Written by: Hannah Breese
A Four Day School Week?
Wouldn’t you love to have a three day weekend every week? I know I would! It’s that time of the year, where people lose all motivation to wake up for school. Although the 8:17 start time is relatively generous compared to other schools, it’s still not enough sleep for most of us. By the time Friday rolls around students are hitting the snooze button three or four times instead of just one.
According to the Education Commision of the States, about 100 of the country's approximately 15,000 school districts, in 17 states use four-day school weeks. The state that has the most school districts participating in four-day school weeks is Colorado. In Colorado, over a third of the schools there have adapted to this schedule based on this video. Switching to a four-day school week has forced longer school days in order to ensure the same amount of “contact time” as required by law (Lefly). So with the change, students are not losing out on any academic instruction time because it’s all being covered with the longer days. See how some Oregon parents are reacting to the news of their children’s schools switch to a four day school week here.
From an economic standpoint there are many benefits. Cutting school to four “student” days allows for a decrease in cost in numerous areas. Transportation, maintenance, and food service are just a few of the many. By cutting just one day of school, with all of the cuts calculated it was estimated that the savings added up only to be somewhere in between 0.4%-2.5% per year, bringing in just a little extra revenue for school districts (“Why”).This is clearly not much of an economic benefit but important otherwise.
Within this plan though, teachers would have to spend the day off in school, so their opportunity cost is not having an extra day to sleep in and spend with family. The extra day could be used for curriculum planning, grading, and staff meetings. Allotting for this time for teachers to collaborate and plan ahead could contribute to more innovative and creative lessons planned for students. 
In the schools that have tested this schedule, they’ve found that students and teachers have better morale (“The”). Having less school days has also decreased the amount of discipline referrals for students (“The”). Along with that, attendance has improved and test scores have improved (“The”).
Of course there are people highly opposed to making this switch. They may argue that having longer school days forces students to make a trade off between extracurriculars and spending longer days in school. Parents have concerns over what they will do for childcare on the day off, possibly increasing day care costs (“What”). Educators argue that the three days in a row off could allow students to forget material learned more easily, which therefore would create more “struggling students” (“What”).
With all of this being said, school districts are still actively considering making the switch to a four day school week. Should Pewaukee make the switch?
Bibliography
"Does a Four-day School Week Help or Harm?" NBCNews.com. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
Lefly, Dianne L. "A Comparison of Colorado School Districts Operating on Four-Day and Five-Day Calendars 2011." A COMPARISON OF COLORADO SCHOOL DISTRICTS OPERATING ON FOUR‐DAY AND FIVE‐DAY CALENDARS 2011 (n.d.): n. pag. CDE Research, 2011. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
"The Advantages of a Four Day School Week." Education. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
"What Is the Effect a Four-Day School Week Has on Teachers and Students?" The University of Scranton. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
"Why School Should Only Be 4 Days A Week." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2015.
I think it would be great if Pewaukee changed to a four day school week. I would much rather be in school a little longer for 4 days than come in for five. Like you said, it would save students and parents money by not having to pay for that extra day of lunch/transportation. However, Pewaukee would have to make a few adjustments though with the block schedule if they were to change to a four day week meaning that we'd have more than 4 classes each day. I think if it is effective in 17 other states it can easily be effective at Pewaukee High School.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of a four day school week sounds great. However, there are many considerations to take into account when deciding weather or not a school should switch to this four day week. It would also take a long time to be approved as there are factors an laws that restrict certain things. I think Pewaukee should switch to a four day schedule because this would give students more time to work and get things done not related to school. As you mentioned, it is possible that people might forget things over a longer weekend, however it is only extended one day, and if on Monday, a short review was done I don't think that would be a problem. By weighing the downfalls and benefits, I think that the benefits outweigh the downfall and therefore it would be a good Idea for more schools to switch to this four day schedule.
ReplyDeleteI would love to only have a four day week every week! It is interesting to hear it from an economic standpoint instead of just a student, teacher or a parent's view. I never would have thought about the money the school is saving by only having students attend for four days. One thing that stinks about it, is that the teachers would still have to go for the whole five days. If Pewaukee were to join, do you think they would have Intervention days? And would we have Monday or Friday off? If it is Friday, would we still have basketball and football games? I'm guessing the school makes a lot of money on all the spectators and concessions, so could they afford not having school those days?
