Longer School Days and the Achievement Gap

Will a longer school day help close the achievement gap?, By Amanda Paulson, November 1, 2009, Christian Science Monitor: “Going to school from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. may sound like a student’s nightmare, but Sydney Shaw, a seventh-grader at the Alain Locke Charter Academy on Chicago’s West Side, has come to like it – as well as the extra 20 or so days that she’s in class a year. ‘I’m sure every kid at this school says bad things about the schedule sometimes,’ says Sydney, who was at school on Columbus Day, when most Chicago schools had a holiday. ‘But deep down, we all know it’s for our benefit.’ Finding ways to give kids more classroom time, through longer hours, a longer school year, or both, is getting more attention. President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan support a lengthier timetable. Many education reformers agree that more time at school is a key step. Charter schools like Alain Locke and KIPP schools (a network of some 80 schools that are often lauded for their success with at-risk students) have made big gains in closing gaps in student achievement, partly through expanded schedules. Other schools have been making strides, too – notably in Massachusetts and in the New Orleans system…”