A recent Associated Press article noted that an increasing number of states are taking part in an imitative to increase the number of hours in school students are required to attend. Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Tennessee are cooperating in the program in the latest effort to improve student achievement. This project is being funded by local state and federal funds in conjunction with the National Center on Time and Learning (http://www.timeandlearning.org/). The goal is to add 300 hours to the school years. Each district will decide whether to add hours on to the school day or add days on to the school year. US Education Secretary Arne Duncan has endorsed this effort which is part of a 3 year pilot project that will ultimately include 20,000 students. This latest maneuver is the continuation of a trend as there are currently over 1000 schools throughout the United States that are currently operating on some type of extended schedule. The article notes that “student testing, teacher evaluations, charter schools and voucher programs join longer school days on the list of reforms that have been put forward with varying degrees of success.”
As usual the focus of this program will be on improving math and science skills, two critical areas that American students have fallen behind many of their world wide peers.
The research on this topic is extensive and there have been divergent outcomes. Programs like the KIPP Academies (http://www.kipp.org/) have proven that extended time in class and additional days in school do make a difference in student performance. But on the other side of this issue, researchers report that in our high tech, computer, Smartphone, etc. society, the attention span of students has dwindled so that additional time on task in the classroom may not be productive.
Secretary Duncan has expressed his interest in extending the school year into the summer as well as having school open six days a week.
c.j. Margolis 2012
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