ReplyDeleteThe four day school week sounds like a good idea. Being a student, I find it difficult to complete all assignments in a two day weekend due to having a busy schedule, therefore I would find it more productive to have an extra day before the week starts again. I would definitely argue with the fact that some people believe students would “forget material” over the longer weekend. If anything, it would give them more time to complete assignments and projects. Plus, review could be held on Mondays- depending on the teacher- so students who are struggling can get the help they need. A longer school day would most likely be more beneficial to students as well, because they are learning more and then have an extra weekend day to do everything else. Having the added weekend day would mean that students would (most likely- depending on their schedule-) get to sleep in. Lots of students have trouble getting enough sleep during the week to be productive during the beginning of the school day. Of course, if Pewaukee were to consider this, we would have to “test it out” first.
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a great idea with the saving money aspect, but if we were to do this how much longer are we to have to stay in school on the day to day basis. I really like this idea because it would be nice to have that one extra day off, extending our weekend by just staying in school a little bit longer. those two days that we have off over the weekend they go by to quick in my personal opinion. But I don't think Pewaukee will make the switch because it our school scheduling has been the same for years I don't think that they will put in the effort to make a change this big. There will be two sides to the argument but in the end I don't see it happening.
ReplyDeleteI would be in full support of a 4-day school week, giving students extra sleep, more study time and less stress (hopefully). Some of the trade offs don’t seem that bad, two or three day weekend, students will forget material either way. Plus it doesn’t necessarily mean less extracurricular time, it just means some of these activities would go much later than usual. There can be many benefits to having that extra friday off, if we make the other school days longer. We might be able to add an extra class to the end of the day, and have ten classes a semester, that means more chances to earn credits and more classes, so students can find their interests a little more easily. And it makes for a better opportunity to say, graduate early. Or the school could raise the minimum number of credits required to graduate. A 4-day week could lead to a lot of good things, for teachers and students alike.
ReplyDeleteNo Pewaukee should not join in because this is pointless, and just a way for kids to get out of going to school. There are almost no benefits to taking off a another day of school, so what kids moral is boosted, it's school, it's not suppose to be about fun, your suppose to learn. This is a terrible idea, America has already fallen to 14th in education, and 17th in educational performance. Japanese kids go to school Monday through Saturday while getting some Saturdays off and that's why they are number 2 in the world. Number 1 South Korea has 16 hour school days and still go to school on Saturdays. Taking away another school day would just send us further down the list, and Americans would fall even more behind other countries. The only reason this is up for debate is because American students are lazy and will do anything to go to school less, don't get me wrong I don't like school more than most, but at lest I see the necessity of it.
ReplyDeleteI suppose this is a good idea in theory but when it comes down to it you will have to be in school for a much larger quantity of time. I do have to agree though with this idea because with the extra time given I would work and this money could be used towards college and other important necessities or just saving. Also your brain is not fully active until 10 anyway but if you started school later it would effect everyone else's day and this would be a huge opportunity cost of this.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting proposition. Also if this were to be a big change I would think that it would make sense to lower the contact time slightly. This is because curriculum is already leaning towards students doing the learning on their own with less teacher guidance and more things that are tools for students to learn on their own. With that they could stay with the normal length school days instead of extended ones and save even more money on the electricity to light all the classrooms and run all the equipment. But this could bring in the question that teachers and staff should then earn less because they are doing less teaching but if they were to stay in on the Fridays without students they could do more planning during the week and not have to do so much planning outside their normal work hours.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting proposition. Also if this were to be a big change I would think that it would make sense to lower the contact time slightly. This is because curriculum is already leaning towards students doing the learning on their own with less teacher guidance and more things that are tools for students to learn on their own. With that they could stay with the normal length school days instead of extended ones and save even more money on the electricity to light all the classrooms and run all the equipment. But this could bring in the question that teachers and staff should then earn less because they are doing less teaching but if they were to stay in on the Fridays without students they could do more planning during the week and not have to do so much planning outside their normal work hours.
