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S. HRG. 111–1157 

INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO SCHOOL TIME 

FIELD HEARING 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, 

LABOR, AND PENSIONS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

ON

EXAMINING INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO SCHOOL TIME FOCUSING ON 

EFFICIENT UTILIZATION TO ACHIEVE POSITIVE RESULTS 

AUGUST 24, 2010 (Albuquerque, NM) 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ 
COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS 

TOM HARKIN, Iowa, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut 

BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland 

JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico 

PATTY MURRAY, Washington 

JACK REED, Rhode Island 

BERNARD SANDERS (I), Vermont 

ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania 

KAY R. HAGAN, North Carolina 

JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon 

AL FRANKEN, Minnesota 

MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado 

CARTE P. GOODWIN, West Virginia 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire 

LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee 

RICHARD BURR, North Carolina 

JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah 

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska 

TOM COBURN, M.D., Oklahoma 

PAT ROBERTS, Kansas 

DANIEL SMITH, Staff Director 

PAMELA SMITH, Deputy Staff Director 

FRANK MACCHIAROLA, Republican Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

(II) 
C O N T E N T S 

STATEMENTS 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2010 

Page 

Bingaman, Hon. Jeff, a U.S. Senator from the State of New Mexico, opening 

statement .............................................................................................................. 1 

Riley, Jeffrey, Academic Superintendent, Boston Public Schools, Boston, MA .. 2 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 5 

Brooks, Winston C., Superintendent, Albuquerque Public Schools, Albuquerque, NM ......................................................................................................... 5 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 7 

Paisano-Trujillo, Executive Director, Elev8 New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM ..... 8 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 11 

Horn, Michael B., Executive Director, Innosight Institute, Mountain View, 

CA .......................................................................................................................... 16

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 18 

Berstein, Ellen, Ed.D., President, Albuquerque Teachers Federation, Albuquerque, NM ......................................................................................................... 20 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 22 

Hyde, Sheila, Ph.D., Deputy Secretary, New Mexico Public Education Department, Santa Fe, NM ............................................................................................ 23 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 24 

(III) 

(1) 

INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO SCHOOL TIME 

TUESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2010 

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS, Albuquerque, NM. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:35 a.m., at Albuquerque Public Schools Headquarters, 6400 Uptown Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110, Hon. Jeff Bingaman, presiding. 

Present: Senator Bingaman. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR BINGAMAN

Senator BINGAMAN. Thank you all for coming today. And we hope 

to have a good discussion here for the next hour and 25 minutes, 

right until about noon, and see if we can shed some light on some 

of these issues. 

This is a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and 

Pensions Committee. I’m not the chair of that committee. But Senator Harkin who is, has authorized us to have this hearing and told 

me I could chair it. So I appreciate him doing that. 

We’re going to use a roundtable format to facilitate conversation 

to inform all of us about New Mexico’s State and local practices as 

well as national education policies. 

Let me, at the outset, mention Peter Zamora who works with me 

in Washington on education issues. I hope you all are acquainted 

with Peter. But he’s been the one who has been doing a lot of the 

legwork to get this hearing set up. And Angelo Gonzales in the 

back of the room works on these same issues with Peter and me 

here in our Albuquerque office. So if you’re not acquainted with 

them, I hope you’ll get acquainted. 

I have long been engaged in trying to understand the importance 

of some of these school time issues. I’m trying to support increasing 

the amount of high quality academic instruction available to students in our State. Research and experience show that few policies 

have more effect on student learning. 

For example, Johns Hopkins University researchers found that 

two-thirds of the achievement gap between lower and higher income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning 

opportunities. Clearly we need to do more to provide increased 

learning opportunities, especially for disadvantaged students and 

those who are falling behind. 

Let me do a very brief introduction of our panel and then call on 

them for whatever statements they would like to make. 

Our first panel, Jeffrey Riley, is experienced as a principal and 

district leader in Boston. And he’s going to talk to us about the suc-
2 

cess he had at Edwards Middle School and now the effort that’s 

being made and success they’re having in the Boston Public Schools 

more generally. He is now the academic superintendent for middle 

and K through 8 schools in Boston. He’s had great success in dramatically improving student achievement. 

Superintendent Brooks is known to all of us. I was complimenting him on his moderating of the debate between our two gubernatorial candidates last week. He did a great job. Regardless of 

who you thought won the debate, everybody thought Winston 

Brooks won the debate. So that was good. 

And he has been innovative in his tenure here as superintendent 

of Albuquerque Public Schools and has made the effort to re-imagine the school day here in Albuquerque, which I’m sure he’ll talk 

some about and we need to know more about. 

Ms. Paisano-Trujillo will discuss the excellent work that Elev8. 

Is that the right pronunciation? 

MS. PAISANO-TRUJILLO. Elev8. 

Senator BINGAMAN [continuing]. Elev8 New Mexico is doing to 

support community-based schools. And she has a long history of experience in education here in the State and has done a tremendous 

job in that over a long period of time. 

Michael Horn who is a coauthor of the influential book Disrupting Class is here to talk about how to promote academic systems and allow students to follow unique academic schedules tailored to their academic needs and their learning styles. And we’re 

anxious to hear about that. 

Ellen Bernstein is well-known by everybody in the education 

community here in Albuquerque and New Mexico. She is the head 

of the local teacher’s union, does a great job in that regard, and is 

a native of Albuquerque. And we’re awfully glad to have her here 

to give her perspective. 

Dr. Sheila Hyde used to work with me and has moved on to bigger and better things and is now very much in charge of these 

issues of school time for the State and working in the State Department of Education. We appreciate her being here to give her perspective. 

I ask that each of you take 5 or 6 minutes, make the main points 

that you would like to have us understand. Your full statements 

will be included in the record of this hearing so you don’t need to 

go through the whole thing. But if you could tell us the main 

points. And then I’ll have some questions and maybe we can have 

a little bit of a discussion for the balance of our time. 

Jeffrey, why don’t you go right ahead. 

STATEMENT OF JEFFREY RILEY, ACADEMIC 

SUPERINTENDENT, BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS, BOSTON, MA 

Mr. RILEY. Good morning, everyone. When I came today, I wanted to think about how to present this to you. And I’m going to 

begin with a very short story. 

Several years ago, at a midwestern university that shall go 

unnamed, there were a group of students taking a final exam in 

December, midyear final exam. And there were about 400 kids in 

the class. And it was an amphitheater style examination hall. And 

the rows went up. So the kids actually sat up and the professor 
3 

was there on the ground floor. The kids got their blue books, and 

I think we all know what those are. 

And the professor wasn’t very well liked. In fact, he was hated. 

And he said only this to the kids, you have 60 minutes to do the 

test, that’s it, 60 minutes. And the kids started writing dutifully in 

their blue books. 

The 45-minute mark came up. The kids started bringing the 

exams down and piling them up on the professor’s desk. At about 

the 50-minute mark, most of the kids were done. And more and 

more kids kept coming down, piling up the blue books on the professor’s desk, and then walking out to get a slight vacation before 

the new semester started. 

At the 55-minute mark, the professor said you only have five 

minutes left, that’s it. Bring it down when you’re done. There was 

only about a handful of kids left, maybe three or four. At the 60- 

minute mark, there was one kid left. And the professor said that’s 

it, time is up. And the kid ignored the professor and he kept writing in his blue book 

The professor said that’s it, I said time is up. And he kept ignoring the professor. This went on for several minutes, which may not 

seem like a long time. But when it’s just you and a professor, it’s 

a long time. At about the 65-minute mark, the kid quietly closes 

his blue book and calmly walks down to the bottom where the professor is. 

And the professor at this point is apoplectic with rage. He can’t 

believe a kid would disobey him like this. Do you know who I am? 

I’m going to fail you in this course, he ranted and raved, I should 

fail you right now. 

And the kid just said calmly to him, Professor, do you know my 

name? The professor said what? Professor, do you know my name? 

And the professor said no. And the kid said good. And he took his 

blue book and he shoved it in the middle of the pile and he ran 

out the door. 

I tell you that story because I used to believe that great education was all about personal relationships with kids, having a 

good professor that knew your name was enough. And I still believe that’s the foundation of all good education. 

But what I’ve come to believe now is that with kids that need 

more time, time is the other piece, the piece we haven’t talked 

about; that some kids used to come to my school three or four 

grade levels behind and I wouldn’t be able to do what I was able 

to do without having more time. 

About 4 years ago I walked into a building called the Edwards 

Middle School. The building at the time had the worst test scores 

in the city of Boston. The enrollment was dwindling. Two students 

had been shot and killed the year before. Not at the school but in 

their neighborhoods. And so for better or worse the school had become a place where it got a reputation where kids went to die. 

When I went there, it was very apparent to me that they were 

going to close the school. We’re going through some budget challenges in Boston as I’m sure many of you are. And we needed to 

get change quickly. 

And the one benefit we had was the year before I got there, they 

had planned for expanded learning time, a longer school day. 
4 

Whereas my kids usually would go from 7:00 in the morning to 

1:30—and 1:30 is early to be putting middle school kids out on the 

street—we now go from 7:00 in the morning until 4:30. And we 

were able to use this extra time to get quality results for kids. 

Now, what does that look like? It was really a two-pronged approach. The first is we kind of cut the time in half and did a targeted academic remediation period, where we put kids where they 

needed to be. A kid that was strong in math but weak in English 

got extra English help. 

A kid that was great in math and great in English but struggling 

in science got extra science help, because in 8th grade that’s the 

hardest test to pass in Massachusetts, the 8th grade science test. 

So we started being really strategic about where we placed kids, 

using that extra time with our teachers. 

The other thing we did is we tried to bring in high-quality programs for kids. We talked a lot about these achievement gaps. I 

would say at least with my children, we had an opportunity gap. 

Where my kids would go home at 1:30—and they weren’t being 

driven to ballet class and they weren’t able to play on the football 

team, now we were able to bring these resources to our school. 

And so the Boston Ballet worked with my students. We had the 

only middle school football team in the city and we played all the 

rich towns outside of it. We got these great opportunities which to 

me were just as important to what we were doing as the academic 

piece. 

To do all this longer school day, we worked with our teachers. 

Teachers voluntarily stayed and got paid at the contractually hourly rate. But even with them staying, I asked them all to stay for 

one additional hour, we still needed a second shift of workers. 

So we formed these great partnerships with Citizen Schools, Boston Ballet that I alluded to earlier, Medicine Wheel, Burt Street, 

all these after school alliances, where we kind of made it a seamless program. And we were able to get results for kids. 

I think the one thing I really want to say before I leave you is 

having longer time I think is necessary but not sufficient. You have 

to have a plan. Otherwise it’s just glorified baby-sitting. 

We had a plan for how we were going to do it with kids. The results were fairly staggering and really are a testament to my faculty, which includes my outside partners. Whereas we used to be 

the worst performing school in Boston in the middle schools, we’re 

now the best. 

But we weren’t satisfied with that. Right now at the Edwards 

Middle School our 8th graders lead, beating your average suburban 

kid in mathematics and tied in English. This despite the fact that 

over 90 percent of my kids live in poverty, a third of my kids are 

second language learners, and 25 percent of them are special needs 

students. 

What we realized is that, if we had this gift of time and we had 

a plan, we could get things done for kids. We were able to close 

achievement gaps that have been bothering us as a district for a 

long time. 

A few things I’d like to leave you with is I think the traditional 

school day started as this agrarian model so that the kids could go 
5 

home and work in the fields on our farms. And at least in Boston 

we don’t have a lot of that anymore. 

