Building Breakthrough Expanded Day Partnerships Rethinking Time, Talent, and Technology to Meet the Needs of Students

Overview

By combining a first shift of classroom teachers and a second shift of Citizen Schools staff and volunteers, the national nonprofit Citizen Schools and its school and district partners create a longer and more flexible learning day for students that can serve as the platform for school-wide transformation. This model exemplifies key features of next generation learning, including high expectations for college and career readiness; innovative use of time and human capital; and engaging, relevant lessons. And the evidence is compelling; after two years of Citizen Schools national expanded learning time (ELT) initiative, proficiency rates on state assessments increased by an average of 4.2 points annually in reading and 6.2 points in math in grades adopting the model, exceeding benchmarks for school turnaround. Now in the third year of a national ELT initiative, Citizen Schools is seeking to build on the central innovations of its partnership model and enhance both impact and sustainability. An NGLC planning grant would support Citizen Schools and its partner public schools as they develop a breakthrough expanded day model for the middle grades that will significantly strengthen their existing program, preparing students for college more effectively while using resources more efficiently. Citizen Schools plans to explore potential approaches through a focused pilot approach in 2013-14, with the goal of launching at least one full-scale breakthrough partnership in fall 2014.
Academic Model

Citizen Schools expanded day model includes hands-on, volunteer-led learning projects called apprenticeships as well as academic support activities, leadership development, and a positive culture that emphasizes students understanding of how the choices they make now are connected with their goals for college, career, and life. The model also prioritizes close collaboration between Citizen Schools and its school partners, with strong school leadership, thoughtful joint planning, data sharing, and teamwork across the first and second shifts identified as key factors in successful program implementation. (For more detail, see Citizen Schools Expanding Opportunities implementation report.)
Features of the Next Generation Expanded Learning Time Model

With support from an NGLC planning grant, Citizen Schools and its school partners will develop a next generation expanded learning time model that will retain key elements of the existing model (shown in italics) and will incorporate new elements that emerge from field tests as promising additions (shown in bold). Significant features of the model include: An extended day schedule that adds approximately three hours to the typical school day Monday through Thursday, with Friday afternoons reserved for staff professional development A coordinated two-shift staffing model o District teachers lead instruction during traditional school day hours o Citizen Schools expanded day educators (a full-time, site-based Campus Director; full-time AmeriCorps members participating in a selective two-year Teaching Fellowship; and part-time Team Leaders) lead instruction in the afternoons1 o Extensive and intentional collaboration, including overlap periods, formal meetings, joint professional development, data sharing arrangements, and informal communication, ensures alignment and ongoing coordination across the two shifts of educators

Some Teaching Fellows earn teaching credentials through partnership programs that include coursework, mentorship, and teaching (both during the afternoon hours and during the traditional school day).
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A college readiness mission and an evidence-based curriculum reflecting the belief that every child should graduate from high school ready for college, and that students must develop specific skills and awareness in middle school in order to reach this goal Common Core alignment across the entire learning day as a baseline for college readiness Hands-on, volunteer-led apprenticeships that engage students, multiply opportunities to demonstrate mastery, and connect classroom learning with future career opportunities o Each student participates in four apprenticeships per year, and more than 40% of apprenticeships are in science, technology, engineering, or math o Volunteers are drawn from leading corporations (such as Google, Cognizant, Cisco, Fidelity, and AOL), universities, and community organizations and are supported in the classroom by staff Academic instruction that incorporates blended learning to ensure that each student has the time, practice, and tools he or she needs to exceed proficiency standards in core subjects A data to action structure in which information is shared purposefully across shifts of educators, across learning platforms, with families in biweekly phone calls and other venues, and in one-on-one conferences with students in order to set ambitious but attainable goals and drive learning A focus on defined and assessed 21st century skills that reflects the importance of skills such as problem solving, collaboration, and data analysis in college readiness and success

