Sarah Beth Willeford
White
4th Block
21 Apr. 2017
Four Day School is Changing How We Educate Our Children Four day school is changing our school system for the better. School systems with four day school have better attendance and higher test scores. The shortened school week saves schools and by extent the tax payer money. Four day school is a policy all school systems should adopt. After implementing four day school Chattooga County schools have reported a twenty-eight percent drop in teacher absences and a thirty-six percent drop in Kindergarten through eighth grade absences. (Omarzu 1) Having a Monday or Friday off gives students and faculty a day to schedule appointments that would otherwise cause them to miss class. Having a week
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Students are preforming better showing up to class more frequently, and is much more cost effective. The way the American public perceives schooling is changing. It is changing for the better with four day school. Work Cited
Omarzu, Tim. “Chattooga County’s four-day school week is a hit.” Times Free Press. 1 May 2012, www.timesfreepress.com/news/news/story/2012/may/01/four-day-week-a-hit/76773/. Access 18 Apr. 2017.
Sheehy, Kelsey. “Educators at Some High Schools Tout Benefits of 4-Day Week.” U.S. News. 15 Oct. 2012, www.usnews.com/education/blogs/high-school-notes/2012/10/15/educators-at-some-high-schools-tout-benefits-of-4-day-week. Access 18 Apr. 2017.
Macdonald, Fiona. “Four-Day School Week Linked to Better Academic Performance, Study Finds YES!” Science Alert. 31 Aug. 2015, www.sciencealert.com/four-day-school-week-linked-to-better-academic-performance-study-finds. Access 18 Apr. 2017.
Anderson D. Mark, Mary Beth Walker. “Does Shortening the School Week Impact Student Performance? Evidence from the Four-Day School Week.” MIT Press Journals. Association for Education Finance and Policy, 2 July 2015, www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/full/10.1162/EDFP_a_00165#_i18. 18 Apr.
Another advantage for a four day school week is they will be mentally prepared. It is a proven fact that kids math scores went up in a four day school week. they also have
Changing a five day week to a five day week to a four day week (For schools)
One reason CHS should go to a four day school week is that students are more ordered and have more time to do homework. They get a whole extra day to do homework. Having their homework done on time results in better grades and being more organized. Going four days a week also helps kids learn better, it give the child's mind more time to rest. According to an educational website “ researchers found present of students scoring either proficient or with advanced proficiency in reading went up at schools on a four day schedule and were higher than their peers
Four day school weeks have been discussed by many schools, and some schools already have them. Many say that the four day school week is good for students. It is also good for teachers and the whole school. There are improvements in the school financially. Financial problems is was most of a four day school week is about.
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.
Should schools go to a 4 day school week instead of 5 days? This has been a hot topic especially the states that don’t have as large of an economy. A poll where 2,700 random people were polled about 67% favoured a 4 day school week(university of Scranton). The reason why school districts are going to a 4 day school week is to save money and the states that you see switching to a 4 days are states that have economic problems such as Oklahoma. You won’t have to run the electricity or pay for buses. The only question is does it hurt students education but the statistics are showing that is clearly not the case one bit. 4 day school week would be better for schools without a doubt because you save money and kids will be more refreshed and not burned out also their behavior is showed to become better.
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.
The overall logistics run much smoother in schools that have four day weeks compared to the five day week. “Some districts had experienced a decline in dropout rates, decreased disciplinary referrals, improved attendance, fewer class interruptions, more positive attitudes about school, and better staff development” (Yarbrough and Gilman 81). Another logistical benefit to having four day school week is that students have more time to get involved in extracurricular activities due to more availability
Four Day School Act is beneficial for students attending middle school through twelfth grade along with school faculty. This program is important for students who lose focus and began being disengaged in classes towards the weekend giving them enough time to recuperate an extra day. The other option is to cut Monday as well since it is the beginning of the week where students to also be less engaged. The possible outcome effect is less absences, higher test scores, and less yelling from teachers to stay on task. While students are out on Thursday, that leaves Friday for school faculty to prepare for the following week. Teachers can accomplish various things even schedule meetings on a Monday or a Friday.
Researchers examined scores across the same group of students for four years, and across the same grade level. Results showed that the change in schedule had no observable impact on test performance (Donis-Keller and Silvernail, 2009). Similar studies were also conducted in school districts in New Mexico, Idaho and South Dakota with comparable results showing. (Herring) claims that research gauging the impact of a four-day school week on student learning is scarce. Officials in various states claim that comparisons and conclusions are difficult to make. There has been no broad analysis of crucial test scores—on statewide achievement tests or college entrance exams—to show whether there are knowledge gaps or not for students in four-day districts (Herring, 2010). In a recent newspaper article (Sheehy) chronicles the experiences of a Garfield School District in Colorado who recently made the switch to a four-day week. According to the article, Garfield's reading and writing scores increased between four and six percent at the high school level, but math scores remained the same. But district officials aren't reading too much into the scores. Theresa Hamilton, the schools superintendent said, “One year of data does not make a trend, as a district, that data didn’t say anything significant either way. It’s not helping or hindering.” (Sheehy, 2013) The article also gives
Our school, Peetz High, is thinking about changing to have a four day school week. People are either strongly proposing this or strongly opposing this. Many are complaining that Peetz is the only school in our district with a five day week. Some say that it will mess with their schedule.
The disadvantages of a four day week is spending longer in school. Schools that do a four day week add up class time. Certain schools could start at seven to three! Many kids don’t have much time to work because you’d have to cram so much work in four days and some kids are very busy with too much homework or particular events.
According to a report from the New York City district, a school that received funds for longer days fared better on standardized tests. This school had seven percent more students scoring at or above grade level in reading, when two other schools had increases of five and six percent. In math, three percent of students scored at or above grade level in a school with a longer day, compared with one percent for a low performing school and an average of one percent for other schools (Brett 1). This information is one example of many studies that illustrate that long school days have a great positive impact on school performance. The main school goals are improving students’ knowledge and building different skills that will help them in the future. Therefore, if longer school days support these educational goals, people should be concerned about improving schools by lengthening the day.
“States’ new budgets are providing less per-pupil funding for kindergarten through 12th grade than they did six years ago often far less. The reduced levels reflect not only the lingering effects of the 2007-09 recession but also continued austerity in many states, despite some improvements in overall state revenues, schools in around a third of the states are entering the new school year with less state funding than they had last year” (Leachman and Mai). In the United States, school funding has been significantly decreased, because of the limit of funding school districts are looking for solutions. One of the most talked about solutions is a four day school week.
Some obstacles include, letting teachers go, limiting electives, or cutting extra curricular activities. Each of these choices involves saving money for school districts. With the option of changing to a four-day week, school districts can save between “0.4 to 2.5 percent per year” (Cummings 1). Although, the majority of savings comes from not paying transportation workers, food service workers, and utilities (Long 1). Utility savings depend on if the schools are open for teacher or student use. While there are several positive attributes to a four-day school week, one could argue that a four-day week could potentially increase childcare costs.