And I think we need to rethink how we use time. And there’s a 

variety of ways to do that. Expanded learning time is one way. We 

do something called acceleration academies over vacations which 

targets specific kids with specific teachers. That’s another way. 

With the technology coming out, there’s all different ways to 

think about how to best educate our kids. 

Thank you for letting me come today to speak on just one of 

them. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Riley follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF JEFFREY C. RILEY

EXPANDED LEARNING TIME INITIATIVE

Schools across the country are looking at how to use time differently. Charter 

schools have shown that adding time is a critical component to raising student 

achievement. Some school districts are looking at re-organizing time in response to 

financial pressures. Others are adopting ‘‘virtual’’ school models, using technology 

as a way to change how instruction is delivered. All of these approaches speak to 

a need to rethink the traditional school model. 

In Massachusetts, the State has launched the Expanded Learning Time (ELT) Initiative where over 20 schools are provided an additional 300 hours of student learning time. Securing State funding at a rate of $1,300 per student, the Initiative has 

proven to be a cost effective model, when compared to the relative average per pupil 

cost. Early results appear promising as students are exposed to additional academic 

and extracurricular hours. 

The Edwards Middle School is one example of an ELT school that has flourished 

using the longer school day. Just a few years ago, the school was on the brink of 

closure with incredibly poor academic outcomes and a dwindling enrollment. Within 

3 years of adopting ELT, the test scores are among the highest in the district and 

the Edwards is the most highly chosen school in Boston. Perhaps most impressive 

is that the achievement gap at the school has been virtually eliminated. 

To say that schools will succeed simply by adding more hours to the school day 

is not realistic. The need to plan how best to use that time is crucial, as are a host 

of other conditions. In the end, adding more time can be seen as one effective strategy for increasing educational outcomes for our children. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Thank you very much, appreciate it. 

Superintendent Brooks, thank you for being here and taking 

time to give us your thoughts. 

STATEMENT OF WINSTON C. BROOKS, SUPERINTENDENT, 

ALBUQUERQUE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, ALBUQUERQUE, NM 

Mr. BROOKS. Well, thank you, Senator. It’s my honor to sit next 

to Jeff. I’m very good friends with his Superintendent in Boston. 

She’s a great lady and has done great things in Boston. So it’s 

great to talk with Jeff. 

Good morning, Senator. Thank you for being here. And I hope we 

can make you feel at home here at APS headquarters. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Thank you for letting us use this wonderful 

facility. This is great, it really is. 

Mr. BROOKS. Thank you. I do have at least three school board 

members in the audience that I’d like to introduce. Mr. Lorenzo 

Garcia, Mr. David Peercy, and Mr. David Robbins are all members 

of our school board here. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Terrific. 
6 

Mr. BROOKS. I learned long ago, Senator, that you always have 

to introduce the people who feed you. So make sure that they’re 

recognized. 

Senator BINGAMAN. That’s right. I remember Governor King, one 

of the secrets of his success was whenever he would attend a meeting, he would say let me start by introducing my board of directors. 

And then he would introduce all the State legislators in the audience. So that’s some insight. 

Mr. BROOKS. Well, it’s my honor to be here this morning to testify before you to discuss innovative approaches to school time. It 

was interesting to hear Jeff talk. My presentation is going to be a 

bit different in that I think more and longer certainly may have 

merits. 

But if you just continue to provide what you’ve been providing 

during the regular day, it may not be as efficient. So what we really tried to do here in Albuquerque—rather than talk about longer 

and more, I’d like to talk about being more flexible, flexibility. 

Just for the record, APS is the largest school district in the State. 

We have more than 90,000 students and we’re a growing school 

district. In fact, we think we may exceed the 1 percent mark to receive additional funding in the State this year. 

Actually I think Albuquerque is a bit unique in that it’s the only 

urban district and the only State that I know of that the district 

actually serves one-third of all the kids in the State. I think that 

speaks volumes. So when APS does well, the State does well; when 

APS doesn’t do so well, the State doesn’t do too well either. 

Being a large urban district, meeting the challenges of providing 

an education to such a diverse population is a real challenge. One 

of those challenges is high school students who may not be able to 

attend school during the regular school day. 

For many of us, I can certainly speak for myself, the 8:00 to 3:00 

scenario worked just fine. I could get up, go to school at 8:00, come 

home at 3:00 or go to sports practice or whatever, and it worked 

just fine. However, I would contend that today that’s not so much 

the case. 

Last school year we implemented a program that we did call the 

extended day program. But I always like to say extended, more 

flexible day program, where we took resources that were allocated 

at our evening high school and we developed a program. 

Evening high school was actually housed at Albuquerque High. 

It was the only place really in Albuquerque that if kids wanted to 

go to school in the evening, they would have to go to Albuquerque 

High. So kids from Rio Grande would have to find their way to Albuquerque High, kids at La Cueva, same kind of thing. 

I would suggest that most high school kids I know don’t like to 

get outside their comfort zone. And probably going to Albuquerque 

High, if you’re a La Cueva Bear, isn’t the first thing that you want 

to do. 

So what we did is we took those resources that we had at 

evening high school and we actually distributed them equitably 

across the district so that now all 13 conference high schools have 

an evening program. We believe that that’s increased—well, in fact, 

we know it’s increased the opportunities to students who tradition-
7 

ally would have to go to evening high at Albuquerque High in order 

to get that service. 

The extended flexible day program allows students to recover 

credits that they are missing or to make up a class in which they 

failed or they could use it to actually expedite their high school 

education and actually graduate early if they’d like. I know some 

students who have done that. 

The schools identify who the students are who need to remediate 

a course. In fact, when students come to counselors at any of our 

high schools and say, I’m a new mom, I’m a new dad, my parents 

are ill, or whatever their crisis is in life, I think I’m going to quit 

school because I just can’t get there at 8:00 in the morning, I just 

can’t stay until 3:00 in the afternoon. 

Our counselors are being trained to say, well, what about coming 

to school at 2:30, what about coming to school at 3:00. What if we 

work with you to help provide daycare while you come back to 

school. And we believe, as you will notice in the numbers and the 

documentation we have provided to you, it’s had a very positive impact. 

High school counselors are vital in helping us identify who those 

students are. During the first semester, I’m happy to say that we 

exceeded our expectations. We had 700 students who actually enrolled in the extended/flexible school day. And then, even better, at 

semester we saw a dramatic increase, the enrollment went up to 

1,700. 

These courses are offered from 2:45 to 5:00. We did it once again 

with existing resources. With new resources we can actually—I 

would love to see these programs go until 7:00, 8:00, 9:00 in the 

evening. I think we could serve a lot more kids. 

The real good news is that we have had more than 2,500 students unduplicated, so these are at least one student taking at 

least one course, enrolled in these programs. We are working on 

improving the number of students who are completing the courses, 

because at this point it appears that it takes them longer to go 

through these courses. But that may make some sense than it 

would if you were just a traditional student doing seat time in one 

of our high schools. 

However, the number of students who are dropping out of these 

courses is very minimal. This past year we had 296 seniors complete extended day courses to stay in line to graduate, which directly impacted our graduation rate. 

Once again I would like to say that I think it’s more than just 

more and longer. We need to really provide and try to meet the 

needs of our kids, the kids that we’re serving today. And we’re not 

serving the same kids that we served, Senator, when I went to 

school back in the seventies. So with that I would be happy to listen to my colleagues and engage in conversation. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Brooks follows:] 

August 20, 2010. 

Hon. JEFF BINGAMAN, 

Hart Senate Office Building, 

Washington, DC 20510–3102. 

DEAR SENATOR BINGAMAN: It is my honor to testify before the Senate Health, 

Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on ‘‘Innovative Approaches to 

School Time.’’ As you are aware, Albuquerque Public Schools is the largest school 
8 

district in the State of New Mexico with more than 90,000 students attending school 

each day. As the largest school district in the urban area of Albuquerque and surrounding communities, we face challenges every day with meeting specific educational goals of students during the traditional school day. A typical high school 

student will attend school from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. each day. However, this 

schedule poses particular problems for some students who are working to help or 

fully support a family or who face a multitude of other issues in their life. 

During the 2009–10 school year, the district formed the ‘‘Extended Day Program’’ 

with no new funds. This program took existing resources that were allocated to 

Evening High School and diverted them to this program. This also focused resources 

in alignment with the district’s number one goal of improving student achievement 

and increasing graduation rates. 

Each comprehensive high school received a teacher allocation of two additional 

class periods to implement the program. This made the program available at each 

high school in our community, which directly increased participation. Students who 

traditionally would have attended Evening High School, faced transportation and 

other challenges of getting to the school which was located at Albuquerque High 

School. Albuquerque High School is located in the middle of the city, more than a 

dozen miles away from most other high schools. 

The focus of the ‘‘Extended Day Program’’ is on students who need to recover credits that they are missing or for students who have failed a course that needs to be 

made up to stay ‘‘on track’’ towards graduation. In addition, schools have been able 

to identify students who need to remediate a course for next fall and will begin right 

as school begins for the 2010–11 school year. High school counselors have played 

a pivotal role in the program because they have identified students that need to be 

placed in the program. 

After the first semester the number of students who participated in the program, 

dramatically increased. During the first semester there were 700 students enrolled 

in the program and during the second semester 1,700 students were enrolled. The 

courses were offered from 2:45 p.m. to 5 p.m. and were a hybrid of direct, face-toface instruction and on-line instruction. The individual comprehensive high schools 

chose the offered courses based on the courses at their school that had the greatest 

number of failures. 

Since this was a pilot program, the Albuquerque Public Schools evaluated the 

data from the ‘‘Extended Day Program.’’ The findings show that there were 2,523 

non-duplicated students participating in the program with slightly more males taking courses than females. Hispanic students make up 69 percent of the students 

participating in the program. The outcomes need to improve with only 26 percent 

of students completing courses, 59 percent still enrolled in courses and only 15 percent dropped the course. Enclosed with this document you will find a breakdown by 

school, gender, ethnicity, and letter grade received. 

Students in this program have been able to provide testimony about the impact 

APS’ extended day had on their high school success. Young men who found themselves engaged in risk behaviors and leaving school found the extended day an opportunity to ‘‘catch up’’ to their peers and graduate with them. Students who had 

gotten off-track for high school success due to failing core requirements found an 

appealing way to recover those credits. These students took challenging courses and 

moved at their own pace through the extended day program, some taking more than 

2–3 courses to finish. 

There is no better measure of a program’s success for high school students than 

graduation. This past year, 296 seniors completed extended day courses that allowed them to graduate either with their peers or within the allowable 5-year time 

period for on-time graduation. 

Sincerely, 

WINSTON C. BROOKS, 

Superintendent. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Thank you very much. 

Ms. Paisano-Trujillo. 

STATEMENT OF RENEE PAISANO-TRUJILLO, EXECUTIVE 

DIRECTOR, ELEV8 NEW MEXICO, ALBUQUERQUE, NM 

Ms. PAISANO-TRUJILLO. Yes. Thank you, Senator, for allowing me 

to testify today. As a long-time after school advocate, I feel that an 

equitable education has to include extended learning opportunities. 
9 

And in that we can prepare our students for jobs in the future and 

jobs we can’t even yet imagine. 

I really also believe that one of the things we need to do together 

is to create cost efficiencies so we avoid cutting essential programs, 

programs that help young people not only create, innovate, but defend their own ideas. 

Elev8 New Mexico is advancing an extended learning initiative, 

it’s called Full-Service Community Schools. And we’re focused on 

the middle schools, where community-based organizations, many of 

which are in the room with us today, work alongside school staff 

and governmental officials and volunteers to ensure that comprehensive coordinated services are available to middle school students. 