Figure 1 summarizes the major points of alignment between these features of the next generation ELT model and the seven design principles for breakthrough schools:
Figure 1: Alignment of Next Generation ELT Design Features and Breakthrough Schools Design Principles
Breakthrough Schools Design Principles Student centered Extended day Coordinated two-shift staffing model College readiness mission & curriculum Common Core alignment Hands-on, volunteer-led apprenticeships Academic support through blended learning Data to action Focus on defined, assessed 21st century skills High expectations Self pacing and mastery-based credit Blended instruction Student ownership

Next Generation ELT Design Features

Planning Period Pilots

In 2013-14, Citizen Schools will launch three pilot initiatives with selected schools from its national network that are designed to inform the development of the next generation ELT model. In a blended learning pilot, three to five sites selected by June 2013 through a competitive application process will adopt a blended learning strategy during the academic support component of the day. (This formal pilot was inspired by several sites in California, Illinois, and New York that have already begun to experiment with blended learning.) This pilot is designed to test whether blended learning can simplify staff planning and provide more rapid access to student data as well as to explore the conditions under which blended learning in an expanded day partnership setting can be successful. Participating sites will receive coaching and support, including visits from Citizen Schools Program Department staff, and pilot success will be assessed based on surveys of staff and school leaders as well as a comparative analysis of student performance.

Citizen Schools

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In a data pilot, Citizen Schools will formally partner with Clever to seamlessly integrate data from districts Student Information Systems, including data from school and district partners such as The Achievement Network and the Northwest Evaluation Association, with Citizen Schools Salesforce.com program database. This integration across the extended day will facilitate the identification of individual students learning gaps as well as the assessment of interventions. Citizen Schools will also partner with Beyond12 (a winner of the Gates Foundation-sponsored College Knowledge Challenge) to track students after they leave middle school and provide them with resources and support at critical points in their high school and college careers. In a 21st century skills assessment pilot, six to eight sites selected by June 2013 through a competitive application process will test three tools for evaluating students 21st century skills: digital portfolios2, standardized pen and paper assessments, and simulation or performance-based assessments. In the past, Citizen Schools used custom pre/post observational rubrics to assess student improvement on selected 21st century skills. While those rubrics were recognized as a leading measurement tool in the field at the time, the practice of staff rating their own students was problematic. More important, the traditional rubrics no longer capture the range of skills that students need to succeed in college, careers, and civic life. The new assessment tools being tested align with a revised, expanded, and updated 21st century skills framework that Citizen Schools adopted in 2011-12, which is informed by the work of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and the readiness research of David Conley and Carol Dweck. The 2013-14 pilot will extend a smaller test in 2012-13 and will inform the selection of a new assessment strategy to be used across Citizen Schools network in 2014-15. Participating sites will receive training, tools, and implementation support, and pilot success will be evaluated based on measures of apprenticeship quality and staff integration of 21st century skills into their teaching.
Intended Outcomes

Citizen Schools and its partners plan to achieve all of the outcomes outlined in the Request for Proposals by the end of the fourth year of operation. All students will achieve at least 1.5 years of growth annually on Common Core State Standards in ELA and Math: The next generation ELT model will achieve this goal by offering students an expanded day with additional time for academic practice, online resources to build academic skills, individualized goal-setting, aligned instruction, and engaging activities that build motivation. Student growth at some sites is already dramatic. Orchard Gardens K-8 Pilot School in Boston, where Citizen Schools serves all 6th and 7th grade students, demonstrated median student growth among the top 2% of Massachusetts schools in the first two years of ELT partnership. 90% three-year cohort completion rate: The next generation ELT model will achieve this goal by offering personalized support and by connecting effort in school with students future goals. In a quasi-experimental, longitudinal evaluation conducted by Policy Studies Associates from 2001 to 2010, participants in Citizen Schools after-school program in Boston demonstrated higher attendance, persistence, and high school graduation rates than matched peers. (See the studys final report.) Postsecondary matriculation rate will be 80%: The next generation ELT model will put middle grades students on track to achieve this goal by increasing academic readiness and developing the 21st century skills, beliefs, and college knowledge that are necessary for success in high school and beyond. Available evidence suggests that students who participate in Citizen Schools are more likely than district peers to enroll in post-secondary education. Based on a Citizen Schools analysis of National Student Clearinghouse data for early participants, 66% of students who participated in Citizen Schools in middle school and are now college-age have enrolled in a two-year or four-year college or university, a rate approximately 10 percentage points higher than that for Boston Public Schools students as a whole. Given programmatic improvements, we believe that 80% is an ambitious but achievable target for students participating in the coming years. Other college and career success standards: Citizen Schools views academic proficiency based on Common Core State Standards as necessary but not sufficient for college success and will also seek to foster a set of attitudes,