ReplyDeleteI thought about 4 day weeks before and I thought that it would mean shorter summers, but extending the school day sounds interesting, but honestly I'd rather have a fifth day of school than have school be two hours longer, because you won't have anytime after to do homework especially if you want to be involved in extracurricular. Plus having a three day week gives a boost to moral now because we are used to having only 2 but once we are used to it and future generations grow up knowing only the three day weekend, it wont matter because they will want even less.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think it would be interesting for Pewaukee to try a schedule like this, with four days in the school week. Obviously the results may differ from school to school, but with consistently hard-working students, a four-day week may give the student body a morale boost. This may prompt students to work harder, because they can work less days a week which would in turn better academic performance.
ReplyDeleteEven though a four day school week would be very nice for the students, I don't think it would be beneficial. I feel like it is a dream that not many schools will fulfill. Hannah mentioned that there would be longer school days. My question is, how much longer? It would be a big difference between 20 extra minutes in each day compared to two hours. Like you mentioned, they were be concerns if school ran too long. For example, with sports, games start at a certain time for each school and if school was still going during this time, the students would not be able to play or they would be have to be let out early. This would limit the extra-curricular students could participate in which would not benefit the students at all. Being involved is a crucial way of knowing what you like to do and making friends. With this opportunity taken away, I believe that kids would get more angry and not have enough motivation to do their school work resulting in lower grades and test scores. My question is if sports and clubs would be completely removed with this transition? How would we do this and make it work with other schools?
ReplyDeleteAlthough a four day school week may sound perfect in theory, in actuality, I believe it would harm our school district more than help it. While it may originally boost morale in students and staff, it would ultimately shorten the amount of time for extracurricular activities, which are very important in a student's education, and just give students an additional day to procrastinate on their homework over the weekend. If the economic savings of a four day school day only amount to 0.4-2.5%, there really isn't any economic reason to shorten our weeks.
ReplyDeleteI think that personally switching to a four day week is a good idea, but I do agree that it has many drawbacks as well. In the grand scheme of things, the economic benefit is not too great, I would want to know how much money 0.4-2.5% averagely is, because it probably isn't much. I also think that it would take things away like extra- curriculars and students would be awake much later at night trying to get things like homework done. Also it would make things harder for kids with jobs. Employers are probably a lot less likely to hire someone who can start at 7 pm when they close at 9 or 10. I do like the thought of having a whole extra day to relax and unwind from the school week, but I think that the opportunity costs of it are just too great. Awesome article, Hannah!
ReplyDeleteAlthough making the day longer and have 4 day weeks may be less expensive, I think the attention span of students will diminish even more. I personally don't mind 5 day weeks because it gives me the opportunity to have after school activities. If I were to attend 4 day weeks I would have to deal with the opportunity cost of working less hours and making less money. Overall, I really like your article!
ReplyDeleteAs we know, time is scarce. Therefore, the longer days, that are the result of a shortened week, take away from extracurricular opportunities, work, and leisure time for students. If schools were to accept and infiltrate four day school week this would be something to truly consider. Would there be extracurricular held on the days off? Or late at night after a long day of school? In addition, longer days may not be as productive due to a concept similar to diminishing returns. Personally, I don't mind having a five day school week and would be against a change. Full weeks are helpful in preparing for the real world because most jobs are at least five days a week for six to eight hours. Sure, extra time to sleep in would be nice but the time we would lose from sleeping in takes away from other opportunities. The cost, when also accounting for the opportunity cost, of running a three or four day week will not make the the small increase in revenue you mentioned either. Thus, a shortened week may seem attractive but it is actually non-beneficial to the school or students.
ReplyDeleteMy first reaction to this was, WOW! that sounds amazing, but then I read the article and thought of what things would be different if more schools would go to a four day school week. Say for intense if Pewaukee would switch to a four day school week, we would have to go further into the summer than normal because we are required to attend school at least 180 days out of the year. I would like to know the exact amount of money on average it had saved these schools, the 5.43%. I believe we should stick to a five day school week because of the extra curricular opportunity that are present in our school systems. In a four day school week there would also be trade-offs between school, extra curricular, and students jobs. This article showed a great representation between the benefits and drawbacks of having a four day school week, overall a great article to read.