Services include extended learning. They also include comprehensive school-based health. They include family supports and family 

engagement, something that’s really important to all of us right 

now. 

Exposing young people to a wide range of careers, similar to 

those advanced by Citizen Schools and by MicroSociety, increases 

their social capital. Consider how afterschool and extended learning 

can develop multiple intelligences, something that I am very, very 

passionate about, to help them compete in the 21st century. 

If you could imagine a robotics program that teaches science, 

technology, engineering, and math; an afterschool program that reinforces math and literacy; a theater program that allows students 

to build confidence and self-expression; or cultural arts, which is in 

one of our reservation programs that allows students to connect to 

their native language and traditions. 

To achieve this we need to expose young people to career professionals that look like them and that have backgrounds similar to 

their own context and to careers that seem out of reach to them. 

I really believe that our young people need to be prepared for jobs 

of the future and I don’t think they are right now. 

National research, we all know what it says. It says that highquality after school programs can support standardized gains, test 

scores, school attendance, and bonding to school to keep them on 

the right path. 

But what we’re learning through Full-Service Community 

Schools is that through inquiry and project-based learning that 

connects to other kinds of social supports, you can decrease arrests 

from 60 to 1. It happened in one of our schools. So school climate 

and school safety can be addressed through these kinds of supports. 

You can increase math learning proficiency—from 2008 to 2009 

in one of our reservation schools this happened. And in that same 

school, a 214 percent increase in proficiency from 7th to 8th grade 

was realized. 

We are also seeing decreases in disciplinary referrals across all 

of our sites because of this comprehensive support. And we also 

now have a recognition that our school-based health centers are 

among the top in the State because they are meeting necessary 

productivity standards, the first time ever that we have something 

like this for our school-based health centers. 
10 

Schools can’t do this alone and I believe nor should after school 

and extended learning. We need to make sure that school-based 

health centers are kept in place because they keep kids in school 

and they influence academic performance. 

Youth development practices help motivate learning. We need to 

remember that they are incorporated in the schools and we need 

to support that. Community involvement is crucial but needs a support and a staff of coordination and engagement structure. 

The tipping point, however, for us anyway is that it occur 

through an integrative process, that they be seamlessly integrated 

into schools, and that we have a structure to support them. Without integration you get more of the same, silent services. 

As this community and Congress consider extended learning time 

with the reauthorization of the SCA, I believe we must maintain 

separate funding streams for Full-Service Community Schools in 

21st Century Community Learning Centers. 

I also think we need to increase authorized funding and appropriation for 21st CCLC, maintaining funds solely for extended 

learning and after school. And I also believe that after school needs 

to have evaluation funded. We don’t want loosely delivered afterschool programs and extended learning, we want them to be evaluated. 

In conclusion I want to tell you about Peter. Peter is now in the 

9th grade. At the beginning of his 8th grade year, Peter decided to 

run for student council treasurer. What complicated his desire was 

the fact that he didn’t know anything about finances. On top of 

that, he was somewhat withdrawn, he wasn’t really an engaged 

student. 

When he entered MicroSociety, a nationally recognized learning—extended learning program supported by Elev8, his confusion 

ended. Beyond project based learning and fleeting simulations, 

MicroSociety makes a connection to the actual world. 

Peter learned about the economy, citizenship, and government. 

He also learned about savings, investing, and how the Federal Reserve Bank operates. He was elected student council treasurer. And 

one of his teachers credits MicroSociety and Elev8 for his newfound confidence and the fact that he can now navigate 9th grade. 

Senator Bingaman and members of the committee, I want to say 

that we can’t do it alone and that Full-Service Community Schools 

cannot be underestimated or understated. Though it takes a community, I’d like to acknowledge the principals and superintendents 

who are advancing Full-Service Community Schools. 

Two of them are with us. Superintendent Winston Brooks who 

has full-service in his schools, and also Laguna Department of Education Superintendent Dr. Fairbanks. Without them we could not 

do this work. 

I also want to say that together let’s support the high cost of 

failed futures. We know what that cost is. And I could run down 

those figures with you. I think most of us know them. 

But let’s invest instead. Invest in high quality education that includes after school and extended learning. 

Thank you, Senator. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Paisano-Trujillo follows:] 
11 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF RENEE PAISANO-TRUJILLO

Senator Bingaman and members of the committee, I want to sincerely thank you 

for the invitation to testify today. The focus of this hearing addresses one of the 

most important issues affecting our communities locally and nationally. In particular, I believe we must address how we best serve our students and provide them 

with the most well-rounded and equitable education possible in a 21st century 

world. It is my sincere belief that our youngest citizens are not prepared for today’s 

jobs and the jobs of the future. 

BEYOND THE ACADEMIC OUTCOMES

In order to be successful in creating the most desirable outcomes, both economic 

and otherwise, we must re-evaluate and reform our approach to education in New 

Mexico and elsewhere. We must innovate in a way that involves broad community 

and consumers: the students and their families. Essentially what we are seeking is 

an ongoing process in which we redirect highly ingrained systems of education and 

close numerous and nearly immeasurable gaps. It will take long-term solutions and 

a plan to sustain New Mexico’s educational system, its economy, its quality of life 

and, quite frankly, its international stature well into the future. For Elev8 New 

Mexico, it all goes hand-in-hand, and it all begins with providing Full-Service Community Schools (FSCS). In a Full-Service Community School services are intentionally bundled. Those services include after-school learning and enrichment, 

‘‘whole-child’’ and family health, mental health and dental care at school, and family 

supports such as financial literacy and access to available and much needed social 

services. It is the intent of Full-Service Community Schools to bring together the 

best educational and youth development practices in partnership with local educational agencies and community-based organizations. A key area of focus within a 

full-service community is family engagement where parents and whole families become sources of support not just for their students, but also for their schools. FullService Community Schools are about a full cycle of support and accountability involving all that benefit and integrating all elements of the structure. 

Aside from the strict academic outcomes that seem to be the emphasis of too 

much of the current discourse on education, the development of non-academic skills 

and competencies are necessary if we truly are going to prepare young people for 

the challenges of high school, the rigors of higher education and an ever changing 

21st century workplace and global economy. Non-cognitive factors such as enhanced 

emotional and social skills actually help improve cognitive functions and are a better indicator of success in school, the workplace, and life. There is a strong cause 

and effect relationship between non-cognitive factors (social intelligence, emotional 

intelligence, i.e., multiple intelligences) and the development of cognitive skills particularly during the middle school years. 

AFTERSCHOOL ENRICHMENT

One important component of my testimony before this committee is to discuss the 

value of afterschool programs but within a extended learning frame, which is what 

Elev8 New Mexico is advancing. Afterschool can be, in fact, a perfect laboratory to 

develop the social, emotional, and cognitive intelligences to best prepare students 

for postsecondary and career success. Afterschool can also be a place to develop critical thinkers who create and innovate, and who are equipped to articulate and defend their own ideas, which will ready students for careers that have not yet been 

defined. Developing these social/emotional and cognitive intelligences as a whole is 

particularly important for children of color and students in distressed communities. 

U.S. Census Data demonstrates that minorities are highly-concentrated in low-income, low-wage jobs with very little room for economic mobility. Without intervention, this basically means that young people will draw on the networks and opportunities that are available to them (e.g. the networks established by their parents and 

peers) which will almost certainly continue to perpetuate a cycle of poverty and low 

wage jobs. Afterschool provides the perfect opportunity to increase the social capital 

of young people by exposing them to a wide range of careers and professions 

through career exploration activities, internships, service learning and apprenticeships. When young people, especially those of color, are exposed to career professionals who come from similar backgrounds and look like them, careers that may 

have been perceived as ‘‘out of reach’’ suddenly seem more attainable. 

In rural communities, career exploration activities are especially meaningful. 

Growing up on a rural reservation west of Albuquerque, my exposure to industries 

that are common in larger urban areas was minimal. Career exploration, service 

learning and apprenticeships in the afterschool space allow rural youth to aspire to 
12 

1 Involvement in the Arts and Success in Secondary School. James S. Cattaral, 1998. Taken 

from Champions of Change: The Impart of the Arts on Learning. The Arts Education Partnership. 

become engineers, doctors, filmmakers and entrepreneurs by making these industries accessible and attainable. These activities also illuminate the pathways to careers by clearly outlining educational requirements, core competencies, the 21st century skills needed, and available opportunities in emerging and existing industries. 

Afterschool can also provide dynamic learning spaces for young people to cultivate 

their skills. Think about the traditional classroom. There is typically a teacher 

standing in front of a class, and the exchange of information is essentially one-way. 

In densely populated urban schools, student to teacher ratios can rise to 30:1 or 

greater. What this means is that academic achievement can become an individualized pursuit where young people have little opportunity to develop teamwork, interpersonal communication skills, and other social skills that can be cultivated through 

group activity. Afterschool helps fill this void by promoting project and inquirybased team learning where young people can develop critical thinking, problem solving, negotiation, and intercultural communication skills that are sought after in today’s 21st century workplace. 

In properly and aptly preparing our next generation of leaders, we must not forget 

the important role afterschool enrichment activities play in a child’s life. It may be 

a robotics program that teaches science, technology, engineering and math (STEM); 

an afterschool music program that reinforces math and literacy skills; a theatre program that allows students to build confidence and self-expression; or a cultural club 

that allows students to connect to their native language and traditions. Afterschool 

enrichment activities such as these cannot be dismissed as ‘‘fluff.’’ They are essential in building social, emotional and academic competencies that are needed in 

school and life. What is important is that they be of the highest quality. 

In a study of leaders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors, one of the 

most common variables was that the majority of leaders had participated in some 

type of music program in their formative years. Communities and leaders believe 

in the enriching power of arts and music education—be they art, music or any number of other enrichment programs—funded by local and national non-profit groups 

over the last several decades underscoring the correlation between academics and 

the arts and encouraging communities and individuals to commit as seriously to 

these enrichments as they do math, reading and science. 

There also exists strong evidence that enrichment activities make a difference in 

overall student achievement; not just in core subjects, but in every area of academia. 

A study of 25,000 students from the U.S. Department of Education NELS Database 

showed that students with high-levels of arts participation outperformed students 

who were ‘‘arts-poor’’. The study also showed that students from low-socioeconomic 

backgrounds benefited the most from enrichment activities.1 We also know that 

sports activities in the afterschool space can be a vehicle to reduce health risks, 

such as obesity and diabetes. 

EXTENDED LEARNING TIME AND INCREASED ACADEMIC INSTRUCTION

Another touchstone of the testimony I submit before you here today is what is 

known simply as Extended Learning Time, or ELT. As you will hear in other testimony throughout the day, there is growing momentum for extending the school day 

either by extending the hours for school teachers or by engaging nonprofit practitioners in the extended day space. Often referred to also as Expanded Learning 

Time, this strategy provides the additional time necessary to take students on deeper, more thorough expeditions of core subject areas, allowing full-time and secondshift educators a chance to lengthen, reinforce, and thus strengthen, lessons in core 

academic subjects. 

As Eric Schwarz from Citizen Schools so eloquently stated in a memo to Education Secretary Arne Duncan: 

‘‘Done right, Expanded Learning Time can deliver significant gains in academic achievement and promote hands-on learning, artistic enrichment, college 

preparation and career exploration. Done right, ELT can enlist a new workforce 

of ‘‘second-shift’’ educators who can bring learning to life, disrupt business-asusual staffing and pedagogy, and complement the dedicated service of America’s 

classroom teachers.’’ 

