Dean's Perspective
Dear Friends:
As anyone who has worked in schools knows, time is a precious and finite resource. Seeking to raise student achievement test scores, many schools have increased the time they spend on instruction in math and English, sometimes at the expense of arts, physical education, languages, and even science and social studies.
One bold response to this challenge has been expanded learning time (ELT). As you will read in this month’s cover story, “Time Hasn’t Been on Their Side,” ELT is poised to become a groundbreaking movement in American education, one that will forever change the way we teach and learn. Some of the most innovative work is happening in Harvard’s own backyard and being led by HGSE alumni. In early December, we had the pleasure of hosting a thought-provoking Askwith Education Forum with leaders of the Massachusetts ELT Initiative, a first-in-thenation effort to redesign and expand learning time at public schools. The discussion panel included Chris Gabrieli, who has brought national attention to ELT through his work with Mass2020 and the National Center on Time & Learning. We also heard from Jeff Riley, Ed.M.’99, principal of Boston’s Clarence R. Edwards Middle School, one of the state’s original ELT pilot schools. Since 2006, Edwards has run every day from 7 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Jeff and his fellow Ed School alums use this additional time each day to transform what had been one of the least-preferred and worst-performing schools in the city into a solid performer and a top choice, especially for students interested in the arts.
Is a longer school day or an extended academic year the panacea for the problems of preK–12 education? Frederick Hess, Ed.M.’90, cautions that more time does not necessarily add up to better results, nor is a longer day a one-size-fits-all solution for all schools or for all districts. He raises an important question when he asks, “How do we think about implications for policy and practice without a broad brush?” Like Priscilla Little of the Harvard Family Research Project, I believe that schools must approach ELT thoughtfully and wisely. This includes long-term planning, and the involvement of all affected parties from the start, especially those whose perspectives are often ignored when changes are made in schools — teachers, parents, and students. As you will see in our story, ELT pilot schools in Massachusetts spend a year visiting other ELT schools, talking to potential community partners, making sure teachers and unions are onboard, creating an implementation plan, and fine-tuning the details before proceeding. This example of careful planning suggests a workable model for how school administrators can engage important constituents to make them both part of the process and also part of the solution.
Sincerely,
December 2008