Digital portfolios may incorporate digital badges. In 2012, Citizen Schools was a finalist in the Digital Media and Learning Digital Badges for Lifelong Learning competition sponsored by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Citizen Schools continues to examine the potential value of badges as a flexible and portable way to recognize the development of skills among both students and adult volunteers.
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beliefs, and 21st century skills that will increase students college readiness and that will be measured through the new 21st century skills assessment as well as through student surveys.
Sustainability

Citizen Schools and its partners have identified supporting the next generation ELT model though sustainable public funds as a critical goal and have set specific short- and long-term targets for both cost and public revenue. Key features of the model make it possible to produce high student impact at modest cost. Perhaps most significantly, the program employs a second shift of educators (Citizen Schools staff and volunteers) to provide expanded day staffing. This approach allows schools to extend learning hours at lower cost and allows both shifts of educators to follow reasonable schedules. (At many sites, some teachers do extend their hours in order to coach Citizen Schools staff, teach apprenticeships, or offer academic support.) Blended learning strategies offer additional opportunities for cost efficiencies by reducing lesson planning hours for some staff and by allowing for larger class sizes without sacrificing individualized instruction. Citizen Schools and its partners are engaged in an ongoing effort to identify other ways to reduce expenses, including ways to simplify the program model, adjust staffing patterns, and partner with other organizations that can provide high-quality services at lower cost. As they decrease costs, Citizen Schools and its partners are also seeking to develop a revenue model that will make the next generation model sustainable for school districts, even after short-term boosts such as School Improvement Grants disappear. The program is free to students, and nearly 70% of direct costs for Citizen Schools portion of the expanded day are already covered by public funds, including AmeriCorps, 21st Century Community Learning Centers, and Title I. In collaboration with its peers and private funders, Citizen Schools is engaged in research, benchmarking, and advocacy to ensure that public funds will support efficient educational approaches that produce evidence of significant student impact.
Scalability

Citizen Schools anticipates scaling the next generation ELT model directly and boldly through partnerships with districts.3 (In the most advanced current example of this approach, Citizen Schools serves approximately 20% of 6th grade students in the Boston Public Schools.) Citizen Schools has demonstrated the ability to scale with fidelity and quality; from 2006 to 2009, Citizen Schools increased enrollment by an average of 44% per year and maintained a consistent level of student gains. A 2010 implementation study conducted by Policy Studies Associates found that Citizen Schools consistently replicated the core elements of its afterschool program across sites with fidelity. Citizen Schools ELT network has grown from two sites in 2010-11 to 19 in 2011-12 and 23 in 2012-13. Citizen Schools and its partners are also interested in facilitating replication outside of direct partnerships and actively support efforts such as ESEA flexibility and the expansion of national service corps focused on school-based volunteer mobilization that will support the spread of key elements beyond the direct footprint of Citizen Schools network. Citizen Schools is committed to sharing best practices within and beyond its network (for example, through its annual ELT Summit and an open-source library of apprenticeship curricula).
Capacity

Citizen Schools is a national leader in expanded day partnerships with demonstrated success in collaborating with public schools and districts and securing resources. Founded in 1995, Citizen Schools launched its full-grade ELT initiative in 2010 and currently operates 23 full-grade Expanded Learning Time and eight optional afterschool programs in eight states (California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, and Texas). In 2012-13, Citizen Schools enrolls approximately 4,900 students, approximately 85% of whom are from low-income families and 95% of whom are from communities of color. Citizen Schools recruits and supports more than 250 front-line staff and 3,900 volunteers annually using established pipelines, screening procedures, and training. Citizen Schools has an FY2013 operating budget of $32 million and a diverse funding base, with approximately 31% of revenue from public sources, 31% from foundations, 25% from corporations, and 13% from
3

