Analysis Memo To: CC: Sarah Todd, Director, Institutional Research Re: Results of Survey for the compressed four day work week More than 50% of the participants worked the same amount of time as a full work week with no change to the four day compressed work week. Most participants either spent extra time on class preparation, running errands, grading, recruitment, meetings, etc. Approximately 35% of the staff from Canino School of Engineering Technology felt there was no break in classes and it was difficult to find time for office hours. Approximately 49% of staff from the School of business and Liberal Arts and the School of Science, Health, and Criminal Justice felt there was not time for committee meetings. About 55% of overall participants felt there was no change in the ability to get work done. Approximately 56% of the participants felt the student academic performances were not impacted. An overall 53% were satisfied with the four day compressed work week. Participants whom felt the four day compressed work week was easier gave reasons of more efficient use of time during the week with Fridays being a day to get other needed activities done or having an extra day off. Participants whom felt it was harder gave reasons of more stress to perform more duties in less time, no extra time to assist students, students had an inability to focus for longer class periods, grading, the inability to determine how classes will progress each day made it harder to make
Though some people say that four days in a school week will help students in certain classes especially in math, this test only worked on 4th and 5th graders. So it is illogical to think that a four day week will help other grade levels. My main concern is that most kids will not be able to focus by the end of the day because the school days will be longer,and so there would be no point in trying to teach at the end of the day. I say this because we would have to start
Financial problems have arose in many schools. Many schools believe that “One day less means one day less of heating the school, fueling buses, feeding students and paying certain staff members” (Anderson). Little things like that can save schools a lot more money. More money means more equipment for learning and new schools objects. “An informational poll on edutopia.com indicates that 67% of over 2700 polled favor this as a solution to school districts financial hardship” (Hadfield). A lot of people want the four day week to be a “thing” so that financial problems can no longer be a problem. Teachers and schools would say “Their budgets has been stretched tighter than a drum and has finally reached a breaking point that cannot be ignored” (Occupy Theory). A sign that teacher and student are getting a bit tired of the stress being put on them because of financial problem. There are more benefits along with the resolution of financial problems and it is academics.
Before introducing the workplace issues related to the development of four-day workweek, a clear definition of this schedule is needed. According to Department of Labor (n.d.), “A workweek is a fixed and regularly recurring period of 168 hours, or seven consecutive 24-hour periods. The workweek does not have to coincide with the calendar week, but instead it may begin on any day of the week and at any hour of the day.” It might be the “four-day, 32-hour workweek – more leisure, less work” (Wernette 1), or the “three-day, 40 hour, compressed work week” that Vega
In 2007, the school had a change in leadership and had students attend 2 periods per day, mourning class and afternoon class. They would complete a semester's worth of work in 21 days, then focus on 2 additional classes for another 21 days. So that at semester, students would have completed 6 classes like the rest of the building. The only hiccup with this is attendance was so bad, if students missed more than 2 days it was equivalent to missing 3 weeks of school at the comprehensive setting. Students had to have homework logs documenting how many hours of homework they had completed.
Students would benefit immensely from this change, as resources and facilities could be upgraded with the extra funds that come from being in school for fewer days. Activities that normally couldn’t be done during class, like time to work on homework, and activities that take longer than an average class time allows, such as science labs, could be worked into the schedule. The added Friday or Monday would give teachers and students an extra day to recover from the intense curriculum and be able to obtain a much needed period of relaxation. Then, young Americans would be less stressed and much more eager to
Imagine a school year that gave the students one week off after every quarter and every Friday off. Does this sound exciting and rich with possibilities? Then ask the superintendent of the school district to consider year round school with only four days per week.First, students would not forget what they learned over the long summer. Next, parents would not have to get day care except on Fridays instead of the whole summer. Finally, teachers and students would have better relationships as they spend more time together instead of being rushed. Let’s take a look at some proof.
A low income school in New Haven, Connecticut started the new year telling students they would be attending school until 4:15 P.M. four days a week. New Haven teachers in an unprecedented move allowed their teacher unions to take over the rewriting of their contracts. This provided the teacher with more freedom with curriculum and time management. Although the final outcome was beneficial the origins of the extended day was not welcomed.
Studies show that the amount of discipline referrals issued go down. The Chattooga county school district saw a 73% drop in discipline referrals(Vittana). This is because the students had an extra day off and don’t have to focus for five straight days on school. In addition to being more rested from the extra day off. Students that are more focused and rested learn better. So it increases the value of class time where a 5 day school week by Friday students can be unfocused and not rested. That leads to unhappy students who aren’t learning and probably gonna distract other students to keep them from learning. So
There are approximately 300 children enrolled in California Elementary School under the age of eight. These 300 would have to find some alternative to school on Fridays if the Moniteau County R-1 School District’s schedule changed from a five day week to a four day week. Additionally student involvement and safety would suffer. Changing the Moniteau County R-1 School district’s schedule to a four-day week would be detrimental to students’ safety and involvement in activities.
This eventually leads to better standardized testing scores district wide. Merryville High School in Louisiana, “has seen average ACT scores school wide rise from 18.7 to 20 in just four years of having the four day schedule. Honor roll students in middle and high school have also doubled” (Chmelynski). Also, according to the table on page 82 of Yarbrough’s article, test scores on the CTBS improved after moving to the four day school week in both the 3rd and 9th grade levels that were tested (see last page of paper). These improvements do not just happen over a long period of time, school districts have seen immediate improvement in scores. “Webster County School district ranked 115th in Kentucky’s state test scores. The year after moving to a four day week, they improved to 61st” (Weldon 32). Not only are schools seeing improvement in test scores, but they are also seeing overall improvement in all aspects of their district.
Can you imagine getting up on a Friday morning and not having to get up and go to school. This is becoming more than just a really good dream in some places across the country. This is happening as close as Hot Springs School District in Hot Springs, South Dakota. Many school officials around the country are switching to the system because they believe it is better financially and better for the kids. A four day school week will be better for the children and financially because it saves the school money, student and teacher morale are better, and better test scores.
The advantages for a five day week would be more time for school work. Students will have an extra day to work and study. The students even have more friend time with their friends. They could get help with an assignment with
Attendance is impacted in a positive way with a four day school week. With the research that has been done with attendance and those students who are enrolled in school which run on a four day school week schedule have seen improvement with attendance. They have seen an increased improvement in attendance with a four day school week, because many parents are able to schedule their child’s appointments on the days off from school. With having and increased attendance from that extra day off it means that students are able to get the most out of their schedule. Student are able to take advantage of the days that are available to them in the classroom and are also less likely to miss out on class
Do you always feel like you are rushed for time? Working your whole day away and never having time to yourself? Do you wish you could set your own schedule each week? Well, the time has come where many companies human resources departments have changed their ways of thinking about the 40 hour work week. Many human resource departments have now began giving their employees a more flexible work schedule as long as their work is being completed.
number of hours (e.g., 35 hours or more per week) has adverse consequences. It is