Evaluation of the Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time (ELT) Initiative. Year Five Final Report: 2010-2011. Executive Summary
Author: Checkoway, Amy
Date: 2012-02-02
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Extended School Year,Extended School Day,School Schedules,Enrichment Activities,Program Effectiveness,Program Evaluation,Program Implementation,Grants,Outcomes of Education,Student Improvement,Core Curriculum,Instructional Improvement,Faculty Development,Elementary School Students,Middle School Students,Middle School Teachers,Elementary School Teachers,Grade 5,Grade 6,Academic Achievement

The Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time (ELT) initiative was established in 2005 with planning grants that allowed a limited number of schools to explore a redesign of their respective schedules and add time to their day or year. Participating schools are required to expand learning time by at least 300 hours per academic year to improve student outcomes in core academic subjects, broaden enrichment opportunities, and improve instruction by adding more planning and professional development time for teachers. Schools draw upon state resources as well as technical assistance and support from Massachusetts 2020 (Mass 2020) and Focus on Results to implement expanded learning time in their schools. The first cohort of ten ELT schools (Cohort 1) received implementation grants to begin operating their expanded days in the 2006-07 school year; in 2007-08, a second cohort of nine schools (Cohort 2) began to implement ELT; and a third cohort of nine schools began in 2008-09, resulting in an initial group of 261 ELT schools in the Commonwealth. There has not been additional funding for new ELT schools since then. In the most recently completed school year, 2010-11, 19 schools continued to implement the initiative. Abt Associates Inc. is completing a multi-year evaluation of ELT that examines both the implementation of ELT in the funded schools, and the outcomes for schools, teachers, and students hypothesized to result from effective ELT implementation. This report describes current implementation and outcomes for an initiative that has been underway for five full academic years. The staggered nature of the ELT initiative means that as of the end of the 2010-11 school year, participating schools have completed five, four, and three years of implementation (Cohorts 1, 2, and 3, respectively). The overall ELT evaluation is guided by three major evaluation questions: (1) How has ELT been implemented in schools that have received ELT grants?; (2) What are the outcomes of ELT for schools, teachers, and students?; and (3) What is the relationship between ELT implementation and outcomes? This report addresses all three of the evaluation questions. It focuses considerable attention on how the ELT initiative was implemented in the ELT schools during the 2010-11 school year, and also examines the effects of the ELT initiative on schools, teachers, and students in the three cohorts of ELT schools for three and four years of implementation. Finally, the report addresses the third question through a variety of descriptive and exploratory analyses of variation in implementation and associated variation in outcomes. Key findings from the implementation and outcomes components are presented. [This report was written with assistance from: Stephanie Althoff, Beth Boulay, David Bell-Feins, Mieka Lewis, Alyssa Rulf Fountain, Missy Robinson, and Fatih Unlu.]