Vince Bielski | July 18, 2024
(RealClearInvestigations) — Next month, the Huntsville School District in Arkansas will join the wave of public schools switching to a four-day week.
The shorter school week, which first emerged in a few rural areas decades ago, is now expanding into suburbs and smaller cities. At least 2,100 schools in half the states have embraced the three-day weekend mostly as an incentive to hire and keep teachers, prompting cheers of support from instructors, unions, and many families.
Despite the growing popularity of the shorter week, some researchers and lawmakers are pushing back on the strategy. While its impact on teacher shortages appears to be mixed in different districts, its harmful effects on the academic growth of students – arguably the top priority of public education – is clear. Teams of researchers examining the program in a variety of states have come to a similar conclusion: The four-day week stymies learning in math and English when instructional time is reduced, as is often the case.
The most authoritative multi-state study to date found that students have suffered small-to-medium negative effects, learning “significantly less” than they would have in a traditional five-day program, says co-author Emily Morton of the Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research.
The push for a shorter week comes at a troubling time for public schools. Many districts remain in a tough spot in the wake of the pandemic, suffering from increased teacher turnover as well as classrooms full of students who have recovered only a small portion of months and even years of lost learning. What’s more, an unprecedented $190 billion in emergency federal aid ends in September, adding to the financial pressures on districts.
While superintendents see the four-day week as an inexpensive way to address the need for teachers, they also risk causing further harm to students. “It’s a huge mistake to move to a four-day school week,” said Matt Kraft of Brown University, who co-wrote a paper on the influence of class time on learning. “At this moment we need to maximize instructional time to support students’ academic recovery, not reduce it.”
But a Monday-to-Thursday or Tuesday-to-Friday week is a gamble some school leaders are willing to take.
Huntsville Superintendent Jonathan Warren, who led his district’s move to a four-day week before his recent retirement, has read the critical research. Initially he had reservations too. But he changed his mind after a survey of teachers and families revealed that they favored the shorter schedule by a wide margin over three other options, including the traditional five-day program.
To lessen the risks to students, Warren followed the advice of researchers to lengthen the remaining four school days enough so they receive at least the same amount of instructional time in math and English. He hopes students won’t fall further behind, but only time will tell.
“We recognize the potential risk, and we will be monitoring the metrics to make sure that the risks don’t outweigh the benefits, mostly with teacher retention,” Warren told RealClear. “If student outcomes show a drop, a dramatic drop, then it’s a no brainer to go back to traditional calendar.”
A Movement of Rural Schools
The four-day week hasn’t generated nearly as much attention as the culture war battles over race and gender in schools, despite the potential danger to students. It has been a quiet transformation in public education partly because, early on, only small rural districts in western states like Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oregon adopted the shorter week.
By 1999, 108 districts had made the switch, primarily in an attempt to save money and reduce the burden on families with long commutes in rural areas, according to a study by Paul Thompson, an economist at Oregon State University and leading expert on the trend.
The financial crisis of 2009 spurred the next wave of adopters looking to save money as funding for education fell in many states. By 2019, the number of four-day districts had soared six-fold to 662 in 24 states.
But significant cost savings never materialized. Districts found that reduced expenses from building operations and busing students were minimal, or less than 2%. That’s because salaries, the biggest expense in education, don’t change for teachers and administrators when shaving a day off the week.
Colorado district 27J in the suburbs of Denver discovered to its surprise that the switch to four days created new costs. The district had to extend its four school days to 4:30 p.m. to increase instructional time. But that pushed sporting practices and events into the evenings, requiring the district to install lights on its softball fields and tennis courts.
“We initially thought that if we transported kids less, it would be more savings in our pockets,” said 27J Superintendent Will Pierce. “But now we have lights on fields, costs we didn’t pay before. In the end, doing four-day has been a wash compared with five-day.”
The pandemic provided the impetus for the most recent round of adopters. By 2023 nearly 900 districts, or 7% of the total – all in 26 western, midwestern and southern states – had signed on, according to Thompson’s research.
In Colorado, almost two-thirds of its 179 districts have gone four-day. In Oregon, about 40% of districts have converted. In Missouri, it’s about one-third, including the metropolitan district of Independence, one of the largest non-rural school systems to join the parade.
Thompson says the shorter week is spreading partly because districts have control over the school schedule as a means to reach their goals, such as teacher retention.
“Other avenues likely mean an influx of funding, which is often at the purview of states or local taxpayers,” he said. “In many cases the access to additional funding is minimal.”
The Carrot of a Three-Day Weekend
Districts now stress a shortage of teachers to justify a four-day week, a problem exacerbated by pandemic, but that’s now in retreat in some states.
In Arkansas, for instance, annual teacher turnover increased from 21% in 2018-2019 to 24% in 2023-2024, forcing districts to fill some of those positions with unlicensed or not appropriately certified instructors, according to Andrew Camp at the University of Arkansas.
In Colorado, however, teachers have been returning to the classrooms. The number of open positions went down significantly last year, according to the department of education, a sign that the supply of teachers is improving.
Superintendents credit the three-day weekend for luring talent to their districts. Colorado’s 27J, one of the lowest paying districts in the Denver area, has historically lost experienced teachers to nearby Adams 12 district that lures them with higher compensation. Superintendent Pierce says the shorter week and recent pay raises have reduced turnover from about 23% annually before the switch to 10% last year.
