Longer School Days Essay

Studies show that over-working students can actually hurt their learning by wearing the students out. Everyone could still get the same amount of learning in that day. Teachers would be able to assign more homework and more projects because students would have extra time after school. Shorter school days would lead to healthier students. Because of the shortened school days, students would have more

The four-day school week has gained quite a bit of traction in the United States as of lately. In fact, The Education Commission has estimated that hundreds of districts in 17 states have made the transition. Also, there are state officials present within Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, and Oregon and all have reported increases in the four-day schedule. It is a movement that grows by the month and is the way forward in education. Colby Public Schools absolutely should transition from a five-day school week to a four-day school week due to the benefits of this system. Colby Public Schools most certainly should switch to a four-day school week as it will lead to a saving of money, better in-depth interaction,

Suzanne Tobias wrote the article “The struggle over longer school days” that is on The Wichita Eagle. In her article, she has the viewpoints of families, teachers and school board members. One family that is brought up a lot, is the Biggs family. Rachel and Doug Biggs talk about how longer school days have impacted their family, especially their first-grade son, Liam.

However, when it comes right down to it, it is all about the test scores. Whether it is standardized tests or just regular tests in school, four day school weeks are just better when it comes to both. ACT is a major standardized test that can directly show how ready a student is for a post-secondary education. Students that took the ACT one year with a five day school week had an average score of 18.7 on the ACT. The next year, the same school switched to a four day school week the following year and saw the average score rise to 20 (Chmelynski). From 10 random school districts those that had a four day school week versus a five day school week had better average standardized test scores (Yarbrough and Gilman). It isn’t just the standardized test that see improvements. Regular in-class test scores have also improved as a result of the four-day school week. In-fact studies show that test scores in all major subject areas have improved drastically (Yarbrough and

Many schools are now organizing school day schedules to maximize instructional time and minimize non-instructional time, such as recess (Pellegrini & Bohn, 2005). Schools made this shift in response to increased state testing and the associated pressures of funding. Some also believe that the shift to more instructional time and less non-instructional time was worsened with the adoption of Common Core standards in elementary schools. However, this may not be the best move for schools or for long-term student success.

The debate rages on about whether the school day should be longer or shorter, and if shortening or making the school days longer has a better effect on education. In the article “Small, rural schools going to a four-day week of classes” by Juno Kaufmann states that there are many reasons on why going to a four-day week of classes improve state testing scores and provides a better education. But in the article “Extending the school day” by Ted Franklins there are many reasons why having longer school days help education. Though you might think that having longer classes would help students, going four days a week is better since teachers are better prepared to teach student and ACT scores have gone up in schools that have four day weeks.

Have you ever just wished your school day as shorter? In some schools children have longer school days. In Finland the school day is fifteen percent shorter than the school day in the United States, but their test scores are much higher. People have different points of view on length of the school day in America. Some people think that school days should be longer to improve academics for students.“The US lags behind other countries in core subjects. In 2015, American students came in 24th in reading, 25th in science, and 41st in math out of 72 countries—not the worst, but far from the best,” (pg. 30) Because the U.S.A is behind, many experts believe that students should go to school for an additional 90 minutes a day.U.S.A. Some experts

Currently, there are 21 states that have adopted a four-day school week (Long 1). From California to Georgia, Oregon to Kansas, these states are only a few that have embraced a shortened school week. This trend is occurring within small, rural school systems, as well as in institutions of higher education. With these states implementing a four-day week, one can’t help but wonder what the positive and negative outcomes will be. Research has been done to determine whether a four-day week gives an advantage to students or just the opposite. After considering multiple sources, Colby High School should adopt a four-day school week because they would increase student attendance, give teachers more time to

The school board plans is considering adding one and a half hours to the school day.The extra one and half of hours would provide more instruction time. This would also provide students more time for remediation, and teachers more time to plan interactive lessons with the extension of the school day. For these reasons, the school board should extend the school day by one and a half hours.

Many schools around Bismarck School District have decided to go for a 4-day school week, and the question for the school board, community, faculty, and students is are we going to join the other schools in a four day school week. For me the answer is a resounding NO! It provides no actual financial benefits ,and if the school board decides to do this by adding more hours to each day it will over work students. If the school did add more normal school days there would be 45 weeks of school.

Its 3:15 PM It’s Monday Where are your kids? Are they outside playing, in their rooms still sleeping, playing games or is he or she just getting off school. Across the nation schools are debating about whether schools should have a four day school week. Some schools have tried a three day weekend and it turned out well for students and teachers. Students have more time to do homework and projects, and afterwords students would be able to go outside to play. Other schools tried it, and it didn’t help some students that much because they would take advantage of the fact they had a three day week and put off homework. Evidence shows students should attend school four day a week to improve productivity.

Long has the topic of longer school days been a controversial debate among parents, teachers, and students. In recent years, discussions about the length of school days have influenced states and school districts to change the amount of time students spend at school. The question becomes whether longer school days can help improve the academic performance of students. There are different views on the length of school days when it comes to student performance. The people who advocate longer school days are debating on what they believe is of greater interest to students. Proponents to longer school days believe that they are debating in the greater interest of students as well.

Unfortunately, such factors as tradition and ingrained community expectations and the cost of extending the school day make adoption of such a model in many contexts an unattainable reality. Silva (2007) found that the additional days and hours are expensive, and that "changing the school schedule affects not only students and teachers, but parents, employers and a wide range of industries that are dependent on the traditional school day and year" (Silva 2007).

Alternatively, schools could equalize time to the school day or year and would allow more instruction time for school subjects, from fine arts and science to math and reading. Longer days would allow for either longer periods or more classes, which could be used to consistently expose students to fine arts and improve their abilities within it. If the US adds length to the school day there could be more time for fine arts classes, as well as Core subjects. There are already schools in the US that do this. A newspaper published information about the Volusia schools in Florida, adding one hour to their school day. Within seven years they saw a dramatic improvement in English- Language Arts (ELA), reading, science, and math. Their scores improved twice as fast as other schools who had shorter days (Schachter). A longer school day would bring an educational equilibrium, as Core subjects would be taught for the same amount of time as fine arts, sciences, and gym. This equilibrium would allow for more instructional time and give students an equal and balanced education.

There are many effects that a longer school day present. Many people in the community are affected. Students, teachers and family are only some of the people. Longer school days can bring health risks to the students and teachers. With an extra hour of school, students that live in the country or in rural areas can be putting in twelve hour days. This is not good for the health of a teenager that needs sleep in order to grow and energy for exercise and learning. Children, such as students in Kindergarten up to sixth grade, still need sleep. With an extra hour of school in place, burnout can take place and harm student motivation. The article, Longer School Days Affect Everyone, states, “While Japan may be leading the world in industry and technology,