ELT provides the intensive academic support that some students need to improve 

academically. While most ELT programs incorporate enrichment activities, many 

provide minimal time for these types of activities in the extended day. 
13 

I view afterschool enrichment activities and ELT on a continuum. Jeff Riley from 

the Boston Public Schools refers to this as the ‘‘layer cake approach.’’ On top of the 

regular school day, I view enrichment activities as a way to increase youth connections to their school by providing structured and semi-structured programming in 

areas like sports, music, drama, art and clubs. Enrichment is also a way to increase 

student attendance, which is a short-term predictor to long-term academic success. 

An additional layer to the regular school day, is the ELT programs that are heavily focused on academic instruction in the extended day. ELT can help students advance academically and achieve proficiency in core subject areas. ELT can also have 

a significant impact on students with remedial needs or students that need increased support with their academics. 

It is critical to understand that extended learning and enrichment are studentspecific and one does not necessarily imitate the other. ELT and Enrichment need 

to be integrated; a bridge must be constructed to ensure balanced supports to learning and innovation. A successful bridge strategy has several core components to ensure successful integration: 

• Shared professional development opportunities for teachers and nonprofit practitioners. Cross-walking approaches and pedagogy can help foster innovation in the classroom and in the extended day. 

• Services must support school goals. School goals provide the necessary anchor to ensure that work in the extended day is intentional and promotes student 

and family success. 

• Engagement of talented ‘‘Second Shift Educators’’ and strong community/nonprofit partners to complement traditional instruction. Involving 

strong nonprofit partners can provide fresh perspectives and lessen burnout of 

school teachers. 

• Integrate partners into existing school structures. Integrating partner organizations into school structures, such as instructional council and curriculum committees reinforces classroom connections in the extended day space. It also provides 

a bridge for school staff to engage in activities that are happening afterschool. 

• Afterschool activities must be able to reach all students. Some students 

may benefit most from increased academic instruction, while many others would 

benefit most from enrichment activities. Schools need to offer both enrichment and 

EDL activities to increase school connections for students. 

And that speaks to the very heart of my testimony here today, Senator Bingaman— 

our schools need both. 

What I am proposing is a Full-Service Community School approach that combines 

the rigorous academics of a quality school with a wide range of services and supports to promote children’s learning and development. A Full-Service Community 

School unites the most important influences in children’s lives—schools, families, 

and communities—to create a web of support that nurtures their development toward productive adulthood. 

Full-Service Community Schools build their vision from a comprehensive understanding of the developmental needs of children and youth, and seek to address the 

major developmental domains (cognitive, social, emotional, physical, moral) in ways 

that promote student success. A Full-Service Community School starts with a systematic assessment of needs—of each target population, school climate and community context. This assessment grounds decisions about resource allocation and partnership recruitment. Partner-provided and school-provided programs jointly meet 

school district and community goals. 

There are several well-known Full-Service Community School models that have 

proven to be successful including: 

• Elev8 

• Beacons 

• Children’s Aid Society Community Schools 

• Communities in Schools 

• Healthy Start 

• Polk Brothers Full-Service Schools 

Students in Full-Service Community Schools are positively impacted: 

• Research shows that middle school students who regularly attended high-quality afterschool programs demonstrated significant gains in standardized test scores 
14 

2Outcomes Linked to High-Quality Afterschool Programs: Longitudinal Findings from the 

Study of Promising Afterschool Programs. Deboral Lowe Vandell, Elizabeth Reisner and Kim 

Pierce, 2007. 3 Ibid. 

4The Impact of Afterschool Programs that Promote Personal and Social Skills. Joseph A. 

Durlak and Roger P. Weissberg, 2007. 5The Afterschool Alliance. Afterschool Programs: Making a Difference. Retrieved on August 

11, 2010 from http://www.afterschoolalliance.org/afterlout.cfm. 

and self-reported better work habits than their peers who did not participate in 

afterschool programs.2

• Regular participation in afterschool programs has also proven to reduce risky 

behaviors. For example, middle school students who regularly participated in afterschool programs reported less use of drugs and alcohol than students that did not 

participate in afterschool.3

• Afterschool is also proven to increase youths’ self-perceptions, bonding to school, 

and school attendance.4 5

• In rural, native communities where there are high-levels of participation in 

after school, we have seen significant increases in math proficiency. Laguna Middle 

School, on a rural reservation west of Albuquerque, was able to achieve a 45 percent 

increase in math proficiency in 1 year. For 7th graders, math proficiency doubled 

from 2008 to 2009. 

• We know that Full-Service Community Schools can have a positive impact on 

school climate and school safety. At Wilson Middle School in Albuquerque, youth arrests in the school and surrounding community went from 60 to 1 in 1 year. 

TURNAROUND OF LOW-PERFORMING SCHOOLS

The sole responsibility of turning around schools and increasing student achievement should not be placed exclusively on the schools. It is my belief that turnaround 

by definition requires strong partnerships between schools, the nonprofit community 

and governmental agencies to achieve the results we all desire. In fact, as you heard 

in the Edwards Case Study, school turnaround was a confluence of strong school 

leadership, expanded learning time and more partners to address the needs of students. In New Mexico, I have found that more partners in the school space is merely 

a starting point. The tipping point for success in the Full-Service Community School 

model occurs when the partners and the services they provide are integrated within 

the school structure. Without the integration, you get more of the same siloed work 

that has minimal impact in turning a school around. Integration requires a strong 

commitment from all parties and a belief that through shared responsibility we can 

have a greater impact. As I stated earlier: The Full-Service Community School 

structure is underpinned by accountability. 

Through Elev8 NM, we have established strong relationships with State-level 

partners including the New Mexico Public Education Department, New Mexico Department of Health, New Mexico Children, Youth and Families and the New Mexico 

Children’s Cabinet. These partnerships have allowed us to achieve greater alignment around: 

• Core mission and vision for serving our State’s youth. We accomplish this, in 

part, by aligning to our Children’s Cabinet 5 Outcomes. 

• Investments for children. Ensuring that we are maximizing investments from 

private, public and philanthropic institutions for the benefit of youth and families. 

It’s not always about securing new resources. Sometimes it’s about realigning existing resources to best support our target population. 

• Engaging our public partners in the planning, implementation and assessment 

of Elev8 programming. Once again, it’s about integration. Our public partners are 

involved in our Advisory Council, assessment and evaluation committee, and other 

leadership structures. Our public partners work with us to ensure rigor in both our 

assessment and our approach. 

It is important to know the benefits of investing in extended learning. An independent cost/benefits evaluation showed that The Quantum Opportunities afterschool program saved taxpayers and crime victims an average of $16,428 in crime 

costs for every youth served. This figure does not include decreased welfare expenditures and increased tax dollars from higher earnings. The impact of adequate funding for extended learning leads to a simple conclusion: failing to invest in quality 

after-school programs squanders billions of dollars. 
15 

ENSURING STUDENT SUCCESS: EXTENDED LEARNING IN A FULL-SERVICE COMMUNITY

SCHOOL APPROACH

As Congress considers extended learning time in the reauthorization of ESEA and 

other funded programs we believe we must: 

• Increase flexibility of 21st Century Community Learning Center (and SES) allowable activities, including a community schools approach to ensure that the interests and intelligences of the students are part of the process toward student success. 

An integrative approach that ensures that youth development, mental and physical 

health, extended learning, and family supports are appropriately incorporated into 

the school space is essential. 

• Resource the role of intermediary organizations as a support structure that 

eliminates burden on school leadership and staff and ensure the successful implementation of extended learning with other school supports such as health, family 

services and engagement, extracurricular activities, etc. Our intermediary operates 

to support extended learning providers and school systems by providing training, 

quality assurance, sustainability, convening, neutral facilitation, planning support, 

and other services. 

• Maintain 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program’s focus on ensuring that kids have safe, supervised learning environments beyond the traditional 

school day; continue to balance academic programming with enrichment activities; 

and add physical activity, health and nutrition education as allowable activities. 

• Increase authorized funding and annual appropriation for the 21st Century 

Community Learning Centers Program and we must assure that 21st CCLC funds 

be maintained solely for extended learning use and not be re-directed for use during 

the school day. Currently many more children and youth need afterschool: more 

than 15 million children are unsupervised and at risk after the school day ends. Increased funding authorization levels are critical if allowable activities and focus of 

program are broadened. Further, we must align Federal funding to ensure that 

qualified citizen teachers/community based providers support extended learning in 

full partnership with classroom teachers and school leadership. 

• Fund an afterschool infrastructure that ensures mixed method evaluation and 

quality improvement strategies that connect to State educational standards. For 

New Mexico, we propose that all afterschool programs be systematically measured 

for quality and continuous improvement. Measures of student success must show 

growth and improvement over time and student achievement and success to include 

preliminary indicators such as improved school day attendance, better classroom 

grades, positive attitude towards school, daily program attendance, on time advancement to the next grade level and on a pathway to high school graduation and 

career- and college-readiness. Data collection should include the above indicators. 

• Continue to support service and volunteerism programs like AmeriCorps and 

AmeriCorps VISTA to ensure low-cost, no cost support to afterschool programs, 

thereby ensuring a more expansive citizen support base that increases educational 

opportunity and economic mobility for whole communities. 

CONCLUSION

In New Mexico, Elev8’s Full-Service Community Schools are a bridge that works 

to increase student success. At Gadsden Middle School, Elev8 is helping students 

like Peter succeed: 

During his 2 years at Gadsden Middle School in Anthony, Peter was known 

as a very quiet and reserved student. Early in his 8th grade year, Peter shocked 

his friends by announcing that he wanted to be the Treasurer of Student Council. In his interview with the Student Council Selection Committee, Peter shared 

his new love of finances. A year earlier, Peter had been interested in, but very 

confused about banking and investments and how finances worked in general. 

That was before he became an active participant in the MicroSociety extended 

learning program. Beyond project based learning or fleeting simulations, MicroSociety makes a connection to the real world come alive for students. MicroSociety teaches about economy, citizenship and government, humanities and arts, 

business, technology and more. A strand like economy and its sub strands, like 

banking, consist of core subjects, such as, math, and encompass all aspects found 

within an actual society. Peter took an interest in the banking industry, in Gadsden Middle School’s MicroSociety. He told the interview committee how much he 

had learned about deposits, credits, saving and investing. He described how the 

Federal Reserve Bank operated, not an easy feat even for the majority of adults. 

He said he knew that finances were complicated but said he was prepared to 

handle the enormous responsibility. He was elected Treasurer, served his term 
16 

and has since graduated to Gadsden High School. One of his teachers, Mrs. Corona, said that MicroSociety is what helped Peter to become a confident leader 

who now really believes in himself as he navigates high school. 

This is but one of many amazing stories of success occurring across the five Elev8 

New Mexico sites, attributable directly to Full-Service Community Schools in action. 

We saw a decrease in student arrests from 60 to 1 at an urban school site. We 

saw a decrease in teen pregnancies to zero for the last 2 years in a rural border 

school. We saw a leap in math proficiency by 45 percent in a reservation school. At 

the systemic level we have led collaborative processes for ensuring the quality of extended learning and school based health. Additionally, we have worked collaboratively to increase the number of children receiving free nutritious meals in the 

State. 

These impacts do not occur in a silo, but rather as part of a Full-Service Community School approach that brings together educators, students, administrators, business and community leaders, families and a vast network of caregivers and researchers—all of whom contribute experience and knowledge to a common outcome. 

Though cliche ́, it is true through our experience that to tackle 21st century challenges we must address the whole challenge facing our students today. 

Education that supports economic mobility for all must include health, wellbeing, 

and sociological components so that today’s students are ready for the jobs the 21st 

century will bring. That is especially true in a State like New Mexico, where cutting-edge industry and innovative technology are already playing an enormous role 

in the future of our economy. Beyond future employment and higher education, today’s students are faced with more life challenges than any generation that has 

come before. 

