Have you ever heard the saying that “Time is money?” Well this statement holds truth to it and when it comes to school, the saying is right on the money. The economy has seen an increase in inflation and it seems like everything is on the rise. Constantly, people are struggling to find money. Money is an issue for many, especially for schools facing budget cuts and high school students who are seeking out opportunities to go to college. Could a solution to this lie within how a school system’s schedule is set-up? Well traditionally, high schools have been run on a five day schedule where students attend school for approximately seven to eight hours. Now, from pressure from the economy, a small percent of high schools have seen a change in scheduling to a four-day week and the benefits seen from this have been substantial. School system debates have been prevalent since schools began, and like any issue, there are benefits and drawbacks of the four-day school week. Even though critics may argue that an extra day out of school would be a waste of time, changing every high school to the four day week schedule would yield many benefits, including cutting school spending, increasing school performance, opening up job opportunities for high school students to earn money, and preparing students for college. Education is a incredibly important part of society and is a key to success. Students need to be educated in order for them to be a helpful member of society. Have you ever wondered just how much time and money goes into education? Statistics from the New America Foundation on the federal education budget shows that, “The federal government allocated approximately $135 billion on education in fiscal year 20... ... middle of paper ... ...s. Web. 23 Feb. 2014. New America Foundation. New America Foundation: Federal Education Budget Project. 25 April 2014. Web. 26 April 2014. Peter D. Hart Research Associates, Inc. & Public Opinion Strategies. (2005). Rising to the challenge: Are high school graduates prepared for college and work? Prepared for Achieve, Inc. Washington, DC: Author. Reeves, Kimberley. “The School Administrator: The Four Day School Week.” March 1999. AASA: The School Superintendents Association. Web. 4 April 2014. Snow, Kate. “Districts Debate Four-Day School Week.” abcNews. World News, 14 April 2009. Web. 28 February 2014. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2013). The Condition of Education 2013 (NCES 2013-037), Public School Expenditures. Yarbrough, R., & Gilman, D. A. (2006, October). From five days to four. Educational Leadership, 64(2), 80-85.
Have you ever began a book only to find that after a few chapters into it a more important task comes up that must be given attention to and you don’t make it back to the book for some time. The ensuing matter has been taken care of and now it is time to finish that novel that thought was so great you just couldn’t put it down but, where did you exactly leave off and what character are doing what now? Often it is required to skim a few previous chapters to get a sense of what is going on to give the full focus to the new events taking place. As the summer ends, the leaves begin to change and our school children return to the classroom to begin this very similar task. Instead of rereading a few pages, teachers must review with every student were they are scholastically and every student is very different. Almost a month into the new school year last year’s material is covered and reviewed. Our traditional school calendar may be to blame for our failing schools systems. Can schools attending year round with smaller gaps of time off from learning benefit the student learners? Better retention of material, higher graduation with college enrollment increases and safer downtime alternatives are a few reasons why the traditional education plan should be done away with.
Today however, the role of the modern public school is beginning to change. The United States is no longer an agrarian society. As a result, people feel that the traditional school calendar is too old-fashioned a...
Back in the olden days, schools were originally put on a schedule in which students would spend the majority of the year in school, and 2-3 months off for summer break. The purpose of this was so that children could be home for the summer to help their parents run family farms. Today, due to progressive industrialization of farming, modernized farming equipment, and decrease in family farms, the need for children to be home during the summer to help run family farms is minute if not obsolete; because of this many schools across the United States have transitioned to year-round schooling (“Summer”). Contrary to belief, year round schooling does not usually mean more school days. Currently most year-round schools adhere to the 180 day school year. Instead of the traditional lengthy summer vacation, year-round schools distribute the 180 days throughout the entire year while allowing for shorter breaks. Common scheduling for year-round schools includes cycles of 2-3 months in school followed by 2-3 week breaks (“Research Spotlight...
The other reason why we shouldn’t have a four school week is because students will have more time to get into trouble more.Half of high school and middle school students will get into drugs and crimes because they are unsupervised for a long time.If students get into crime and drugs at a young age they probably wouldn’t be able to get a job.Some of the students wouldn’t know it’s bad for them.The reason why is because some of the students don’t know it’s bad is because their parents or teachers haven’t told them about why it is bad.
