Hello! And thank you for watching this informational presentation on the FY23 fund code 225,
Expanded Learning Time, or ELT grant. This presentation is specific to districts and schools
for whom Expanded Time is a new and potentially promising redesign for their students.
Eligibility for this funding opportunity includes public school districts with
schools serving a high percentage of students in the low-income population
applying under category 2 of the application for new schools. These districts and schools are also
those who do not currently implement additional time in the form of a longer school day or year
in comparison with the district average. Districts may also request funding through this grant
to engage in planning activities related to adding time to the school day or year for all students,
for districts with veteran ELT schools as well as schools that have not implemented additional time
but are interested in doing so. Districts may include in their plan a request for funding
for veteran schools to mentor a new school within the district.
Again, all schools must serve high percentages of students in the low-income student group.
While we do not expect this grant to be highly competitive, we have established some competitive priorities.
Some of these relate only to the veteran ELT schools.
Others apply to any applicants like you, and these include districts with schools
that have identified ELT as an evidence-based practice in its student opportunity act plan
and or amendment but do not have sufficient local funding to support its desired ELT model
schools that have already committed to the adoption or implementation of the HQIM, and need
funding to continue that work and districts and schools designated as chronically underperforming
in considering implementing additional time. You may also want to review some of the research
around ELT for example according to a 2021 report issued by ED Trust. Some practices
in adding time have been shown to be more effective than others. For example, ELT has
shown to be more effective when it is part of the school day or year for all students adds at least
45 hours and is taught by certified teachers who receive ongoing support. You will also notice that
it has been found to be most successful with high quality curriculum in place.
Again, this information along with reflective data analysis should help
to inform your model and hopefully allow for some exciting innovation.
In keeping with the information in the previous slide, let's look at what ELT is and what it is not.
This grant is focused on expanding time not extending it. It is a day or school year
that contains more time with a schedule that makes the most of that time.
It is an opportunity to use the time to accelerate student learning and close gaps
and provide students with a rich engaging robust and culturally responsive learning experience.
What ELT is not, is an extension of time or an add-on. It is not only for a group of students.
It's the way you're doing school for all of the students who attend your school, and it is not an added period
where students are with partners as opposed to teachers, such as an after-school program.
So, what is the benefit of ELT? Based on research and over a decade of experience in additional time
implementation through this grant both students and teachers benefit from ELT.
As research shows ELT has been proven to have positive outcomes for students who are economically disadvantaged
students of color, English learners, students who struggle academically and disengage students
because of the time afforded to things like enrichment and the time for teachers to go deeper into content.
Students enjoy a stronger school climate and more opportunities for learning acceleration.
Students aren't the only ones who benefit from ELT though, teachers report that time
and designated meaningful collaboration provides space to build a stronger professional culture
an opportunity to support peers and to receive for support. And it promotes professional growth.
Although in the past ELT has required schools to add 300 hours above the district average to their schedules.
This year we're offering significant flexibility in that requirement
for the purposes of this grant we ask that districts and schools use this funding to add
up to 300 hours or no fewer than 50 with possible flexibility should contractual obligations
restrict the hours further. As you think about what this new iteration of ELT might look like.
Consider the opportunities afforded by a flexible number of hours a mix of one or more tenants of
ELT which I will talk about in a moment. Greater financial resources to adopt innovative strategies
to serve students and support from DESE in the form of connections and sharing best practices.
Although you are welcome to embed into your design all three components of ELT,
which are more time for academics, more time for PD and collaboration for teachers, and more time for enrichment.
One of the flexibilities we are offering this year is making the "and", into "and or".
You may only want to embed some common planning time into your days. So, teachers have embedded PD
and space to collaborate, share instructional practices that promote deeper learning,
define expectations across school for both students and teachers, engage in data discussions
to inform instruction and learn to better utilize high quality instructional materials. And or,
you may look at your data and determine that kids need more time particularly for math or writing.
This may lead you to redesign your schedule to accommodate longer blocks of academic time
that then allow teachers to support students in smaller groups conference with students around
interim data and setting goals, differentiate instruction more effectively, go deeper into content,
or even offer an additional course to students to provide more variety and opportunity for engaged learning.
If this is the case, you might just add time for core academics.
Or maybe you want to better engage kids in school and decide to offer some enrichment
opportunities that are embedded in the day and designed around student interest.
But, also aligned with the frameworks to reinforce academic concepts.
You may choose to add some time for enrichment opportunities that could take place during
common planning time rather than add time for longer academic blocks. You. If you decide that
students at your school and perhaps your school climate would best benefit from enrichment
that may be a great thing to incorporate into your redesigned day. Just be sure to design
your enrichment in ways that can be measured for engagement and outcomes that allow all students
to participate, meaning kids aren't pulled from enrichment to attend intervention.
Courses have a final demonstration portfolio or project that celebrates student work.
An enrichment should receive dedicated resources such as time and materials to be done exceptionally well.
Or you decide you want to implement additional time, similar to the traditional ways.
It's been done in the past, but with tweaks that you feel necessary and beneficial that can now be done
with more flexible time requirements. This slide provides some examples of what schools
have done in the past in combining all three tenets of ELT into their day.
Maybe students have daily PE, art or music. Maybe students enjoy bi-weekly enrichment periods,
make specialists deliver enrichment. Or maybe, you have more robust instructional planning for teachers
if you decide to pursue this funding opportunity. I'd now like to quickly go through the application with you.
Part one, which you see on this slide asks for some school and district demographic information.
It does include a couple of things that have been prioritized in this grant
and in the legislative language. This grant historically and continues to support students in our
low-income population and we ask that you provide that percentage of students in your school along
with the percentage of students in the high need's student group. In the second chart we are looking
to gather information on some other competitive priorities while many districts are anticipating
a large increase in chapter 70 funding. Many are not. We want to make sure that districts that are
not receiving significantly increased chapter 70 money still have an opportunity to expand time
even if they can't afford it themselves. Finally, we are also prioritizing HQIM
in the hope that folks are either trying to adopt it or need financial support to best implement it.
Part two asks for your rationale in how you believe additional time will help support
your work in addressing your greatest need close gaps and drive your biggest priorities.
This section asks you to make sure you include data around student need also because of the
tight timeline for this application. We ask that this section be no longer than one page in length.
Part three of the application is a chart asking you to share any data
you've referenced when identifying where there are gaps that need to be closed
in the grant related activities that will help close those gaps.
This does not need to be exhaustive, but you should demonstrate where you found gaps to exist.
Part four is a chart that will hopefully help you align activities with need
and start to estimate the time you will require to have the highest impact
and what you estimate the cost to be. This will also be helpful in developing your budget.
Part 5 is more specific to developing a possible school schedule in terms of how much time you
will be adding overall. This may allow for some creative thinking as well.
For example, perhaps you decide to eliminate half days in favor of full day PD to alleviate absenteeism
on the half days. What might that allow you to do in terms of additional days or time for kids.
Finally we ask that you have your submission in by July 20th which is tight.
Rather than put it into EdGrants we will have you submit it directly to me Moira Connolly at Moira.Connolly@mass.gov.
The documents you will need to submit by the end of the day on the 20th
are your signed cover sheet requesting a funding amount that you anticipate
you will need to implement your model, your draft budget workbook showing those costs,
your part three required information which we just reviewed and your Addendum A — Signed Grant Assurances
once awards are made recipients will upload their final part 1 cover sheet and budget into EdGrants
If you have any questions, please submit them via email to Moira.Connolly@mass.gov. Thank you!