign and lengthen the conventional public school day and/or year to address a range of challenges faced by students and educators. This members briefing took the form of a case study on the Expanded Learning Time (ELT) initiative in Massachusetts – the first statewide effort in the country to redesign and lengthen the school day to include more time for all students in participating schools – approximately 2 additional hours per day – for core academics, enrichment, and teacher professional development.

The Massachusetts example provided members with an understanding of how a non-profit intermediary, a state Department of Education, a state legislature, philanthropic investors and a wide array of community partners worked together to put in place the policy, state funding, union support and direct technical assistance to schools in order to implement ELT programs in ten schools serving 4,700 students in Massachusetts in 2006-2007. An additional 84 schools in 27 districts in Massachusetts had been planning to implement ELT programs in 2007 and 2008, with the potential to reach well over 20,000 students within three years.

The members briefing on Expanded Learning Time was of interest to many GFE members, particularly those with interests such as expanded school day/year initiatives, systemic approaches to scaling public school innovations through creative public/private partnerships, the role of philanthropy in helping to seed education reform initiatives that can be implemented and scaled with public funding, and the role of public policy and research in supporting systemic school reform initiatives, among others. The members briefing included moderated panel discussions, site visits, and a collegial networking dinner.

All briefing events will be at the historic Omni Parker House Hotel (60 School Street) in Boston's "government center" area.

Click here for more on the Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time Initiative and Mass2020.

Planning Committee

• An-Me Chung, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
• Lynn D'Ambrose, Nellie Mae Education Foundation
• Jennifer Davis, Massachusetts 2020
• Jeff Paquette, Massachusetts2020
• Mary Phillips, Grants Management Associates
• Laura Sitterly, Lloyd G. Balfour Foundation, Bank of America
• Chris Tebben, Grantmakers for Education
• Robert Wadsworth, The Boston Foundation
• Phoenix Wang, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
• Susan Wolking, Girard Foundation

Sponsors

• Nellie Mae Education Foundation