The Extra Hour: Tensions and Dilemmas in Building an Extended Day Program

Sizable gaps in student standardized test scores exist between white middle-class children and poor children of color can be found nationwide (Scott, 2012; Silva, 2012). Extended day programs receive billions of federal, state, and local dollars to help close this gap. This study focuses on answering the following questions: (1) How do school administrators balance the needs of students for youth development with the need to demonstrate proficiency on academic tests to create an extended day program? (2) How do school administrators manage the tensions in the competing information that is used to determine the success of their extended day programs? This qualitative research study used a descriptive case study approach to understand the experiences of 22 teachers and administrators working with extended day programs in a large, urban, mid-western school district. Data emerged in three categories: program structure, finding balance in extended day programs, and assessment. The data were analyzed using Enomoto and Kramer’s Democratic Leadership Model, Noddings’ Theory of School Reform, and Freire’s Banking Concept of Education. The administrators in this study believe a missing piece in the education of low-income urban students is the youth development and enrichment opportunities that their higher income peers have. Several recommendations emerged: (1) Further research and development of the Pedagogy for Extended Day; (2) The need for a comprehensive assessment model to consider the effectiveness of extended day programs; (3) The need for higher education to prepare teachers to include youth development in their classrooms