The Full-Service Community School approach becomes part of the answer in addressing the multi-decade decline in meeting important student and youth outcomes. It does this through a well integrated system of whole support to ensure success for all and not just some. Elev8 wants to be part of the forward educational 

thinking and system-wide reform that makes certain all citizens are educated, working, and contributing to the whole. I stand proud and hopeful before you here today, 

Senator Bingaman, distinguished committee members, and esteemed panelists in 

saying that the work has already begun. The importance of your support and active 

involvement in Full-Service Community Schools cannot be understated. 

Thank you. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Thank you very much, appreciate it. 

Mr. Horn, thank you for coming and look forward to hearing your 

views. 

STATEMENT OF MICHAEL B. HORN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

INNOSIGHT INSTITUTE, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA 

Mr. HORN. Thank you very much for the opportunity, Senator. 

And thank you to all the members that you’ve brought together 

here. It’s quite a list of people and I’m thrilled to be on this panel 

speaking to you today. 

Even as we have this conversation about the importance of extended learning time, for many as I think Superintendent Brooks 

pointed out, certainly not all but many of our students, the reality 

of what’s happening outside of this room and outside of this conversation and many of the efforts discussed today is that districts 

and States are actually having to cut back. 

At the very point where we need many students to have extra 

hours and time spent learning, we’re not just shedding extra hours, 

we’re actually shedding full days from the learning week. 

Districts ranging from L.A. Unified to rural school districts here 

in New Mexico and all over the country have gone to or are considering 4-day weeks because of the budgets crises facing them, with 

the result being that many students now get actually less time for 

learning than before, even when the evidence shows us so markedly that we need it to be the other way around. 
17 

So the question is what do we do about this. Spending more 

money seems not to be the solution, because the reality is that we 

don’t have more funds available. Municipalities, districts, and 

States are plunging right now into even greater fiscal crises. This 

won’t stop anytime soon, not to mention that the Federal Government has some budget issues of its own. 

The budget picture is not going to brighten anytime soon. The 

question, of course is, Is it hopeless? I don’t think so at all. A solution exists that provides more learning time for those students who 

need it in a more flexible, cost-effective manner than the present 

system which is online learning. 

Online learning is a classic disruptive innovation. Disruptive innovation is one that transforms a sector by introducing simplicity, 

affordability, accessibility, greater decentralization and, therefore, 

more flexibility, and customization, where before the sector services 

were expensive, inaccessible, centralized, and inflexible. 

It initially takes root in narrow foothold areas where the alternative for users is literally nothing at all, what we call nonconsumption. And from there it improves and gains shares. One by 

one users flock out to the disruption because they’re delighted with 

something that’s more affordable, simpler, more convenient, and 

the world is transformed over time. 

It’s the process that’s transformed computing into one where 

nearly everyone can afford a computing device. And it’s a process 

that has brought affordability to cars so that nearly everyone can 

own one. 

It’s taking place in education as we speak. And it does have the 

potential to solve the dilemma of extending learning time for those 

who need it in a time of declining resources as well as to transform 

the system into a more student centered one. 

Online learning is first planting itself in these foothold areas 

where the alternative is literally nothing at all. For example, it’s 

gaining traction in credit recovery—Boston Public Schools has been 

a leader in this as of late—as well as dropout recovery programs. 

For many students, when they fail a course, there’s no way for 

them to make it up and recover the credits to graduate. And across 

the country 30 percent of U.S. students drop out of school for a variety of reasons including 13,200 students in New Mexico in 2009. 

Online learning is a welcome and affordable way to offer these students a way to get back on track in a convenient fashion that 

works for them. 

Another place online learning is taking root is in the advanced 

courses that many schools, especially small, rural, and urban ones, 

are unable to offer. This doesn’t just refer to advanced placement 

courses but instead impacts courses that many of us would consider quite core. 

Twenty-five percent of high schools around the country do not 

offer an advanced course defined as anything above geometry, so 

no algebra II, no trigonometry, forget about calculus; anything 

above biology, so no chemistry or physics; and any honors English 

class at all. 

There are certainly students, however, in those schools that 

would like or even need access to those courses. And so aggregating 
18 

demand across many school districts and offering them online is a 

welcome solution. 

At first glance the budget crises facing districts are deeply 

threatening as they have resulted in this loss of learning time. 

Seen from another perspective, however, they should, in fact, be a 

welcome opportunity to transform our education system into this 

more flexible one that can actually customize for different student 

needs and provide students with more learning time than is, in 

fact, possible in the conventional system. 

If schools need to cut back on the physical days in class, for example, to save dollars in building or transportation costs, there’s no 

need the learning has to stop too. Offer the students opportunities 

to learn online. This will not only prevent students from losing 

time on learning, but it can also be an enormous opportunity and 

allow them to actually gain more time for learning as it makes, in 

effect, an extended day such that students can learn at any hour 

of the day any day of the week. 

This can both save money and produce better results. But to do 

it right, we must free districts from various restrictions that limit 

how they can use their funds such that they are able to move beyond regulations that tie funding to seat time, for example, and 

progress toward tying funding to successful outcomes. 

What will naturally happen, if we tie funding to successful student outcomes in the online system such that time is variable so 

learning is constant, is that those students that need more time for 

learning will have that more time. This will allow them to have 

more repetitions, different pathways through the materials, or 

more time on task such that they can realize the learning objectives before them. 

But for those students who can breeze past something, they will 

be able to move on to the next concept or to various enrichment activities or projects, which will be a great thing because it will keep 

them more engaged. Ultimately we’re going to have to figure out 

how to deliver more with less. 

Fortunately there is a path to do that if we’ll take the first steps 

forward and stop the insanity of cutting back learning time at the 

very point when we need to extend it for so many of our students. 

Thank you for this opportunity today. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Horn follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MICHAEL B. HORN

Even as we have this conversation today about the importance of extending learning time for many—certainly not all, but many—U.S. students, the reality of what 

is happening outside this room and outside many of the efforts discussed today is 

that most districts and States are having to cut back. At the very point where we 

need many students to have extra hours of time spent learning, we are not just 

shedding extra hours, but we are actually shedding full days from the learning 

week. Districts—ranging from LA Unified to rural school districts here in New Mexico—all over the country have gone to or are considering 4-day weeks because of the 

budget crises facing them, with the result being that many students now get less 

time for learning than before, even when the evidence shows us so markedly that 

we need it to be the other way around. 

So what do we do about this? Spending more money is not a solution because the 

reality is that we don’t have more funds available. Municipalities, districts, and 

States are plunging right now into even greater fiscal crises, and this will not stop 

anytime soon, not to mention that the Federal Government is swimming in red ink. 

If the budget picture is not going to brighten anytime soon, is this hopeless? 
19 

Not at all. A solution exists that provides more learning time for those students 

who need it in a more flexible, cost-effective manner than the present system: online 

learning. 

Online learning is a classic disruptive innovation. A disruptive innovation is one 

that transforms a sector by introducing simplicity, affordability, accessibility, greater decentralization and therefore more flexibility, and customization where before 

the sector’s services were expensive, inaccessible, centralized, and inflexible. It initially takes root in narrow foothold areas where the alternative for users is nothing 

at all—places we call nonconsumption—and from there it improves and gains share 

as one by one users flock out to the disruption and the world is transformed. This 

is the process that has transformed computing into one where nearly everyone can 

afford a computing device, and it is the process that has brought affordability to 

cars so that nearly everyone can own one. It is taking place in education, and it 

has the potential to solve the dilemma of extending learning time for those who 

need it in a time of declining resources—as well as to transform the system into 

a far more student-centric one. 

Online learning is first planting itself in these foothold areas where the alternative is literally nothing at all. For example, it is gaining traction in credit recovery and dropout recovery programs. For many students, when they fail a course, 

there is no way for them to make it up and recover the credits to graduate, and 

across the country, 30 percent of U.S. students dropout of school for a variety of reasons. Online learning is a welcome and affordable way to offer these students a way 

to get back on track in a convenient fashion that works for them. 

Another place online learning is taking root is in the advanced courses that many 

schools—especially small, rural, and urban schools—are unable to offer. This doesn’t 

just refer to Advanced Placement courses, but instead impacts courses that many 

of us would consider core. Twenty-five percent of high schools do not offer an advanced course, defined as anything above geometry—so no algebra 2 or trigonometry 

or calculus; anything above biology—so no chemistry or physics; and any honors 

English class at all. There are certainly students in those schools, however, that 

would like or even need access to those courses, and so aggregating demand across 

many school districts and offering them online is a welcome solution. 

At first glance, the budget crises facing districts are deeply threatening, as they 

have resulted in this loss of learning time. Seen from another perspective, however, 

they should in fact be a welcome opportunity to transform our education system into 

a more flexible one that can customize for different student needs and provide students with more learning time than is in fact possible in the conventional system, 

as the budget shortfalls will expand these areas of nonconsumption. 

If schools need to cut back on the physical days in class to save dollars on building 

and transportation costs, there is no need the learning has to stop, too. Offer the 

students opportunities to learn online. This will not only prevent students from losing learning time, but it can also be an enormous opportunity and allow them to 

gain more time for learning, as online learning can in effect extend the day such 

that students can learn at any hour of the day any day of the week. 

This can both save money and produce better results. To do this right, however, 

we must free districts from various restrictions that limit how they can use their 

funds such that they are able to move beyond regulations that tie funding to seat 

time, for example, and progress toward tying funding to successful outcomes. What 

will naturally happen if we tie funding to successful student outcomes in the online 

system—such that time is variable so learning is constant—is that those students 

that need more time for learning will have more time to learn. This will allow them 

to have more repetitions, different pathways through the learning materials, or 

more time on task such that they can realize the learning objectives before them. 

For those students who can breeze past something, they will be able to move on to 

the next concept or to various enrichment activities, which will be a great thing because it will keep them more engaged. 

Ultimately, we are increasingly going to have to deliver more with less. Fortunately there is a path to do just that if we will take the first steps forward and 

stop the insanity of cutting back on learning time at the very point when we need 

to extend it for so many of our students. Online learning represents that path, as 

even in a time of fewer resources, it can allow us to deliver more time for learning 

and more successful results. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Thank you very much, appreciate it. 

Dr. Bernstein. 
20 

STATEMENT OF ELLEN BERNSTEIN, Ed.D., PRESIDENT, 

ALBUQUERQUE TEACHERS FEDERATION, ALBUQUERQUE, NM 

Ms. BERNSTEIN. Thank you, Senator. And thank you for the opportunity to address you and talk about this important topic here 

today. And I would also like to say thank you so much for your vote 

on the jobs bill. You literally saved our school year. Thank you. 

If standards are to be the constant, then time has to be variable. 

When both time and standards are the constant, teachers are 

forced to work in a system that demands coverage. And coverage 

is the enemy of understanding. When schools are not structured 

with the time necessary to teach for understanding, then students, 

teachers, schools, and entire districts are labeled as failing even 

when quite often they’re making great progress. 

When standards are the constant and time is allowed to be the 

variable, teachers are able to teach toward understanding. Understanding leads to deep conceptual knowledge. And with that as our 

learning goal, our graduates will be able to apply their understanding in diverse situations and to solve problems in innovative 

and creative ways. These are truly the skills necessary for both life 

and for work. 

One recent step toward achieving two of our Nation’s educational 

goals, closing the achievement gap and increasing the graduation 

rate, has been to develop and adopt common standards. These 

standards define knowledge and skills that students should have 

within their K–12 education. 

