13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Schools add hours, weekends to boost learning time

Schools add hours, weekends to boost learning time

Gary, Ind. - Imagine going to school on a Saturday or staying an extra 30 minutes at school during the week - and liking it.

Indiana school districts are finding creative ways to add instruction time in an effort to close the achievement gap, reduce a loss of knowledge over the summer and shore up student test scores.

The moves in schools like the KIPP LEAD Academy in Gary are part of a national push to extend classroom time. President Barack Obama in March proposed that U.S. schools lengthen school days or shorten summer vacations to align the U.S. with countries including Thailand, Scotland and the Netherlands, which have moved to a 200-day school year. Israel, South Korea and Japan lead the world with 243 days in the classroom.

U.S. schools average 180 days of instructional time.

KIPP, a Gary charter school, has taken an aggressive approach with four-hour Saturday classes that meet about every three weeks. Students also are in school from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. on Fridays and for three weeks in the summer.

School Leader Soenda Howell said the school surveys students at the beginning of each semester to see what classes they would like to see on Saturdays. As a result, Saturday classes like drama or Spanish are likely to be ones that will engage students.

Sixth-grader Imani Dixon was initially resistant but has come to enjoy the sessions.

"I like my weekends," she said. "I enjoy going to dance practice and I don't like to wake up early. But the classes made me want to get to school."

Other schools are considering extended time but say making significant changes would require negotiations with teachers' unions.

The School City of Hammond offers an extended time pilot program in its Title I elementary schools to help with reading and writing instruction. Students at the schools receive an extra 30 to 45 minutes a day of instruction.

"It's really exciting as we look at what's making a difference," said Title I coordinator Jana Abshire.

East Chicago schools Superintendent Michael Harding said extended time is crucial as students prepare for spring ISTEP testing.

The district began offering an extra hour of instruction this fall at Lincoln Elementary School and hopes to expand to two other elementaries in the coming weeks.

"Extended day is really critical right now," Harding said. "We've got 70 days until we get into more testing, so we're looking for any way to get kids more instruction time."

Merrillville Assistant Superintendent Mark Sperling said any move to extended time requires a lot of planning, from talking to teachers and parents to rearranging bus schedules.

The district offers a freshman academy tutorial that goes to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays.

"Nothing can be done in vacuum," Sperling said. "If you're going to do it, you have to do it as school community. We would want to work very closely with teachers and the school community."

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)