Expanded Learning Time: the New Normal

In parts of the country and New York City, expanded learning days are beginning to look like the new normal in local schools. With support from the president and the U.S. Secretary of Education, the "ELT" movement continues to gain momentum. In an essay published in New York Nonprofit Press, TASC President Lucy N. Friedman describes how a pilot initiative to expand learning time by 30 percent in 10 New York City schools is showing the way toward a seamless learning day that increases academic time, but also brings rigor and structure to enrichments such as arts and hands-on science.

Ms. Friedman makes the case for expanded learning days that accommodate the schedules of parents who are working, often multiple jobs, and for the model that TASC has been developing in partnership with the New York City Department of Education and the Department of Youth and Community Development. In this model, schools and community-based organizations partner up to share the funding 50/50 and form one school culture under the leadership of the principal, collaborating on everything from curriculum to parent outreach across the 3 PM dividing line.

A Year of Lessons from Expanding Learning Time (PDF, 86 KB)

• New York Nonprofit Press Web site