Ask Arne About This Longer School Day Plan

The results are in on Rudy Crew's $100,000,000 gamble. From the Miami Herald (ht to Monty Neill):

BY KATHLEEN MCGRORY
KMCGRORY@MIAMIHERALD.COM

A $100 million investment in Miami-Dade County's lowest performing public schools failed to boost student achievement, according to the school district's final report on the program.

The School Improvement Zone was a three-year push at 39 elementary, middle and senior high schools throughout the county. Students participated in a specialized reading program and had a longer school day than students at other schools. They also had a longer school year.

The zone was former Superintendent Rudy Crew's pet project. It was praised in education circles across the country.

But the investment yielded few results when it came to student performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Tests, according to the district analysis.

And both students and teachers said they were exhausted by the extra hour a day in the classroom and the heavy workload.