No research to back up Rahm's push for longer school day

Chicago mayor and school boss, Rahm Emanuel thinks he's found the magic bullet of school reform.He's been touting the longer school day and school year as solutions for Chicago's "failing schools." Using Houston, Texas as his model, the mayor claims that lengthening the school day can add "three years" of instructional time for each student. He never mentions where the money is going to come from to pay teachers, or heat and cool buildings. Measurable learning outcomes in Houston, btw, are nothing to write home about.

Now comes word from several authoritative folks at the recent Wallace Foundation forum on "Reimagining the School Day," that more of the same is not necessarily better.

Elena Silva, a senior policy analyst at the education think tank Education Sector, cautioned, implementing extended-learning programs in these schools will not necessarily mean improved academic outcomes if students aren’t currently receiving high-quality instruction during normal school hours. "You have to be careful with low-performing schools—you can’t just add more time if it’s just going to be more of the same thing that they get during the school day," said Silva. -- Edweek