Posted on 05/07/2023 9:32:19 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
MINERAL WELLS, Texas — Desperate to fill open positions amid a statewide teacher shortage, school officials in this rural North Texas city of about 15,000 chose to follow the lead of neighboring districts by converting to a four-day school week at the start of the current student year.
“We decided if we can’t beat them, join them,” Superintendent John Kuhn said.
As the school year nears a close next month, Kuhn proclaimed the four-day week “a really good success,” which, among other positives, produced a surge of qualified teacher applicants that helped the district fill its vacancies. The seven-member school board has unanimously authorized the four-day schedule for the new school year that starts in August.
Nationwide, the number of four-day schools has increased by 600% over the past two decades, now numbering more than 1,600 in 24 states, according to research published in 2021. The schedule is most popular in small, rural districts. In Colorado, which has the largest percentage, 124 of the state’s 178 districts (70%) follow a four-day schedule.
Many four-day schools report higher test scores, fewer discipline problems and strong support from parents, teachers and staff. But amid the success stories, the idea is facing headwinds as emerging research points to academic declines and other problems.
School districts that go from five days to four typically make up at least some of the missing hours by adding time to the other days or extending the school year. But four-day schedules average only 148 school days per year, resulting in less time in school than the national average of 180 days per year for five-day schools.
Several states have imposed restrictions or bans on four-day schools. In Oklahoma, for example, a 2019 law requires school districts to seek waivers for four-day schools. Lawmakers in Missouri and Texas are pushing legislation to block the practice.
In another part of North Texas, the suburban Mesquite Independent School District, just east of Dallas, three months ago pulled back from what had seemed to be almost certain implementation of a four-day school week, after a comprehensive study raised fears of academic setbacks among fragile student populations.
The six-state analysis, published last summer by the Annenberg Institute at Brown University, found lower student achievement in four-day schools, with larger negative effects among Hispanic students, as well as in those in towns and the suburbs, as compared to rural areas.
Reviewing the relatively new findings at a board meeting in February, Mesquite officials dropped the four-day concept out of fear it would result in harmful consequences for students, 61% of whom are Hispanic.
“I took it off the table as the administration recommendation,” Superintendent Angel Rivera told Stateline. “I’m not going to experiment on kids.” Lawmakers push back
Over the past several years, school districts in many states have rushed to embrace the four-day school week in hopes of easing a variety of problems, from staff vacancies to budget pressures, including those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the analysis published by the Annenberg Institute.
In some states, lawmakers are pushing back.
In Missouri, where more than 160 school districts (out of 518) will follow four-day schedules next year, a Senate-passed education bill carries an amendment by Democratic state Sen. Doug Beck that would prohibit four-day school weeks in cities with more than 30,000 residents, unless approved by district voters.
Beck, whose district includes the St. Louis area, said he believes Missouri should mandate five-day school weeks, calling the reduced schedule “a bad idea” and “a push to the bottom.”
In Texas, state Sen. Donna Campbell, Republican vice chair of the Senate Education Committee, also is pushing a bill that would require five-day weeks.
Campbell said in a statement that her bill has “spurred a robust public discussion regarding the relationship between students’ instructional time and academic achievement. In the future, I would like to see Texas collect data on student achievement comparing the various school week models.”
At a committee hearing on her bill, Campbell said the four-day schedule “has unintentionally caused hardships on working families and does not seem to improve student outcomes.” Research also suggests “that it seems to have some negative effects on children,” she said.
But school district officials who testified during the hearing were unanimous in their opposition to the bill, saying it would override local decision-making.
“We know what works for us,” said Paula Patterson, superintendent of the Houston-area Crosby Independent School District, which serves more than 6,000 students. When Crosby switches to a four-day schedule next fall, it will be the largest Texas district to do so.
“Four days with an exceptional teacher is much more effective and productive than five days with a less effective teacher.” Recent research
Scholarly research on four-day school weeks has been slow to emerge, leaving school districts to rely heavily on anecdotal conclusions.
