Closing the academic achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students is important to U.S. federal, state, and local policymakers. Despite improvements in academic achievement over the past few decades, proficiency gaps remain across income, racial, and ethnic groups (NCES, 2013). Expanded Learning Time (ELT) represents a promising approach for improving academic achievement, particularly in our chronically low-performing schools. According to the National Center for Time and Learning (NCTL), there are 1,033 ELT schools in 47 states and the District of Columbia (NCTL, 2012). The majority of current ELT schools (60%) are charter schools, yet, increasingly, ELT programs are being considered and adopted by traditional public schools (NCTL, 2012b). Since 1995, Citizen Schools has developed and supported an ELT model that uses an additional shift of educators and community volunteers to engage middle-school students in hands-on apprenticeships, while simultaneously providing individualized supports to ensure academic and future success. Theory suggests that as a result of ELT, students may become more engaged in school because of additional enrichment and learning opportunities, develop better communication skills due to more time with teachers and peers, and be less likely to engage in detrimental behaviors because of less idle time. Ultimately, student achievement may improve as a result of additional learning time. Abt Associates is conducting a five-year national evaluation of the Citizen Schools ELT model that includes both implementation and outcomes components. The study pays particular attention to understanding the role of implementation in explaining observed impacts and because it has become evident over the course of the study that implementation varies substantially across ELT campuses, identifying strengths and weaknesses in program implementation is a key component to understanding the relationship to student achievement results. To this end, an implementation index was developed that examines seven core program elements of the ELT model. The index draws from interviews and surveys, and incorporates information from multiple school-based respondents, including principals, classroom teachers, Citizen Schools Campus Directors and Citizen Schools staff. This paper will discuss how the initial assessment of implementation, carried out through site visits and stakeholder interviews in schools implementing ELT, resulted in some preliminary program modifications, and how the need for systematic implementation feedback resulted in the development of the fidelity index. As data from the index provides new data about the fidelity of implementation, program operators are able to continue to refine the model.

National Center for Education Statistics. (2013). The nation's report card: Trends in academic progress 2012 (NCES 2013–456). Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. National Center on Time and Learning (NCTL): Expanded-Time Schools Database. Retrieved from http://www.timeandlearning.org/db/; see National Center on Time and Learning (2012a). Mapping the Field: A Report on Expanded-Time Schools in America. National Center on Time and Learning, Boston, MA. National Center on Time and Learning (2012b). Mapping the Field: A Report on Expanded-Time Schools in America. National Center on Time and Learning, Boston, MA.