Four-day school weeks don't appear to benefit students much, if at all, according to a new report from University of Oregon researchers.
from University of Oregon researchers., a research assistant professor and one of the reviewers, said the studies they looked at offered a lot of mixed evidence. "But essentially, we feel pretty confident in saying that there's no .
.. evidence of large positive effects on student outcomes," she said. Day noted just one substantially positive effect for rural high school students, which was an increase in on-time and five-year graduation rates.at the University of Oregon began work on their review about a year and a half ago. They collected all of the research they could find on four-day school weeks after talking with public school superintendents from around the country who were weighing the pros and cons of the transition. They decided to focus only on student outcomes in this review but hope to study other aspects of four-day school weeks in the future, including their impacts on school budgets and teacher recruitment. Four-day school weeks have been studied more in rural districts, which Day said might be a result of their prevalence. Four-day school weeks are more common in rural areas, but an increasing number of suburban and urban districts are considering them. And about 2,100 schools in more than 850 school districts nationwide already use a four-day school week, the researchers said. Most of the studies they reviewed included four-day school districts in Oregon, Oklahoma and Colorado, but some studies also included schools in Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.Four-day school weeks decreased math and reading achievement for elementary and middle school students.But they increased math scores and improved on-time and five-year graduation rates for high-school students.Day said perhaps rural students with four-day school weeks aren’t missing as much class time. “So, if in a rural district, if students have to travel really far for extracurricular events, and they're missing school already, then maybe the impact of a four-day week isn't actually a loss of that much learning time,” she said. It might even boost class time if the schools can funnel sports and other extracurricular activities to the down day.“And when I spoke with rural superintendents, they talked a lot about how the entire community was behind it. And oftentimes, students were working, if their families owned farms or owned their own businesses. There was a very clear thing for students to do on that fifth day,” Day said. “And so, we think that also plays a role, even though research is less clear, because a lot of studies don't report what was happening on the fifth day.” Overall, Day said four-day school weeks appear to have the least negative effects for high school students. And the effects for elementary and middle school students seem to be more negative across the board. Day said younger students might benefit more from the wraparound supports they get at school, including behavioral health and school lunches.Day said some have made the transition to save money, especially rural districts where buses run a lot and cost a lot to operate.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Oregon House passes bill limiting federal deployment of the Oregon National GuardThe Oregon House of Representatives approved a bill Friday that limits when the Oregon National Guard can be deployed into federal active duty.
Read more »
Oregon House passes bill limiting federal deployment of the Oregon National GuardThe Oregon House of Representatives approved a bill Friday that limits when the Oregon National Guard can be deployed into federal active duty.
Read more »
Oregon House passes bill limiting federal deployment of the Oregon National GuardAP25162096811670.jpg
Read more »
Oregon House passes bill limiting federal deployment of the Oregon National GuardThe Oregon House of Representatives approved a bill Friday that limits when the Oregon National Guard can be deployed into federal active duty.
Read more »
Oregon House passes bill limiting federal deployment of the Oregon National GuardThe Oregon House of Representatives approved a bill Friday that limits when the Oregon National Guard can be deployed into federal active duty.
Read more »
Oregon House passes bill limiting federal deployment of the Oregon National GuardThe Oregon House of Representatives approved a bill Friday that limits when the Oregon National Guard can be deployed into federal active duty.
Read more »