EDUCATION

The Pros And Cons Of A Four-Day School Week

A New Study Shines Light On How The Four-Day School Week Impacts Schools And Students

Photo credit: Criterionbabe. Through the Olive Trees 1994, Abbas Kiarostami.

A study published in Educational Researcher has brought to light some elements of the four-day school week. The study found that — at least in rural Oklahoma schools — the four-day school week saved federal money (but not state or local school money) and had no impact on academic performance.

What Is The Four-Day School Week?

The four-day school week is an attempt at reworking the traditional structure of schooling with the hope of producing positive results. As of writing this article, there are 1607 schools in the United States currently applying a four-day week structure. This means that students attend school for four days and have, essentially, a three-day weekend.

In most of these cases, students are not receiving fewer hours of instruction as the four days they attend school contain longer hours. It might also be worth noting that the majority of schools participating in a four-day week are located in rural areas, so the data might not be able to indicate the impact of switching to a four-day week in urban areas.

Why Do Schools Want A Four-Day Week?