Among Citizen Schools 16 current district partners are Boston Public Schools, Chicago Public Schools, the New York City Department of Education, Oakland Unified School District, Houston Independent School District, and Santa Fe Public Schools. Citizen Schools signs formal MOUs with its district partners and School Partnership Agreements with its school partners.
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individuals. It secured more than $18 million in growth capital funding for its 2011-14 strategic plan and has been recognized with major grants from the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, the Wallace Foundation, the Ford Foundation, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Google, Bank of America, Fidelity Investments, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Educations Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund. Citizen Schools has a stable and experienced leadership team with experience in implementing large-scale projects and a demonstrated commitment to rigorous evaluation. The proposed NGLC planning project will be overseen by Melissa Rouette, Chief Program Officer (project leadership); Cadhla Ball, Director of Program Design, and Amy Hoffmaster, Manager of Program Design (national oversight of blended learning pilot); Emily Stainer, Director of Program Leadership (national oversight of 21st century skills assessment pilot); Mike Kubiak, Director of Research and Evaluation (leadership of Citizen Schools evaluation efforts; liaison to external evaluators); and Will Nourse, Chief Information Officer (leadership of technology strategy). Resumes for these key staff members are attached.
Boldness and Impact

By combining the demonstrated success of Citizen Schools ELT partnerships with carefully designed improvements in blended learning and 21st century skills assessment, a next generation ELT model can offer the field a unique combination of vision and evidence. An NGLC planning grant would support a model that features: A learning day organized around a core vision of comprehensive college readiness for every student A focus on the middle grades as a critical inflection point in students educational trajectories A sophisticated approach to partnering with high-need public schools and districts (as well as other organizations with specific expertise in fields such as digital learning and data integration) that leverages the strengths of all partners A creative two-shift staffing model that deepens the pool of talent available to students at modest cost Potential to learn from multi-site pilots within a national program network during the planning period and to leverage ongoing evaluation efforts for additional insight A growth mindset that recognizes the importance of scale and sustainability in addition to impact

Citizen Schools next generation ELT model would join the NGLC portfolio with a wealth of experience in building school and district partnerships, engaging volunteers, and designing aligned and effective extended day programs. Together with the learning we would anticipate from structured pilots and participation in the NGLC network, we believe that our model can offer a breakthrough approach to college readiness that is scalable and sustainable for a large number of public schools serving the middle grades.
Advantages

Citizen Schools and its school partners offer a set of resources and supports that would make the next generation ELT model more effective. These include strong existing relationships between Citizen Schools and its diverse network of school and district partners; significant leadership and management capacity at Citizen Schools; stable and sufficient funding to support core programmatic work, which will permit focused use of a planning grant; and promising relationships with a range of online learning providers from Word Generation and Achieve3000 to Study Island and Khan Academy. Another important set of resources for learning are two significant independent evaluations that are already underway. The first is Abt Associates national study of Citizen Schools ELT partnerships. Launched in 2010 and with initial impact results expected to be released publicly in fall 2013, this study will provide rigorous and thorough implementation lessons and outcomes data with relevance for the NGLC project. Abt Associates is also conducting an evaluation of Citizen Schools STEM apprenticeships as part of its recently awarded i3 grant that will illuminate teaching and learning in science, technology, engineering, and math in the expanded day context. Citizen Schools is committed to offering middle grades students a learning day that meets the challenges of college and career readiness in the 21st century. With support from an NGLC Wave IV planning grant, Citizen Schools and its school and district partners will explore promising ways to incorporate new innovations into their expanded day programs, building a scalable breakthrough model ready for launch in fall 2014. We appreciate your support for next generation learning efforts and thank you for your consideration.
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