Pennington Elementary School | Page 3

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