When it comes to our children education, we always should pay extra attention to the decisions that we make, especially if the decisions that we’re going to make are weighty and could have an impact on our children educational performance. In Jaclyn Melicharek’s article “Four-Day School Weeks: The Rule to Skip School,” she makes several climes against the four-day school policy, which is a convenient policy that seem to pervade our schools nowadays. She believes four-day school policy is ineffective and rather harmful to our children, teachers and staff because it reduces our children educational performance, deter the academic value that our children are obtaining and shatter the lives of the teachers and the staff. I agree with Melicharek
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.
The second con to a four day school week would be having more homework. Being a kid would know that having a four
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
This research brief provides a history of the reform and presents a synthesis of the research base, albeit limited, focused on the implementation and impact of moving to a four-day school week schedule. Also included is a discussion of the most commonly voiced
Schools spend a lot of money during a long 5 days school weeks. 4 day school weeks will cut transportation costs and heating and cooling costs for schools and they will save a lot of money. This reason is important because it proves that schools will save money from transportation costs and heating and cooling costs. Parents will pay lower costs for taxes also 100% of my classmates agree that their parents will be more happier paying lower costs for taxes. This study is important because it acknowledges that all parents will be more happier paying less money for taxes. Everyone will be saving money with shorter school weeks.
The topic of year round schooling is quite controversial and greatly misconceived by the public. Most school systems tend to steer clear of the idea due to lack of support and academic success. Year-round schooling is not for everyone. Benefits however, include downsizing of schools, the reduction of building construction, and the ability to effectively meet the demands of the community. Students and teachers are typically placed on a multi-track schedule instead of the general nine month school calendar. The altered schedule can consist of two different sequences that each school district may choose to participate in. Students and teachers go to school for longer periods of time throughout the year and take small breaks/vacations in between. The benefits for teachers who participate in year-round schooling have proven to be very affective and rewarding. Through studies and reports however, the concept of year-round schooling has produced very minimal improvements and positive results amongst students. When compared to students of traditional education, those who participate in the year-round schooling system show little advantage and/or improvement. It is even suggested by some that the year-round program ineffectively promotes learning loss instead of benefits. Overall the year-round school system is very inconsistent and unreliable. The results and benefits have not proven to be great enough to give the platform a sound argument and reasonable support. The results for the teachers and the community at large seem to be somewhat affective, where as for the students it is not.
I think that instead of a five day school week we should only have a three day school week. I think that a three day school week would not only benefit the district financially but also improve students grades and habits. If I was in charge of making this happen in the district I would make it so that school is an extra hour or two hours to make up for the two days we are adding onto our weekend.
Twelve Mondays each year are used for teacher planning, this allows them the benefit of not having to meet after school very often. During these Mondays teachers have time for meetings just within the grades they teach, and they have time to form research teams and other committees (Yarbrough and Gilman). These teacher planning groups are add-ons that some schools maybe wouldn’t get the opportunity to have if not for the extra planning day. There’s proof in the pudding; the more time teacher’s have to plan, the better they are at doing their jobs. One district compared their tests on comprehension from the spring of 2002-03, when they were doing a five-day schedule, to the spring of 2004-05, when they ran a four-day week. These tests showed that scores for 3rd and 9th graders improved in all areas tested. Out of all academic achievements ACT scores definitely have the most riding on them. “Merryville’s district spokesperson Daniele LeMarie said, ‘ACT scores are above state averages and have raised from 18.7 with the five-day week to 20 with the new schedule.’” (Chmelynski). Just this news seemed to boost parents attitudes towards the switch, and it even had a positive effect on the kids thoughts on the
School is the foundation of life. It guides us to success and prepares us for the future. Unfortunately, school is difficult; some schools are using a four day school week to help kids cope with the struggles. However, because of longer school days and unwanted expenses, schools should not adopt a four day school week.
Day or School Year: A Systematic Review of Research." Sage 80.3 (2010): 401- 36. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.