Hawaii has made front page news in education circles for its recent decision to cut 17 days from its school year in response to its budget shortfall. Yet amidst this troubling move to shorten the academic calendar there exists an initiative that is actually adding more time to the school year. Thanks in large part to the leadership of Lynn Fallin, President and Executive Director of the Ho`okako`o Corporation, schools under the organization’s management are not participating in the education furloughs, with one school having already added 300 hours to their school year and another planning to do so next year. Lynn has had a remarkable career within the education policy arena including serving as an advisor to two former Hawaii governors. We are pleased to name her as this issue’s time innovator.
1. Can you give us some background about how and why your organization Ho`okako`o Corporation was created?
Ho`okako`o Corporation (HC) is a private non-profit organization established in 2002 to improve the quality of education offered to Hawaii’s children through conversion charter schools. Conversion charter schools were also created in 2002 when the Hawaii legislature passed Act 2, which expanded educational choices for Hawaii’s students and allowed eligible non-profit organizations to manage and operate these schools. HC’s mission is to help our schools reinvent themselves for the purpose of improving the academic achievement and personal growth of students. Collaborating with communities, educators, and families, Ho`okako`o provides conversion charter schools with expertise and resources to improve student achievement. HC operates and manages three conversion charter schools and fulfills two roles: 1) as a local school board, setting policy and providing oversight; and 2) as a nonprofit, providing guidance and technical assistance to the schools. Through collaboration with families, educators, and the community, and with access to funds from private and public sources, HC works to empower all the people involved in a school so that they are part of the change process to achieve increased academic success for Hawaii’s children.
2. The Ho`okako`o Corporation has a very specific mission – to be an education change agent. In what specific ways do you see HC filling this role? How does this mission drive your work?
HC conducted a national and local review with stakeholders and experts and concluded that in order for schools to improve student achievement, in terms of both academics and personal growth, it is our responsibility to ensure that the necessary conditions to foster such improvement are in place. As an education change agent, HC seeks partnerships with public school communities that are committed to:
1. Effective school community leadership
2. A faculty of capable teachers with high expectations and the skills to work together in focused learning communities
3. A curriculum that is aligned, articulated, and integrated
4. Empowering parents and the greater community with a sense of ownership in the school and willingness to be part of the change process
5. A focus on using data to inform & improve instruction
6. More time on instructional and co-curricular activities (expanded learning time)
7. Supportive and effective policies and regulations
3. How did you first become interested in Expanded Learning Time (ELT) and its application to conversion schools? Were there specific aspects of the model that you believed would help meet the needs of the schools you are serving?
For HC, ELT is a catalyst for change and school redesign because it enables the schools to shift focus and attention away from “what does becoming a conversion charter school and leaving the traditional DOE school system mean” to “what is best for students and how do we improve instruction and learning”. When we first came across the concept of ELT, it opened our eyes to how our schools were spending their time. We did a simple analysis of time spent on instruction versus other school activities and found that our schools were only spending about 23.5 hours of a total 35 hours per week on direct instruction to our students. To create more quality time in school for all students, we adopted ELT strategies that were rigorous, relevant, enriching, and designed to serve the whole child. These strategies include: 1) increasing instructional time by 30% by including new schedules of instruction that integrate core subjects with enrichment activities and academic support, resulting in a longer school day; 2) significantly increasing the number of teacher professional and waiver days, resulting in a longer school year, and 3) improving the use of data to inform instruction. The enrichment activities we offer to students in our three uniquely different schools are flexible and based upon student interest. Offerings include Hawaiian culture, art, music, dance, sports, character development, P.E., drama, computers, foreign languages, and other service-based learning and community-building activities. In the future we hope to offer karate, robotics, yoga, band, and ukulele lessons.
Through our research we found models on how other schools across the nation were extending their school day and/or year, the majority of which pointed to the work of the Massachusetts Expanded Learning Time Initiative. Massachusetts 2020 documented that ELT models which support teachers with time for planning and professional development produced significant gains in student achievement and learning and did so in low SES schools like ours. Across all of the schools in the Ho`okako`o Corporation cohort, we feel strongly that the additional time each day will lead to greater student-initiated exploration and hands-on learning during structured enrichment activities. We also hope to unearth evidence that certain types of instructional strategies are more effective in ELT project-based learning environments, such as reading aloud to stimulate group brainstorming, peer tutoring, and mixed-ability grouping for targeted academic support.
4. You have just made a second trip to Massachusetts (and for some on the HI team this will be their third trip) to visit ELT schools and learn more about the ELT model. What most appeals to you about the ELT model as an education leader? What has the reaction been from the schools?
As an education leader, I have been impressed with the dedicated professionals, high expectations for student achievement, and diverse learning opportunities that are rigorous and relevant to the students’ daily lives which I, along with my colleagues, have witnessed firsthand in the Massachusetts ELT schools. We have also followed closely the leadership strategies of NCTL as they provide technical assistance and political advocacy to their schools and to other states just beginning their own ELT initiatives. Our HC schools have been very interested in the Massachusetts model, especially in the areas of student academics, personal enrichment, and time intervention strategies used to engage teachers, parents, and community members. As I mentioned before, Kamaile Academy is implementing ELT this year. The needs of Kamaile, its students, families, and community are significant and require transformational systemic change. To meet this challenge, Kamaile is incorporating ELT into a community-driven vision for a full-service, “green,” P-14 village learning center that provides Waianae children with educational, social, cultural, health, career and work development opportunities they need to succeed as well-prepared and self-determined global citizens. We are very excited because Kamaile Academy’s ELT program will provide a foundation for discussions about lessons learned to assist our other two schools as they too create their own unique version of an ELT school.
5. I understand that you would like to see the ELT model spread to traditional district schools across Hawaii. How do you hope this will unfold? For example, can you tell us about the resolution that passed the Hawaii legislature? What are some of the other ways you are promoting the idea?
Our schools are the first public schools in Hawaii to pilot ELT school redesign in order to close the student academic achievement gap in some of the lowest performing schools in the nation. With the success of ELT in our three schools, we hope to influence public policy in Hawaii to support ELT expansion for other schools in the state, attracting new collaborators to join in this innovative process. Resolution SCR 52/HCR 89 was passed by the 2009 Hawaii State Legislature and states: “Requesting that the Ho’okako’o Corporation Report On The Progress and Impacts of the Models for Expanded Learning Time Being Piloted By the Ho’okako’o Corporation’s Partner Conversion Charter Schools.” The Resolution directs HC to collaborate with the Hawaii State Department of Education on the development of plans to pilot ELT models in our state that could possibly be implemented in traditional schools as well. In July 2009, we hosted a breakfast with some of Hawaii’s leadership from the Legislature, DOE, unions and the community to build awareness of ELT and its power to transform schools. We plan to continue the dialogue with state leaders especially as the new federal ARRA education funds become available.
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