Have you ever wondered what a four-day school-week would be like? To most students, having one less day of school would be a delight. For many school districts, a four-day school-week is a good idea, however, it brings many conflicting problems. These conflicting problems include extra childcare for parents, areas around such as rural and urban, and exhausted teachers and students. Many parents work a five-day work schedule. If students are only going to school for four days, the extra day off requires parents to find or pay another day of childcare. This could create a problem within the families (Ray). Also according to Kathy Christie, Vice President at Education Commission of the States, a four-day school-week raises many issues of childcare …show more content…
As stated in Ray’s article, “Americans Resist Idea of Four-Day School Week,” education experts agree a four-day school-week works in rural areas, but not in larger districts or urban areas (Ray). A four-day school-week seemed to work better in rural areas than in urban areas (Yarbrough and Gilman 82). Vice President of the Education Commission of the States, Kathy Christie, stated, “‘In rural areas requiring lengthy bus rides, the downsides probably are countered by savings. But in metropolitan areas, a four-day week raises the issues of child care’” (Chmelynski). A four-day week creates many problems in different …show more content…
Teachers don’t get paid nearly as much as they should. With a four-day week, the classroom time is extended to meet state requirements. However, teachers claim they aren’t getting paid enough to do the amount of work required ( Yarbrough and Gilman 85). Also, Colorado’s Karval School District RE 23 Superintendent claimed, “‘If teachers are not efficient in the classroom, we have one less day to reach students,’’ (Chmelynski). Longer days in the classroom can also be tiring on the students. Teens can’t learn well when they’re tired (“No-School Fridays” 20). Potential challenges of a four-day week are the special needs and younger students. Attending school for these students could be difficult by keeping their attention (Weldon
The United States has a long and proud history of providing public education to its citizen’s children. The fundamental idea behind the creation of this educational system was that it be available to all, regardless of geographical location or family status. In the era that this initiative was generated many of America’s families lived and worked on farms, and children were a vital part of this lifestyle. The founders of the United States’ public schools had to create a plan that included all children, even those who were expected to perform agricultural work in the harvest season. Thus, the nine-month school calendar was brought into use, allowing farming children a three month break from school in the summer to aid their families in the crop yield. In time, youth participation in farming became outdated and obsolete, and this arrangement slipped from necessity to simply being a tradition held on to through the years. In our modern era, a year-round school calendar would benefit the teachers, students, and finances of America’s public schools.
NJ governor Chris Christie is by no means a favorite politician in the eyes of New Jersey education administrators, and teachers. After many years of budget cuts and restructuring, he is facing new criticism with his new proposal to increase the school day and year. New Jersey news papers and radio stations are filled with interviews and chatter on whether NJ students will benefit from longer days, or if it is just a political maneuver and waste of money we do not have. However much the cost, extending the the length of time spent is school, is a sold foundation for creating more competitive and college ready students. Our schools systems were designed for agriculture lives, providing brakes and hours fitting of a farmers life and a harvest. Restructuring brakes and hours to match todays family needs is an idea that should have been visited many years ago. Parents are no longer home, they are both working and working longer hours. Socially and economically we have entered the “knowledge Era,”(Gail Ruder. Paradigms of Work Slide 18 ). Jobs today are more knowledge based then ever before. To thrive in todays world and to be competitive you need to be educated and hold degrees. Many offices now are hiring receptionist to answer phones with a minimum of a bachelors degree. With the addition of machines and technology, many of todays jobs are based off intellect rather then manual skill. Extending the school day is a simple way to meet societies growing needs, and build a stronger foundation for academic success in college and in the competitive work force after.
The school systems are constantly changing. New ideas are being tossed back and forth between school boards all over the country. Now they’re tossing around the idea of having 4-day school weeks, rather than a normal 5 day school week. Some think it is a terrific idea, saves funding in the educational department. Others think that parents will have issues with it, having to deal with extra childcare cost, also how will the younger children deal with the longer school days. This issue will effect, not only parents, but teachers, school bus drivers, and students etc.
Have you ever felt like weekends go by too fast? Do you become tired of going to school five times a week?School can be exhausting and it often seems as though it is not worth the trouble. This is especially true when school is dragged on for five days at a time with only small breaks in between the next school week. Although a four-day school week may not sound appealing, students and teachers at Sturgis Williams Middle School could greatly benefit from it.
Every summer children lose valuable information. When school is back in session, students spend months trying to recall everything that was forgotten over those few weeks off. The arrangement of days in the academic year does play a role on how students perform in school, but not so much on the expenses. Therefore, schools should implement Year-Round education because it more affordable and is better for the children in the long run.