As unprecedented and important as common standards may be 

in our effort to meet our goals, one type of standard has largely 

gone unaddressed. Opportunity to learn standards have been defined over time as the essential elements in education that gives 

all students an opportunity to access the curriculum. 

Some of those opportunities to learn standards are a competent 

qualified and caring teacher, appropriate curriculum materials, 

adequate technology, and support services. This list of opportunity 

to learn standards is indisputable, yet there’s one ingredient that 

has to be added to that, and that’s the ingredient of time. 

Focusing our efforts on time holds the promise of addressing 

many of the factors that create the opportunity gap. Additional 

school time is an important step toward closing the achievement 

gap and of increasing graduation rates. 

But these two goals really fall short of what students ultimately 

need and deserve. We have to strive for more than merely graduating students with surface knowledge and good test taking skills. 

As a nation we have to invest innovative uses of time so that opportunity to learn standards connected with time will help us realize our content and performance standards. 

In order to avoid more of the same, additional time has to be implemented in tandem with innovative uses of time. Using existing 

and additional time in innovative ways has the potential to disrupt 

the status quo, the status quo of our obsolete classrooms, schools, 

and districts. 

We can then aspire to go beyond just closing the achievement 

gap and increasing the graduation rate. Teachers will be able to develop in their students the skills, attributes, and dispositions that 

employers want and that our students need. 
21 

Schools will graduate students who are creative, innovative, 

adaptable, self-motivated, and are able to solve problems and to 

work in groups. A purposeful and innovative rethinking of school 

time has many important and interconnected effects 

Teachers’ pedagogical strategies will become more diverse, engaging, and robust; students’ needs will be better identified and addressed; and teaching will become a more attractive profession. 

Thus, our school system will have an unprecedented ability to attract the best candidates into teaching and retain the most effective teachers. 

Once we free ourselves from the factory model and the times 

practices that have handcuffed us to that structure, we have to 

rethink unquestioned time-honored practices, like grouping students in grades, grading as a way to communicate learning, moving 

students around based on bell schedules, separating structures into 

discrete blocks of time, and connecting high school graduation on 

Carnegie units. 

Schools can be no longer expected to change and yet still look the 

same. It’s time to get away from the legacy of the factory that imprisons us as educators and the students we teach. We know that 

a cage for every age is an archaic and dysfunctional way to group 

students. And it’s time for us to start questioning the sacred rituals 

of schools and school systems. I think we can use the issue of time 

as a catalyst to do just that. 

As you noted in the TIME Act that you cosponsored in 2008 with 

Senators Kennedy and Sanders, you promoted not only the importance of adding time not just to catch up on the basics, but also 

adding time so that every student is entitled to what they should 

have, which is a well-rounded education that includes fine arts, 

physical education, and more, but also time that’s essential for 

teachers to plan and collaborate together. 

When we focus on innovative uses of time in our schools, we 

should ensure that there is expanded time as has been pointed out 

for young children. It should be included but not limited to some 

of the things we’ve done here in New Mexico, such as full-day K, 

pre-K, K–3 plus. 

We also need to create flexible time within the day for intervention, remediation, and enrichment. We need to invest as has been 

said in full-service community schools that are open evenings, 

weekends, and year-round. 

We need to eradicate the practicing of laboring students in 

grades and allow them to learn at their own rate. We need to disconnect high school graduation from Carnegie units. And we need 

to invest in teacher time above and separate from the time they 

spend teaching students. 

Making these goals a reality will require an unprecedented investment in additional teachers and support staff as well as in the 

teachers themselves. Even within APS each community has its own 

unique needs. It would be difficult to devise an effective staffing 

formula without taking into account all the diverse realities. 

As a local union president, I embrace the opportunity for work 

toward redefining school time, staff roles and responsibilities, and 

the daily work of teachers. This effort will make a substantial dif-
22 

ference for all students especially when done in partnership with 

teachers and their unions, policymakers, as well as the community. 

I think the U.S. Department of Education is searching for an appropriate role to play that would provoke change in our school systems. Up until this point, reform initiatives have been created in 

silos with little effort—with each effort standing alone waiting for 

the promise of being the thing that changes the entire system. 

Time has that possibility. And supporting this effort would be a 

significant and positive role for our Federal Government to play. 

The investment would be tremendous and the results would be astounding. Thank you, Senator. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Bernstein follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF ELLEN BERNSTEIN, ED.D. 

If standards are the constant, then time must be the variable. When both time 

and standards are the constant, teachers are forced to work in a system that demands coverage and coverage is the enemy of understanding. When schools are not 

structured with the time necessary to teach for understanding, then students, teachers, schools and entire districts are labeled as failing when quite often they are 

making great progress. 

When standards are the constant and time is allowed to be the variable, teachers 

are able to teach for understanding. Understanding leads to deep conceptual knowledge that is supported by a body of skills and facts. Students are able to apply their 

understanding in diverse situations and solve problems in innovative and creative 

ways. Creating schools where time is the variable is the path toward the vision of 

the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce: 

The best employers the world over will be looking for the most competent, 

most creative, and most innovative people on the face of the earth and will be 

willing to pay them top dollar for their services . . . Beyond [strong skills in 

English, mathematics, technology, and science], candidates will have to be comfortable with ideas and abstractions, good at both analysis and synthesis, creative and innovative, self-disciplined and well-organized, able to learn very 

quickly and work well as a member of a team and have the flexibility to adapt 

quickly to frequent changes in the labor market as the shifts in the economy 

become ever faster and more dramatic. 

As a nation, we must invest in the following uses of time as the Opportunity-toLearn Standards that make the realization of content and performance standards 

possible. As we focus on innovative uses of time in our schools, we should: 

• Ensure that there is expanded learning time for young children including, but 

not limited, to quality pre-kindergarten, full-day kindergarten, and extended school 

years. 

• Create flexible time within the day for intervention, remediation and enrichment. 

• Invest in full-service Community Schools that are open evenings, weekends and 

year-round. 

• Eradicate the practice of labeling students in grades and instead allow them to 

learn at their own pace. 

• Disconnect high school graduation from Carnegie Units. 

• Invest in teacher learning time, above and separate from the time spent teaching students. 

Reform initiatives have been created in silos with each effort standing alone waiting for the promise of being the thing that changes the entire system. Time has that 

possibility. The investment would be tremendous and the results astounding. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Thank you, thank you very much. 

Dr. Sheila Hyde. Thank you. You’re the cleanup hitter in this 

group. So go ahead. 
23 

STATEMENT OF SHEILA HYDE, Ph.D., DEPUTY SECRETARY, 

NEW MEXICO PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, SANTE FE, 

NM 

Ms. HYDE. No pressure. Good morning, Senator. Thank you for 

allowing me to represent the Department of Education here in New 

Mexico. I bring greetings from Secretary Murphy. 

And, you know, you mentioned earlier that I used to work for you 

and that I have moved on to bigger and better things. I have to 

tell you that I love the work I’m doing now. But I tell you, it would 

be hard to improve upon the work I got to do with you. 

Senator BINGAMAN. That’s very nice. Thank you. 

Ms. HYDE. It was truly an honor. 

I was listening to my colleagues here offering various perspectives about what we see as the innovative approaches to school 

time. We heard about one school that went in and looked at what 

they could do and we heard about flexibility. 

We heard about themes of afterschool programs and the importance of that. We heard about the perspective from online learning 

and what that brings in terms of efficiencies. We heard from Ellen 

about the importance of focusing on what goes on in that classroom 

and with the teachers and their professional development, and the 

ability to really look across the spectrum. 

From a State perspective, what we I think have learned the last 

three or 4 years is that one size just does not fit all. We have such 

complexity from rural schools to urban schools to Native American 

schools. And we really need I think as we’ve learned is that we 

have to do this innovative approach to school time together. We 

have a wealth of information around these tables and also in this 

room. 

As we were working on the school improvement grant over the 

last 6 or 8 months, we learned some very valuable lessons about 

when we bring superintendents and principals and teachers and all 

of our partners together to look at the root causes of the problems 

in individual schools, individual classrooms, and individual districts, we come up I think with a lot better answers together. 

I think the reauthorization of ESEA might give us that chance 

to do that differently in the next generation of accountability and 

assessments, using real data to track student progress from year 

to year, longitudinal data systems, that let teachers really see 

where individual students have problems. 

Our current system doesn’t really give teachers that kind of information. And we can look at extended time, expanded time, summer programs. But we also really need to look at those individual 

classrooms at whatever time they’re teaching. 

So we give them information about those students that really 

gives a full picture of what’s going on for that student. Giving time 

for those teachers to really learn and grow and plan is essential for 

us to really give them the skills and competencies to do their jobs. 

As we look at some of the promising practices here in New Mexico, you heard from Superintendent Brooks about the things that 

they’re doing to extend the school day, extend the school year. 

One of the brave things our Legislature did in 2009 was pass legislation that required 180 full days of instruction, exclusive of inservice. That was very brave. Then we came up to can we fund it. 
24 

And we had to back off from that, because districts simply couldn’t 

afford 180 full days of instruction. 

So as we look at the dollars that are coming to us with school 

improvement grant, for example, we’re seeing schools in districts 

use that money for Saturday school, we see them use it for summer 

programs, Early Start, for pre-K, Early Start for elementary, Early 

Start for our middle schools that are really struggling. We’re seeing 

them do more with parent and teen centers at night and on the 

weekends to really support parent literacy. 

We’re seeing a lot more going on during the summer. For example, Lybrook Elementary in Jemez Mountain, one of our School Improvement schools, they have a year-round school program. And 

some of our other schools do too. But this is a very isolated community and where the summer slide we really see happen. 

And in fact, there’s the mud slide that happens. If you know 

those roads during the regular year, those buses simply can’t get 

to schools during the regular year. So having that flexibility of a 

summer program year-round is going to make a real difference. 

They’re really struggling in those isolated communities. 

One of the things that we’re seeing too is the ability to offer some 

incentives to teachers to have a longer day to be able to plan. And 

we hope we see real payoffs. I know a couple of schools here in APS 

did that on their own. We also see, for example, in Santa Fe, De 

Vargas Middle School is partnering with Citizen Schools to add 2 

hours a day without extra funding. 

We’re seeing those kinds of innovative approaches all over our 

State. But we need ongoing help from Washington as we look at 

that reauthorization to be able to take AYP with much more flexibility so we’re not just focused on assessments and State tests. And 

that would certainly help us a lot. 

I was moved last week at the debate with the 4th grader who 

talked about he wanted to give a tribute to his kindergarten teacher because she taught him to read. And we need to make sure that 

our early childhood is really funded. That’s one of our key ingredients, whether we do Early Start in the summer like we’re doing 

with our K–3 plus or other programs, we need those kinds of early 

childhood efforts to continue. 

So I am very pleased at what I’m seeing here in the State. Individual brave principals and superintendents and teachers and 

other partners that are stepping up to work this out together. But 

if we can keep our focus on that together part as we look at time 

to help weave us to be a real force in this State, I think we’re going 

to see big improvements. Thank you very much. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Hyde follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SHEILA HYDE, PH.D. 

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of my testimony is to provide a State Perspective on the benefits of 

innovative approaches to school time, the expectations for implementation of these 

approaches, and some of the promising practices being implemented in New Mexico. 

