Fifty or more years ago the school day from "8 to 2" may have made sense. It was designed to accommodate a time when children were expected to help on the farm after school, mothers stayed at home, and knowledge and skill requirements were much less demanding then they are today.

Today's students are expected to know more, to meet higher standards, and to achieve proficiency in higher level skills, so they can compete in a highly competitive economic global marketplace. It is an economic imperative that we extend the school day to meet these 21st- century needs of our students.

The Ho'okako'o Corporation (HC), in partnership with Kamehameha Schools, Bank of Hawai'i, the National Center on Time and Learning and Massachusetts 2020, is planning to pilot "The Time Has Come" Expanded Learning Time (ELT) models at three public conversion charter schools: Kamaile Academy, Kualapu'u School and Waimea Middle School.

The state Department of Education and Ho'okako'o Corporation will collaborate on the development of the ELT plans that will promote the achievement and success of Hawai'i public school students.

And the Hawai'i state Legislature is considering passage of a resolution in support of the Expanded Learning Time program, to be introduced by Sen. Norman Sakamoto, chair of the Senate Committee on Education and Rep. Roy Takumi, chair of the House Committee on Education.

The concept of Expanded Learning Time requires the complete redesign of a school's educational program: ELT increases the time on instruction, and combines academics with enrichment for a robust and well-rounded student experience; it successfully prepares students for global 21st-century opportunities, and supports teachers by giving them more time for planning, training, and professional development.

There is plenty of compelling data confirming the effectiveness of ELT. The MASS2020 Initiative 2008 Annual Report highlights improvements at Hiatt, one ELT school:

Additional time for literacy instruction is showing its effect: in 2006, only 57 percent of the fourth graders at Hiatt were proficient or advanced in English language arts (ELA). Two years later, this same cohort of students had 82 percent of students scoring proficient or above on the MCAS (Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System Exam).

Effective ELT models in Massachusetts and across the nation in the KIPP Schools demonstrate that increasing student time by 300 hours a school year is rewarding.

Extending the school day has shown remarkable results, with test scores rising almost across the board. There's really no arguing with the results. Adding 300 hours to the school year — about two hours a day — has improved students' scores on the MCAS and closed proficiency gaps between some previously struggling schools and the state average.

S. Paul Reville — chairman of the Massachusetts State Board of Education, president of the Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy, and a co-chairman of the National Center on Time and Learning — reminds us of the bottom line:

Our relatively arbitrary school schedule is not well-sized to meet these 21st-century objectives for learning. Educators are working hard and efficiently, and are finding that the instructional clock doesn't adequately accommodate today's academic demands. We cannot hope to educate all students, especially those who have suffered the injuries of poverty, to high levels in a wide range of competencies unless and until we "right size" the school day and school year. We must reinvent the school schedule and calendar to meet the needs of today's students.

Lynn Fallin is executive director of Ho'okako'o Corporation and Robert Witt is a member of the organization's board. They wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.