According to some school districts, "teachers and student absences have decreased with the four-day school week. The reason for the decrease in teachers and students' absences is logical because that one extra day will help them finish what they need to in the right amount of time. Another issue that can be prevented with a four day of school is the increasing drop out rate and disciplinary referrals in high school. Having disciplinary referrals can cause a bad impression on teachers and colleges.
Some people think it is a bad idea to go to a four day school week. There are advantages like financial gain and it offers more free time. There is disadvantages like longer school days and there are child care concerns. There are advantages, disadvantages, and academic concerns to going to a four day school week.
Every school should put the four day school week plan into action. Implementing this routine would allow teachers more time to teach, give students the option to do their homework in class, and offer the students for family time, in turn creating student success. All of these factors would help to better student and faculty life and promote success in the classroom. Having a school system run on a four day week rotation would increase their success by offering more opportunities for lessons and work time.
Students test scores are slipping because of 4-day school weeks.I believe we shouldn’t have a 4-day school week because studies have shown that schools with 4-day school weeks test scores have declined in 2012 and even more in 2013.Teachers from every school with 4-day school weeks say that kids don’t pay attention because they add 30 minutes to each class time during the 4-day school week.Courtney Fisher is a second grade teacher.She says that the students seem tired all the time and eat much more in class.
Many Schools districts are debating wheather or not to have school all year-round, due to the dropout raising by 3 percent not going year-round. For example, long summer vacations “break the rhythm of continuous instruction” and in turn lead to forgetting what was learned in the previous academic school year. According to the National Summer Learning Association, “every summer, low-income youth lose 2-3 months in reading while their higher-income peers make slight gains” (National Summer Learning Association). These losses over the summer add up: by fifth grade, low-income students can be up to three years behind their higher-income peers because of the summer learning loss. And studies show that while gaps between low-and high-income students is constant throughout the year, they largely widen during the summer. (Nader) A survey of school decision-makers in 1971 found that 84 percent of respondents felt that year-round schooling would be in all U.S. schools within the next 15 years. As we know now, those respondents were wrong but it makes sense that they would feel that way. Two districts in San Diego were the first to implement year-round academic calendars in 1971 and by the 1974, there were another 13 in the state that followed suit. Even today, California and its neighbors lead the year-round trend, with four-fifths of all of these school schedules in
Primarily, year round schools will disrupt both the families and teachers while the traditional school year does not. This is because; year round schools will eliminate most of the highly anticipated summer vacation making it much shorter than usual. Long summer breaks are a cherished culture for some families, as it is a perfect occasion for relations to spend time together since both the parents and students have a sufficient amount of time off. During the mid-year breaks [i.e. March Break], many parents do not have the time because they are still at work. However, if summer vacation is shortened, parents can no longer use all their free time to spend with their kids because the children are in school learning. There will not be enough time to travel and complete all the planned activities. That is why; the new school calendars quickly became unpopular with parents in America. Dede Schaffner, a spokesperson for the Seminole County district, says, "The disruption of family life was what everyone was complaining about, people said it was conceivable that with kids at school during the summer, you could never have your whole family together.” (“Year-round Schooling Rejected”1996/24 February, 2005) In addition to less family time, year round schooling also provides other concerns for parents. Guardians will have to worry about finding childcare during the longer mid-year breaks that are created because of a shorter summer break. Another perceived disadvantage of year round education is that teachers may have a more difficult time scheduling their professional development. Many teachers take graduate classes during the summer vacation period to catch up with new curriculums and advances in technology. Teachers w...
There are many opinions and studies about reforming school days. Some people are concerned that longer school days would bring more difficulties. However, there are numerous studies and practical examples that prove that we improve students’ performance by lengthening school days. Finally, the economy and our society will benefit from expanding school days.
...students academic performance in school actually improved and received higher grades in class. This is thought to be because of the extended class period that allows students to ask questions and teachers to teach without rush. Overall four-day school week brought advantages to the schools that had began the new schedule.
Most children attend school for about 6.5 hours per day. Some people argue that this not enough time for children to master key concepts while others say that children spend too much time in school and on homework which leaves them little time for family or fun activities. “There are many benefits to year-round schooling—including consistency, less time spent relearning material, and the implications that year-round schooling has for closing the achievement gap” (Lynch, 2016, par. 1). Currently, more than 700 schools have extended their day. Massachusetts extended their school day so that it was 8 hours and found that they went up 44 percent in math,19 percent in science, and 39 percent in language arts (“Should students spend more time in
student, in turn, will not do well with school work. The extra day of school would take away