First, the key element of high-performing schools seems to be ‘‘time’’. Studies show 

that both expanded time and the particular ways it is deployed and managed are 

drivers in creating effective schools. The correlation between the amount of actual 

time students spend learning and how much they learn is very high. In fact, a longitudinal study at Duke University concluded that, on average, all students lose about 
25 

a month of progress in math skills each summer, while low-income students lose 3 

months in reading comprehension. Since A Nation at Risk report in 1983 launched 

the standards-reform movement, more time in core academics is the only one of the 

five key recommendations that has not been implemented on a broad scale. Our 

‘‘time’’ has come in New Mexico to tackle that critical element. 

BENEFITS TO NEW MEXICO STUDENTS

Expanded learning time devoted to core academic outcomes, enrichment activities, 

and for teachers to collaborate and plan will increase student achievement and improve graduation rates. It is an investment with the potential for high yields in New 

Mexico—a better workforce, reduced crime, stronger communities, healthier families, and renewed respect for a diverse culture. 

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR IMPLEMENTATION

1. Schools commit to examine their data, the current way the schools use time, 

and focus on improving the quality of instruction for all content areas in order to 

meet their students’ learning goals. 

2. Schools increase the amount of time for teaching core subjects and align their 

curriculum to better deliver instruction. 

3. Schools increase the enrichment opportunities that align to State standards 

and that engage students in their own learning styles and career path. 

4. Schools re-design their schedules to build professional learning communities for 

their teachers, afterschool providers, and administrators in order to improve instructional practices and results. 

5. Districts invest in providing time for the principal to be an effective instructional leader. 

6. The community unites around the extended learning time strategies and works 

with the school to leverage resources, both human and fiscal. 

7. Student progress is tracked using multiple measures and all extended time 

learning partners have access to the individual student data (teachers, parents, 

afterschool providers, principals, district staff, board members, etc). 

PROMISING PRACTICES IN NEW MEXICO

Legislation. In 2009, New Mexico passed HB 691 which requires a minimum of 

180 full instructional days for a 5-day school week, exclusive of any release time 

for in-service training. Because of budget shortfalls, the date for implementing this 

law has been delayed until it can be funded. 

Extended days. Many of our schools have added 1–2 hours a day to their school 

day. For example, De Vargas Middle School in Santa Fe Public Schools added 2 

hours each day and are partnering with Citizen Schools to deliver services. 

Year Round Schools. Some of our schools have adopted a year-round school 

schedule. For example, Lybrook Elementary School in Jemez Mountain Public 

Schools has a year-round schedule to help with the ‘‘summer slide’’. 

ARRA TITLE I SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT GRANT 2010 REFORMS IN APPROVED SCHOOLS

• Additional days of instruction for all students. 

• Extended core program with additional minutes for intervention in Reading 

and/or Math. 

• Extended learning time that provides project based learning needed to develop 

background knowledge and expose students to activities beyond their rural isolation. 

• After-school program that focuses on academic tutoring. 

• Early start (2 weeks) for all incoming Kindergartners. 

• Jump start of 3 days for all incoming 9th graders. 

• Extended summer programs and extended day programs, aligned with the core 

curriculum. 

• Specialized teams that provide intense individualized instruction for students 

identified as needing intervention in reading and/or math. 

• Extended learning opportunities through homework help, Distance Learning opportunities, Saturday School, and Credit Recovery programs. 

• Common planning time to allow staff to monitor student academic progress toward standards and time to modify instruction and assessment to improve student 

outcomes. 

• Transportation for students to attend extended learning opportunities (Saturday 

school, summer programs, etc). 

• Parent Center and Teen Center to support Social Emotional Supports to enhance academic achievement. 
26 

CONCLUSION

The New Mexico Public Education Department is committed to providing leadership, technical assistance, program evaluation, established priorities for funding opportunities, and advocacy to integrate expanded learning time strategies in our reform agenda. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Thank you very much. Thank you all for 

your excellent testimony. Let me ask a few questions to try to get 

my mind around this set of issues. There are lots of variables, lots 

of ways that have been proposed and that have proven successful 

in different settings to improve education. 

I think the point Ellen was making about we’re adopting common 

standards nationwide, New Mexico signed onto that, I think that’s 

a very major step forward for the country. 

Also, I think your point was, and the way you put it is, standards 

should be constant and time should be the variable. And I agree 

with that. But I think that to me that means that for an awful lot 

of our kids, there’s going to have to be more time to meet these 

standards. 

I mean they’re not going to meet these standards spending less 

time working at it. They’re going to have to meet these standards 

by spending more time working at it. Now, whether they do that 

in a structured classroom setting or whether they do it in an online 

course or they do it in an after school program or whatever means 

they find to spend more time learning that course material in order 

to meet those standards, the pressure is going to be on us to find 

ways to do it. 

Some of you mentioned that the budgetary problems are moving 

us unfortunately in the opposite direction. You have school districts 

that are going to 4-day weeks. Instead of doing what Jeffrey described of extending the school day, you’re finding, I think, ways 

that the actual instruction in schools is being reduced. 

So I don’t know. But it just strikes me that finding a way to give 

students adequate time to learn the material and give teachers 

adequate time to teach the material. I’ve had teachers around the 

State say to me that their biggest frustration is that so many days 

are spent with the kids taking tests and so many days are spent 

with the kids off doing athletic trips and, you know, everything is 

shortened down so that the number of hours they have to actually 

teach the kids the course material that they’re responsible for 

teaching the kids is dramatically shortened or constrained. 

We’ve got to find a way to fix that problem some way or other. 

And I understand there are all kinds of impediments to doing so. 

Let me ask you, Jeffrey, Was the issue of funding some of this 

increased—extended learning opportunities and extended time, 

how did you guys solve that in Boston or how are you solving that? 

Mr. RILEY. So Massachusetts actually was the first State in the 

country to have the legislature set aside money for this program 

as a pilot, where 20 plus schools would be allowed to have this expanded learning time program at a cost of $1,300 per kid. 

Now, in the Boston Public Schools, we spend well over $10,000 

a kid educating students. So we wound up getting an extra 40 percent about more instructional time at just $1,300 a kid. So we 

found it to be cost-effective in some ways. But it was a State initia-
27 

tive led by the late Senator Kennedy who brought that to Massachusetts. 

Senator BINGAMAN. So essentially you got an increase in the 

budget that you could use there in your school because you were 

one of the 20 schools? 

Mr. RILEY. Right. Each school got $1,300 per kid and then multiplied by the number of students you have. And that money was 

then broken up between stipends for teachers and our afterschool 

providers that we use to lengthen the day. 

Senator BINGAMAN. And the stipends for teachers, you said that 

that was strictly on a voluntary basis, that teachers who wanted 

to— 

Mr. RILEY. Looking in hindsight, I think the best thing we did 

with the union was that we agreed to make it voluntary. Over 97 

percent of my teachers stayed for at least an extra hour. Many 

stayed for the entire time. 

But, we had to recognize that we had teachers who had to pick 

up kids—people have different issues in their lives. And so some 

people were able to stay for the extra time, some people weren’t. 

But because it was voluntary, I think it was set up in a different 

way than you had to do it, it was mandatory. And what we found 

is teachers rose to the occasion. And they got paid at the contractually hourly rate per hour. And between that and what we paid 

the outside providers, we were able to make it work. 

Senator BINGAMAN. OK. One other teacher that I spoke to, in 

fact, she was a teacher who came to Washington a couple months 

ago, getting a national award as a science teacher, I think she’s 

from Cloudcroft. 

I asked her about advanced placement courses that might be offered at Cloudcroft High School. And she said that—I don’t want 

to misquote her here. But she was saying that at least some of the 

advanced placement courses that they had offered before online, 

and you were referring to that, Michael, they were not able to offer 

this year because of lack of budget. 

So I don’t know. I mean if, in fact, instead of having the circumstance that Jeffrey’s got, we’ve got a circumstance where we’re 

cutting back on offerings in our schools as well as cutting back on 

time for instruction in our schools. It strikes me that I don’t know 

exactly how we work our way out of that. Any of you have great 

insights into how to solve this problem? Michael, go ahead. 

Mr. HORN. A couple thoughts. One is a lot of school districts, because of the way they’re constrained with limits and restrictions on 

certain funding streams, don’t have the flexibility to make maybe 

the most strategic cuts. 

Therefore, there are certain things that they could do uniquely 

only within their school walls and there are other things that they 

could find innovative ways of doing, whether it be online or offering 

afterschool programs and partnerships and so forth. 

But because the funding tends to be pretty tied up by the time 

it gets to them, a lot of the districts at least in California that I 

have spoken to say, yes, in theory this could be an opportunity, cutting back could be an opportunity. But we don’t have that opportunity at all because we’re too hamstrung. 
28 

And so as a result, what you see a lot of districts doing is sort 

of making vertical cuts straight down the programs which end up 

paring everything back rather than using the strategic opportunity 

to reformulate the way they actually do business itself. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Any of the rest of you, Sheila, have a thought 

on any of this? 

Ms. HYDE. One of the things that I think is a promising practice 

here in New Mexico really is Ideal New Mexico, because what that 

is intended to do is to partner with public ed and higher ed and 

the districts to be able to offer things that they can’t offer depending on where they are. 

It may be an AP course, it may be a core subject that you can’t 

find a teacher in a rural area in New Mexico. But also to offer credit opportunities and to offer those kinds of opportunities to teachers 

who want to participate and lead those courses. 

So not as an option instead of what that relationship can bring 

them in a school, but for credit recovery, for bringing kids back 

that we frankly may never get to graduate, maybe to get their 

GED. But that is one vehicle that I think can really partner well 

with districts. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Will it cost school districts money? 

Ms. HYDE. In some cases it does. But in some cases those courses 

are really free. And we reimburse districts for those students taking those courses, they get SEG money for that. So we’re hoping 

we can continue that. 

Senator BINGAMAN. SEG, tell me SEG. 

Ms. HYDE. Student Equalization Grant, which is their funding 

formula. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Right. OK. Yes, Renee. 

Ms. PAISANO-TRUJILLO. I think the other thing is looking at how 

we maximize what’s already there. I think sometimes redirecting 

resources and involving your community in that process, I’m really 

an advocate for involving the community, hence, Full-Service Community Schools. 

I also think making funding flexible. I think if we look at Title 

I and a few other things like supplemental education services and 

see how that can support extended learning time. 

And creating cost efficiencies by looking at what’s already in the 

community that can contribute to that classroom space. That does 

need intentional coordination which requires some funding. But I 

think there are cost efficiencies in all of that. 

Senator BINGAMAN. OK. Let me ask you, Winston. Go ahead, 

please. 

Mr. BROOKS. Well, I do think that it’s incumbent upon the school 

districts to really analyze what kind of programs they’re currently 

using and whether or not they’re the best programs. 

I think for so many years, and I’m guilty, we have purchased and 

bought things to put into the classrooms that over time we realized 

have not had that much of an impact or that we never looked at 

to see whether it had an impact or not. But we just keep spending 

the money. 

I think we really need to look at some of those programs. And 

those things that aren’t working and if there’s no data to support 
29 

that they’re working, we ought to get rid of them. And we’ve really 

done that I think with some degree of efficiency here in APS. 

I hope I’m not going to get crosswise with some of my colleagues 

here. But I really wouldn’t want you to walk away from here today 

thinking, though, that online learning is going to be the magic answer to all of our education woes. 

I happen to be a big time supporter of online learning. And I 

agree with Dr. Hyde, I think Ideal New Mexico is fantastic. But I 

don’t think there’s anything that can replace a highly qualified 

teacher. And sometimes that highly qualified teacher can be presented to a student via online learning. 

I think the research is currently saying that a blended method, 

if you’re going to use online learning, let’s use a blended method, 

where the student has both access to a highly qualified teacher but 

also to the world around them. 

