3. Align science electives with core content: In some cases, the schools that offer science electives have not yet made strong connections between these electives and their core science curricula. Exploring how to make those connections is an ongoing challenge, both for schools with electives delivered by external partners (Jane Long), and those where the electives are taught by teachers (Kuss). Additionally, understanding how to assess the impact of the electives is an area that needs more attention. Although the electives are not strictly informal or after-school programs, their design and delivery has many similar attributes, including the fact that students in electives are not tested or graded in the same ways as they are in core science classes. Recent work by the National Research Council, the National Academies of Science, and the Program in Education, After-school and Resiliency (PEAR) at Harvard University and McLean Hospital has provided ideas on how to assess not only cognitive outcomes, but also attitudinal, behavioral, and social outcomes from informal science experiences.46 The schools and their partners could potentially adapt these lessons to their expanded-time electives in an effort to better understand whether the electives are delivering on their promise to enhance science engagement and competency.
4. Achieving financial stability: The schools in this study have been creative in leveraging resources to expand learning time. With an unstable budget outlook, however, it will likely be more difficult to sustain and expand the number of students served. Volusia County has seen their Title I funding reduced in recent years, as their numbers of children in poverty have declined, and further Title I decreases could impact the future of the Plus One program. In Massachusetts, the Kuss Middle School relies on annual legislative appropriation for ELT funding. Thus far, state leaders have remained committed to the program, but increasing budget pressures could impact the Kuss ELT program. TMALS in New York City has funded its expanded time through multiple public and private sources and must contend with the ongoing threat of severe budget cuts and the difficulty of sustaining private philanthropic investment over the long-term. The short tenure of expanded time at Jane Long in Houston is an example of how a program championed mainly by a single school leader is extremely vulnerable when that leader moves on. No school in this study has yet accessed a way to fund the expanded schedule that is completely integrated with the core per-pupil budget and thus more insulated from annual variations in funding.
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| Strengthening Science Education