“All of the research we have today is almost exclusively from the last three to four years,” said Emily Morton of Portland, Oregon-based NWEA, a nonprofit educational research organization formerly known as the Northwest Evaluation Association. Morton was one of the authors of the study published by the Annenberg Institute.
In addition to that analysis, there have been at least seven other major studies, including a 2021 study by the RAND Corporation and an Oregon analysis led by Paul Thompson, another coauthor of the analysis published by the Annenberg Institute. Thompson’s Oregon study found that 11th graders on a four-day schedule performed worse on math tests than five-day students.
The findings, Morton said, are largely “a story of trade-offs,” showing an overall small to medium “negative effect” on achievement, though close to zero in rural districts, along with positives such as downturns in fighting and bullying.
Morton acknowledged, however, that the shortened week has been a morale booster in many districts, reducing time pressures, adding to family togetherness and softening academic stress. School district leaders say the reduced schedule has curtailed or eradicated vacancies and eased the workload on staff.
“The folks who do this schedule, they love it,” Morton said. “The communities are really positive about it.”
Though some schools have chosen Monday as the off-day, Friday is the new Saturday in most districts. However, many schools remain open on the expanded weekend for optional extra instruction or catch-up days for teachers.
But school district officials who testified during the hearing were unanimous in their opposition to the bill, saying it would override local decision-making.
We have seen the results of local (school district) decision making and the less said about it the better.
“On the one hand, Japanese children go to school six days a week, with Saturday being a half-day...”
And as you say, conscientious parents send their kids to after-school cram schools to get them into the best high schools and colleges.
A few years back the government decided that 5 1/2 days per week was just too much, so they gave the kids one Saturday off, per month. But kids were expected to make up for the lost classroom time.
Meanwhile we have public schools in the U.S. were high schools graduate students who can neither read nor do math at even a third-grade level. Sorry, Brandon, we’re not going to ‘lick the world’.
Those countries schools teach not indoctrinate and warehouse students. Vouchers are the answer. Education has swelled the administration positions over the decline of all level of education especially colleges.
In other news, beatings, theft, rape etc. are down 20% in the Mosquito school district
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You’re one funny dude...lol.
It isn’t about education. Its about day care.
(I am in manufacturing)
Nearly every single person in the shops and factories I work with prefer 4x10s. It saves time and money commuting, three day weekends with the family, and an extra 2 hours a day on an assembly line the time flies.
I remember a philosophy class my senior year at Gonzaga. On Tuesday you were assigned a book to read. Thursday, you would turn in a two-paged report, after reading it aloud and discussing in class.
It was one of the most valuable classes I ever took. I learned that I could hold my own against the philosophy and theology majors that dominated the class. My professor was awesome, and ripped the veneer off of the mystical nature of philosophy: as he said, "it's not what you say, but how you say it. Philosophy is nothing but a bunch of BS." Needless to say, I was spending at least 3 hours outside of class for every hour in class.
Public schools have abdicated their responsibility to prepare their students for life beyond high school.
A lot of our electricians and linemen work 4 10-hour days instead of 5 8-hour days. Still 40 hours, just makes for a nicer 3 day weekend normally.
Yep. Same. The work week goes by fast and that extra day off is really nice.
Pretty much the only argument people can put forth into supporting the 5x8 work week is nothing more than, "It's always been this way."
I’d make school 3 hours a day from 9-12. 3 R’s-that’s plenty of time. Then there’d be a one and a half-hour recess(obesity). At 3pm The kids would need to stick around and make their family’s dinner in the school kitchen. At 4pm the latchkey kids could be entertained with ‘teachable’ endeavors subject to parent approval. Day-off dads will be encouraged to come to campus wearing Smokey the Bear hats-structure.
There’s more. Saturday morning school. Allow parents to exchange juices while watching infomercials.
I would be more inclined to support a 3 months in school then one month off cycle. Shorter vacation time between academic sessions improves learning retention.
Parents both work-—they have 5 day jobs——Who is taking care of kids on 5th day???????
Our kids go to school - er, the indoctrination center - 0 days a week.
Good idea! 4 day work week but each day is 10 hours long!
Many people would love that work week. It's what some factories with shift work do now.
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