Longer School Day Boosts Student Performance

The results of an experiment to lengthen the school day at 10 public schools in Massachusetts appear to be promising.

State education officials say the increased learning time paid off with improved MCAS scores across all grade levels in English, math and science.

The schools also showed a higher percentage increase in the number of students scoring "proficient'' or "advanced,'' the two top categories of the MCAS exams.

The findings are due to be presented Friday at a national conference on expanded learning time.

Former candidate for governor Chris Gabrieli called the results "incredibly exciting and encouraging,'' and told The Boston Globe it could become a widespread reform. Gabrieli heads a nonprofit group that partnered with the state to implement the longer school day experiment.