But we just yesterday—you may have heard about it. We just 

distributed about 200 laptop computers to students at Nex-Gen 

Academy, a new magnet high school that we’re opening that 

Sandia Laboratories and Intel have been very supportive. It’s one 

of the greatest public/private partnerships that I’m aware of in the 

country. 

I’m very supportive of that. I think online learning opens up a 

whole world to our students that many of them don’t have access 

to. But I don’t want to underestimate the value of a highly qualified teacher standing in front of a student. 

I just want to get that plug in, that all the answers to our woes 

won’t be accomplished I don’t think through online learning totally. 

Senator BINGAMAN. I agree with that. 

Mr. HORN. Can I actually—— 

Senator BINGAMAN. Fine. Go right ahead. 

Mr. HORN. Yes, I don’t disagree. I guess I should clarify. When 

I say online learning, I do not mean distance learning. 

I suspect that 90 plus percent of online learning will actually be 

in hybrid bricks and mortar arrangements of various sorts with an 

adult person there who may be serving a very different role in 

some cases. Some cases they may be the instruction or content expert, other cases they just may be a mentor or motivator. 

I suspect you’re going to have some really unique teaching models that get brought out of this in the future, where you have many 

different roles for teachers; a virtual expert living anywhere, for example, mentor in person with the student, problem solving, working one-on-one, facilitating group work. 

So I very much agree. I think a teacher is a vital part of this. 

Whether we call it a teacher in the future, I guess that might 

change. But it’s going to be an adult figure who has a lot of those 

responsibilities. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Let me ask about this problem with the loss 

of competence on the part of kids during the summer break. 

I mean I’ve always heard about this and, you know, kids lose, I 

don’t know how many months of instruction, they fall back, particularly kids whose parents are not signing them up for everything 

that goes on in the summer. 

Is there any solution to that other than just more money in the 

school system? Sheila, you talked about Lybrook now and that 
30 

they’ve gone to a year-round school model out here. That’s a very 

small school. 

Ms. HYDE. Correct. 

Senator BINGAMAN. How does that work? In that district out 

there, can they do that without having more money or what do 

they give up by doing that? 

Ms. HYDE. Well, they break their year up differently. So they 

might go for 9 weeks and take a week. And they do that all during 

the year, except close to the summer they’ll take a 6-week time off. 

But they’re trying to keep that summer slide from happening. 

And also, because they lose a lot of days during the year simply 

because the kids and the teachers can’t get there. And so they set 

that up to be able to do that. So they do a variable school calendar 

to do that. 

Now, they will get some extra money for the next 3 years with 

the school improvement grant to help them with some additional 

things on top of that regular full-year schedule. And there are 

other schools in the State that are doing that without additional 

dollars, they split their year up differently. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Ellen, what’s your perspective on this idea? 

I mean both my parents were teachers. They didn’t like the idea 

of working in the summer I don’t think particularly. They had not 

acclimated to that. I certainly didn’t like that idea when I was 

going to school. But what’s your perspective? 

Ms. BERNSTEIN. Thanks for asking, Senator. I think actually 

things have changed. And most teachers find employment during 

the summer, whether it’s doing what they know best which is 

teaching or waiting tables. They usually end up supplementing 

their income in some way during the summer. 

And I don’t think in most communities the idea of the summer 

break looks the way it did maybe when you and I were growing up 

in New Mexico. I mean my mother was free to take us to the pool 

every day. But I don’t think that’s the reality for most kids. 

Actually having the time as Sheila described, where you take the 

regular 180 days and you divide it over the whole year, like we do 

in APS with many of our year-round schools, every teacher I know 

that teaches in a year-round school loves that schedule. 

But still it’s a burden on the parents in terms of there are weeks 

when those kids are not in school and they need some kind of supervision and daycare. So I’m not sure it’s the answer for every 

community. 

I don’t think it’s possible, especially when you’re looking at kids 

who are living in poverty, to escape the fact that time takes money. 

And that even when we’re as innovative as we can be, we’re looking at a terrific investment. 

And for myself I’m unapologetic about that need, because it’s an 

investment in the future generation. I think we need to embrace 

the idea as with Full-Service Community Schools that fair is not 

equal. And that there are many communities in every State where 

we need to put more resources into the extended day and the extended year and the extended services that will really make a difference so that if we hold the standards constant, we can add the 

kind of time, support, and services that help them meet the stand-
31 

ards in a reasonable—if not exactly the same point in time, a reasonable amount of time. 

So I think that and also I just can’t underscore enough the investment in teacher time that will enable us as the professionals 

in the school to really think differently about our role as Michael 

pointed out. We cannot be standing up in front of a class, whether 

it’s a bunch of 4-year-olds or a bunch of 18-year-olds, and just talking about what we know. 

We need better methods and we need school structures that support us to learn those methods, engage with our colleagues, and actually teach for total understanding. The school that Superintendent Brooks mentioned, Nex-Gen, is totally based on project 

based learning. 

And this is a tremendously fruitful pedagogy, where kids will 

come out with the kinds of skills you want them to have. But that’s 

an investment also. So I don’t think we’re going to be able to do 

it without spending money. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Let me just ask Jeffrey, what do you do in 

Boston about the problem of kids sliding back in summer? 

Mr. RILEY. Boston, actually this past year, worked with some of 

its foundations to change. We had our traditional summer school. 

But now we’ve created something called the Opportunity Agenda, 

where it was a summer learning program. I’ll give you an example. 

Orchard Gardens which was named one of our turnaround 

schools was able to work with Thompson Island and do an outward 

bound program on the island where standards that kids needed to 

learn were infused throughout the curriculum. 

So kids didn’t see it as going to summer school necessarily, they 

saw it as we’re going to camp. It just happened to be that yes, 

there were the camp counselors. But there were also teachers on 

site. So that was just kind of one example of the many different 

opportunities that we’re looking at to stop the summer learning 

loss that we see. 

Senator BINGAMAN. And how many of the kids actually have the 

opportunity to participate in any of this, these summer programs? 

Mr. RILEY. It was a pilot program this year. We did it in six 

schools. And the early returns look promising and I think it’s going 

to be doubled or tripled. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Yes, Renee. 

Ms. PAISANO-TRUJILLO. Being a rural State, Senator, I think one 

of the big things we need to address—because I’ve served reservations and rural communities for so many years, we need to address 

the transportation issue. We need to look at transportation to make 

sure that young people can actually make it to programs. 

We’ve tried everything from summer camps to 1-week programs 

to make sure that there isn’t that summer slide. But when you’re 

dealing with a border community or a reservation community, especially in a place on the Navajo Nation, it’s tough getting those 

kids to summer programs. So we need to somehow address that 

transportation issue. 

Senator BINGAMAN. OK. Sheila, go ahead. 

Ms. HYDE. And particularly I was happy to see within the guidelines for the school improvement grants that the schools could use 

their money for transportation. And I think all nine really did; be-
32 

cause to extend that learning time, you have to have transportation. So that was very important to our implementing that fully. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Let me ask Michael, while we’ve got you 

here, you talk in your book I think about Florida Virtual School 

and how successful that has been. Could you describe that a little 

bit more and how does that differ from what Sheila was referring 

to with Ideal New Mexico. 

Mr. HORN. Certainly. I think there’s a lot of similarities between 

Florida Virtual School and Ideal New Mexico. Florida Virtual 

School started earlier, 1997. And then an act of the legislature in 

Florida made it an independent, autonomous entity akin to a 

school district, which gave it the autonomy to come up with a new 

funding model for itself and do some things that a lot of State virtual schools have not been able to do because it operated autonomously. 

The year before they served 71,000 students in the State of Florida and beyond. I think there are around 80,000 students this year 

and something around 170,000 course enrollments or so now. I 

think Ideal New Mexico is around a couple thousand course enrollments. 

The key has been that the funding follows the student down to 

the course level. And Florida Virtual School only gets the funds if 

the student successfully completes the course. And the reason they 

can do that is because the time is flexible so that they can hold the 

learning constant. And it’s actually been a big boon to the Florida 

Virtual School for its growth as a result. 

And they’ve been quite innovative as a result. They’ve pushed 

out the first online video game-based course, which has been fruitful for some students to learn in a different way. Not for every student certainly, but for many students. And they’ve been able to 

push a lot of these things because they’ve had their own autonomous model. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Now, is that structure that he described, 

where there’s funding only provided in the case where students 

complete the course, is that something that we’ve adopted? 

Ms. HYDE. Well, we’re experimenting with that right now 

through Graduate New Mexico, the governor’s project using the 

stimulus dollars. We’re trying to bring 10,000 graduates back to let 

them graduate. And the funding that is set up there, the district 

gets that if the student is successful in the course. 

And we’re not quite sure if it’s a plus or minus. We had some 

conversation today. I think superintendents may be cautious about 

that because they’re going to front that money. And then if the student isn’t successful, then they’re not going to get their funding. 

And so that’s kind of a double jeopardy situation. I would be anxious to hear how Florida addresses that. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Yes, how did Florida deal with that? 

Mr. HORN. Yes. It’s interesting. And I suspect in the traditional 

model, it’s not a system that makes a lot of sense. But it was because they reinvented it without the same costs and so forth, they 

could rethink the model from scratch, that it was able to work. 

They do get I think it’s 11 point something percent up front regardless. And then the rest of the funding is contingent upon suc-
33 

cess. So there is some advancement, recognizing that there is a real 

cost for serving students that it may not work out for. 

The other thing that’s interesting about it is it’s not tied to then 

the school calendar. So we were having the summer school conversation earlier. And I asked them—someone at Florida Virtual 

School about a year ago, I said, Gosh, your enrollments in summer 

school must just be going through the roof right now, because I’m 

reading these articles about Florida cutting back. 

They said I don’t understand the question. I said, well, hello, 

summer school is getting cut back. They said, Oh, yes, I guess so. 

But because it’s year-round enrollment and you just enroll when 

you enroll and you finish when you finish, the question just didn’t 

make sense to me when you first asked it, but I suppose that’s 

true. So it’s just a very different model from scratch that I suspect 

is difficult to implement in an existing system for some real reasons. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Well, I think this has been useful. No reason 

to prolong this. But I appreciate you all being here and your excellent testimony. As I said at the first, we’re going to have this all 

as part of the record that we take back to the full committee. 

And we hope that we can use some of these insights in the reauthorization of No Child Left Behind which is, of course, a priority 

of the Congress. We had thought it was going to be the priority of 

the Congress in this Congress. 

As it turns out, it’s going to be next Congress before we get this 

done. But I hope you’ll all stay in touch with us and stay in touch 

with Angelo and Peter and keep us informed as to what we ought 

to be doing. 

Yes, Winston. Thank you again for being here. And go ahead. 

Mr. BROOKS. Well, thank you. 

Senator BINGAMAN. Make any statements. 

Mr. BROOKS. I know this has come up a couple of times regarding 

the common core standards. And I’m sure Peter and Angelo are 

well aware. But New Mexico, the State of New Mexico, and Albuquerque Public Schools specifically will be one of the six, maybe 

five test sites for piloting the common core standards. 

Boston is going to be one, I think Cleveland, I can’t recite them 

all. But Dr. Hyde, Ellen, Peter Winograd with the governor’s office, 

we’ve all been very much involved in leading this charge. So I just 

wanted to remind you that we’re very, very involved here. 

Senator BINGAMAN. I remember that that’s the case. And we discussed it before. And I think it’s great that we’re doing that. It’s 

a feather in your cap that we were chosen to do it. 

Again, thank you all very much. And thanks, all of you, for coming today and we’ll follow up and try to take these insights and put 

them to good use. That will end our hearing. 

[Whereupon, at 11:40 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 

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