WRITING TASK
Many schools have switched to a four-day school week, and some schools are considering it. Is this schedule beneficial for everyone involved?
Weigh the claims on both sides, and then write an argumentative essay in your own words explaining whether or not students should only attend school four days each week.
Be sure to use evidence from BOTH texts in your argumentative essay. Write your answer in the space provided.
Passage 1State legislators often view the four-day school week as a technique for continuing to support education despite a strained budget. The basic concept is clear: by offering instruction four days a week, schools save money. Theoretically, savings can be derived from a reduction in transportation costs, the cost of heating or cooling buildings, food costs, and the cost of personnel salaries. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least 21 states have school districts that operate on a four-day week.
Writing for the Times Free Press website during 2012, Tim Omarzu reported the financial success of a four-day school schedule experiment. With the principal objective of saving money, students in the experimental district would attend school about 160 days annually, rather than 180 days. In exchange, the students have longer school days. In one county, the shorter school week saved about $333,762 on salaries, $221,000 for transportation, $154,000 on power, and $88,000 for substitute teacher pay.
“Best thing in the world” was how Superintendent Jimmy Lenderman characterized the four-day week. “There’s a lot of positives that have come out of it we weren’t expecting,” Lenderman told Omarzu. The unexpected bonuses included improved test scores, reduced absenteeism from both teachers and students, and fewer student disciplinary problems.
Jazmine Anderson wrote about her experience with a four-day school week in her March 2016 article for the Odyssey website. Anderson went to school four days a week (Monday through Thursday) from first grade through 12th grade. One benefit of the schedule, she said, is that students do not have to miss class for sports and other extracurricular activities, which are characteristically scheduled for Fridays.
Anderson’s school day typically ran from 8:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., a schedule that she said was not very challenging. “In the four-day model, core classes (AKA the ones that require actual thinking) are set in the morning while students’ brains are still fresh,” she said. “Electives (the ones that don’t demand as much focus) are usually after lunch.”
However, the four-day schedule failed to prepare Anderson for the five-day schedule of college. “Only getting two days in during the weekend killed me,” she said, “and now, a semester and a half into my freshman year of college, I still haven’t completely adjusted.”
Proponents of the traditional five-day school week argue that the four-day schedule does not train students for college or the workforce. In addition, the shorter school week creates a dilemma for families with two working parents: leave the child unattended for a day or pay for supervision. Some people also argue that a three-day weekend gives a student more time to forget class lessons and fall behind.
What about the improved test scores with a four-day week? The results are unclear. Three studies of Colorado schools yielded different conclusions: one study showed some academic gains with the four-day week, one showed no difference between four-and five-day weeks, and one showed a possible gain for the five-day schedule.
Passage 2School districts across the United States are experimenting with different schedules. One experiment is the four-day school week: students attend school four days a week with each day lasting around eight hours. Typically, the prime motivation for trying the schedule is to save money.
In her June 2010 article for The Associated Press, Dorie Turner profiled a school district which switched to a four-day schedule while facing a one-million-dollar budget deficit. The modification saved about $400,000 per year and enabled the school district to avoid firing about 40 teachers. The four-day schedule reportedly creates other benefits: a rise in test scores, increased attendance of students and teachers, and a higher graduation rate. In addition, students can use the extra day for sports and other extracurricular activities without sacrificing class time.
The four-day schedule also provides students and teachers more relaxation time. “Teachers tell me they are much more focused because they’ve had time to prepare,” Superintendent Susan Clark told Turner. “They don’t have kids sleeping in class on Tuesday.”
Sometimes, the four-day school week is deemed a failure. A school district in Marlow, Oklahoma switched back to a five-day school week. “It was harder on the teachers,” Superintendent Bennie Newton told Turner. “We were asking the kids to move at a quicker pace.”
The Macomb Public School District in Oklahoma also switched back to the five-day school week after students showed no improvement in performance. During a 2015 interview with Tulsa World reporters, Superintendent Matthew Riggs cited another reason to prefer the five-day schedule: about 76% of the students in the district live in households that qualify for free or reduced-rate school meals. “There were kids I firmly believe were leaving school on Thursday and weren’t getting a good meal until Monday morning when we served breakfast again,” Riggs told the reporters.
What about the four-day school week cost savings? Paul Hill noted that professional salaries account for the “lion’s share” of school district costs in his July 2017 article for the Education Week website. “All teachers and most professional staff get the same annual pay for the four longer days,” Hill said.
The obsolete purpose of the traditional school calendar with its extended summer vacation was to allow children to help harvest crops. Year-round schooling is another school schedule experiment. One popular year-round schedule has students attending school for 45 days followed by a three-week vacation. This cycle continues throughout the year with adjustments for important holidays.
Some schools try the year-round schedule to save money. Yet year-round schools can cost more money due to expenses such as extra transportation costs and summertime air-conditioning. Another reason that a school switches to a year-round schedule is to prevent summer break learning loss. David Hornak, Superintendent of Holt Public Schools in Michigan, explained this phenomenon to Erin Barry for his August 2016 article. “On average,” Hornak said, “a teacher on the traditional calendar is required to re-teach between four and eight weeks annually after the summer intermission.”
The debate over whether students should only attend school four days each week is a contentious issue with valid points on both sides. Proponents of the four-day school week argue that it provides financial benefits to school districts, as evidenced by the savings in transportation, heating, food costs, and personnel salaries. Additionally, the four-day schedule has been associated with improved test scores, reduced absenteeism, and fewer disciplinary problems among students.
For example, in a study conducted by the National Conference of State Legislatures, it was found that school districts operating on a four-day week saved considerable amounts of money on various expenses. Superintendent Jimmy Lenderman even described the four-day week as the "best thing in the world" due to the unexpected positive outcomes, such as improved academic performance and student behavior. Jazmine Anderson, who experienced a four-day school week from first grade through 12th grade, also noted the benefits in terms of flexibility for extracurricular activities.
However, critics of the four-day school week argue that it may not adequately prepare students for the demands of college or the workforce. Additionally, families with working parents may face challenges in finding supervision for their children on days off. There are concerns that students may forget class lessons over the longer weekend, leading to potential academic setbacks. Furthermore, research on the impact of the four-day schedule on student performance is inconclusive, with some studies showing gains and others showing no difference or possible disadvantages.
While the financial benefits of the four-day school week are significant, it is essential to consider the potential drawbacks and implications for student readiness for higher education and future employment. The experiences of schools that have switched back to a five-day schedule due to concerns about academic performance and student well-being highlight the importance of carefully weighing the pros and cons of altering the traditional school week structure. Ultimately, the decision to implement a four-day school week should be made based on a comprehensive assessment of its impact on students, teachers, and the overall educational environment.