Why Expand Learning Time?
“There are three primary reasons that we took this
on,” says Craig. “One is that our kids’ achievement
and growth scores were flat or declining no matter
what interventions were being used. Secondly, we
noticed an opportunity gap — many of our families
struggled to provide enrichment activities such as
music, drama, art, or after-school sports for our
kiddos. Lastly, many of our kids go home to sporadic
work schedules, unforeseen transportation issues,
and lack of resources — all of which lead to
unpredictable support with homework, inconsistent
meal schedules, and added household and sibling
responsibilities. We used those three things to
determine that our community needed more from us,
and we recognized that everything that had been
proposed had been tried and didn’t work. We needed
something new and different.”
Searching for that solution, and with the support of
The Colorado Education Initiative (CEI),
Pennington became a pilot school with the National
Center on Time & Learning’s (NCTL) TIME
Collaborative sponsored by the Ford Foundation.
After site visits with NCTL, workshops, and
meetings with facilitators, Pennington was tasked
with redesigning the school day. School leaders
responded by going straight to their stakeholders.
“We went to our whole staff, our parent and family
community, and our kids, and we started with the
question: ‘What would be the perfect school day?’”
says Craig.
Together, stakeholders shared ideas about current
challenges — what they needed most and the
constraints they faced. For example, the school day
could not be any earlier since that wouldn’t work for
families’ schedules. The stakeholders then divided
their recommendations and needs into four
categories:
• Academics: Personalize learning through
interventions, extensions, tutoring, and
uninterrupted core time for math and literacy.
• Enrichment: Close the opportunity gap by
offering students a range of enrichments in
leadership, sports, technology, academics, art and
culture, and personal skills.
• Scheduling: Assess what an expanded day or
school year might look like, and be strategic about
professional development and staffing.
The TIME Collaborative
Creating More and Better Learning Time
One of the most valuable resources in education is time and how it
is used. Next generation learning environments intentionally use
time to personalize learning, provide deeper interventions, and
create opportunities for learning to expand beyond the classroom.
Thanks to the Ford Foundation, CEI is supporting innovative
approaches to learning environments that result in more and
better learning time for students and educators known as the
TIME Collaborative.
The TIME Collaborative is a partnership between the Ford
Foundation and the NCTL to help five states, including Colorado,
leverage additional learning time to empower students with the
knowledge, skills, and experiences essential for college and career
success.
In Colorado, three districts and 12 schools, including Pennington,
worked closely with NCTL, CEI, and the Colorado Department of
Education to design a school day and year that was personalized to
the unique needs of their students and community. The redesign
process involved technical assistance and targeted coaching with
each school and district team. Plans focused on integrating
NCTL’s Seven Essential Elements for More and Better Learning
Time with school and district priorities to provide eight hours per
day of high quality learning time for students.
NCTL’s seven essential elements include:
• Focused schoolwide priorities
• Rigorous academics
• Differentiated supports
• Frequent data cycles
• Targeted teacher development
• Engaging enrichments
• Enhanced school culture
Colorado’s TIME Collaborative placed a priority on addressing
populations of concentrated poverty and other underrepresented
groups such as high minority populations, rural populations, and
districts and schools eligible for federal Title I funding. The
schools engaged in this work have among the highest minority and
poverty concentrations within their districts.
• Systems: Identify the school’s mindset and
culture. Ma