ReplyDeleteGreat article, Hannah! You made some interesting points in your article, and going off of that, I think it would be interesting to see how it would affect the labor and capital of the service (the school). You mentioned it would use less overall inputs and resources, so would they hire less or more labor considering the longer hours, but less days? It would have to be calculated, but the school would also have to ensure that they are maximizing the time that they do have in the classroom. I think that your argument follows the theory of diminishing returns as time goes on, that students lose focus and stop being productive. However, I would disagree with that considering it is how most of the world functions. Also, the opportunity cost is pretty low considering there is more intangible product being made by attending school. Plus, high school is only 4 years, and in college students can determine their schedule based off of their sleeping habits if need be.
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ReplyDeleteA four day school week would be quite nice, as it would give students an extra day off while still giving them the same amount of contact time with teachers. I believe from an academic standpoint this would be beneficial, as Students would have a more positive outlook on school, and could perform better. It would also reduce costs with students not needing to prepare or buy lunches 5 days a week, but instead just 4. The only way where this would get difficult would be extra curriculars. With longer days, the logistics would need to change and those in extra curriculars would have less time to complete homework or other schoolwork.
I never thought about switching to a four day school week, but it obviously has its ups and downs. However, if we were to have an extra day off, it would be a little difficult to manage-academic wise. Students wouldn't be able to seek extra help with teachers and would have to communicate via email, which can be hard to understand just by reading. And most students will probably take advantage of the extra day off hanging out with friends and not doing homework or studying. Having just one day off can make a big impact on students and might start to drive them away from their academic.
ReplyDeleteThis essay grabbed my attention because at lunch today, my friends and I were talking about 4 day school weeks. If Pewaukee did make the switch, we'd be in school for a lot longer that June 10th. But it could also decrease the amount of stress on students. A four day school week has many advantages and disadvantages.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that Pewaukee should make the switch to a four day week. Yes, an extra day off every weekend would be nice, but I wouldn’t like longer school days. The marginal cost is greater than the marginal benefit. The tradeoff isn’t worth it. Our almost 7 hour school day would have to be extended almost two hours longer to make up for the 7 hours lost with the missing Friday. School would have to go until 5 pm or classes would have to start earlier than 8:17. Students may be able to catch up on sleep on Friday, but they’d be slammed with more homework and less time to do it.
ReplyDeleteA 4 day week would mean longer days, which would also prevent most students from the ability to hold a part-time job during the school year. Students would not be able to work on school days, making them much less appealing to employers. Although the school systems might save money, it could negatively affect the rest of the economy.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the school district should remain with the 5 days a week. Although having a longer weekend would be nice the longer school days prevent homework, club, and sports times. Although it would decrease price I also believe that the mental capacity of student would not stay on task especially with the transition to longer school days.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your article I thought that having a 4 day school week would be great! This would give everyone more time on the weekends to relax and do things they want to do. It would also allow people to travel more during the weekends and stay places because of the extra time. I believe it would benefit all businesses if more people traveled because it would bring in more revenue. A 4 day week would also help the students feel less stressed because they have to wake up early one less day of the week. However, as you stated, students would have to spend more time at school to make up for the time lost. This will cut into the time for extracurriculars after school and time that students spend doing homework. Personally, I think Pewaukee should change the 5 day school week to 4 days. Students would only have to stay about an hour and a half extra each day to make up for the time. That would lead to students getting out of school around 4:15 every day which isn’t too late. Great article!
ReplyDeleteI thought that this was a very interesting concept of just having 4 days of school a week rather than 5. This would give students a longer weekend to get homework done and to study; also giving a little more of a mental break. Some positives to this idea would be not having to pay for buses on Friday and teachers. However, it would be hard for parents to find daycare for those days, also days would be slightly longer. This could however, be a good concept for high schools because these are the group that need a longer weekend and mental break. Overall, I thought that this was a very interesting concept and would be an idea that many schools might want to consider.
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