October 30, 2008
Squeezing 180 days of school into 4-day weeks
High energy costs have ignited renewed interest in four-day workweeks. A somewhat skeptical, yet thoughtful, article--"The four-day school week: A fuel's paradise?"--reviews the limited research.
The article, posted on the state School Boards Association web site, points out something often overlooked in news accounts about possible four-day weeks: New York State education law requires 180 days of instruction.
Also the schedule shift might require school districts to reopen contracts with unions representing teachers and other employees. The article discusses other pros and cons of four-day weeks.
Written by consultant Edwin C. Darden, it concludes:
Much of the information about a four-day school week is conflicting and hard to verify. The impact on achievement seems negligible, the savings are immediate but small, and the administrative changes and selling it to the community can be difficult. Nationwide, about 100 school districts in 16 states (none in New York) have four-day weeks. Others are considering compressed schedules. Among them is the Hadley-Luzerne Central School District, in the southern Adirondacks, which is weighing scheduling classes nine out of every 10 weekdays.
To read more about four-day weeks, see here (federal government) and here and here (state agencies).
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