Dale Herl, superintendent of the Independence district in Missouri, considers the shorter week a magnet for all types of workers. He told the media that the district was fully staffed with bus drivers and nurses for the first time in fifteen years because of the changeover in 2023.
Researchers so far haven’t found such remarkable results. A study of 27J showed that retention of experienced teachers actually fell 5% in the first year of the four-day week. In Arkansas, the shorter week improved teacher retention within 32 districts by only about 1.4 percentage points, according to a 2024 study by Camp at Arkansas.
“Districts making the change to four days should be realistic about what they can expect to achieve,” said Camp. “They should consider other options to help deal with staffing challenges that don’t put students at risk of learning loss.”
Camp says “grow your own” teacher programs have the potential to fill some of the shortage. Districts in several states are rolling out such programs that turn paraeducators into teachers. Some are offering paid apprenticeships that combine on-the-job and university training to address the high cost of obtaining a license, a major barrier to the supply of teachers.
Teacher unions have strongly supported the four-day week, and in some states like Colorado, played a pivotal role in the changeover. It requires an overhaul of almost every facet of school operations, from the curriculum and homework load to extracurricular activities, teacher training, working hours, and days off. In 27J, the labor contract had to be significantly revised over weeks of negotiations.
Kathey Ruybal, president of the Brighton Teachers Association, says the union backed the switch in 27J in fairness to teachers it considers underpaid at a starting salary of $52,000. Ruybal says students also benefit because the extra day off provides more time for teachers to plan lessons, collaborate over best practices, and receive training.
“Our district would not have done the four-day without our union support,” said Ruybal, a former English teacher. “Teachers have an extreme amount of work that they have to bring home. And the four-day work week allows them to have a bit of a weekend.”
Shortchanging Students
Most families and students also like the three-day weekend, according to surveys in districts. Enough parents work at home now that daycare on Fridays or Mondays isn’t a widespread problem, and some districts like 27J offer the service at a low-cost.
Students say they feel less stress with a three-day weekend. During the extra day off, they sleep in, chill out, catchup on homework, do chores or work at part-time jobs. Back at school, and feeling more relaxed, students are less likely to fight and bully each other, according to researchers.
The downside risk of more learning loss doesn’t seem too concerning to families. In the post-pandemic era, schools are putting less value on striving for good test scores and more on making students comfortable by lowering academic standards for grading and graduation.
In states like Oregon, however, the poor performance of students on state tests is hard to ignore. Scores are among the worst in the nation, with only 22% of eighth graders showing proficiency in math in 2022. The four-day week has only added to Oregon’s education woes.
Examining test results in the state’s four-day schools from 2007 to 2015, Thompson, the economist, found “detrimental impacts” in both reading and math in third through eighth grades.
The problem is that districts in Oregon and other states haven’t added enough time to the remaining four school days to provide students with the same amount of instruction. Compared with other states, Oregon has very low minimum instructional time requirements for its districts, at 966 hours a year for 12th graders. So, in moving to four days, Oregon districts have been able to shave off almost 3.5 hours a week in class time and still meet state mandates, according to Thompson’s study.
“We know that allocating sufficient time in school for students within the four-day school week can mitigate declines in student achievement,” Thompson said. “However, not all districts are able or willing to keep hours close to what they were under the five-day week, which is why we see declines in achievement.”
Across the country, four-day students spend an average of about 1,150 hours a year in school, or 85 hours less than five-day students, according to another investigation by Thompson. In comparing instructional time in core subjects, it’s noteworthy that four-day students get 25 fewer minutes a week in math and 49 fewer minutes in English.
Colorado’s 27J underscores how less instructional time can complicate a district’s understanding of its academic struggles. In the six years that 27J has operated a four-day week, its test scores have worsened relative to state averages. Is the problem that its middle and high school students have received a little less instructional time? Or that more low-income students have come to the district?
“Whether this is actually a four-day problem, a pandemic problem, or a changing demographics of our community problem, our team has tried to figure out what are the contributing factors to the drop in test scores,” Superintendent Pierce said.
Some four-day districts, including those in Arkansas, have done a better job in maintaining an equivalent amount of class time to the benefit of students. As a result, students in Arkansas’ 34 four-day districts haven’t suffered a drop in achievement, according to a study co-authored by Kate Barnes at the University of Arkansas.
Pushback
Even as more districts shift to the four-day week, the research showing the academic risks has prompted a few states to push back on the trendy program.
In New Mexico, lawmakers are trying to turn around a school system that’s producing bottom-of-the-barrel test scores. A 2023 law requires districts to add between 90 and 150 instructional hours a year to what had been the state’s low minimum requirements.
Then this year, a new rule mandating that all schools be in session for at least 180 days was met with protests from the teachers union and superintendents association. It is suing the state to protect the four-day districts that operate for about 155 days a year.
Missouri is dangling a carrot in front of districts to curtail the four-day week. A new law gives districts that stay or return to five days additional funding for teacher pay hikes. It also mandates that the decision of large districts like Independence to adopt a four-day schedule be put before voters for approval by July 2026.
State Senator Doug Beck told RealClear that he wrote the legislative provisions because of Missouri’s troubling test scores, with only 35% of students achieving proficiency in math. “Students need a traditional five-day week, with in-class instruction from a quality teacher, if we ever hope to improve these reading and math scores,” Beck said.
The senator’s view is backed up by research showing a “clear positive effect of additional time on student achievement,” according to a paper co-authored by Brown University’s Kraft, who reviewed 74 studies on the topic. With huge differences among states in the time students spend in school, Kraft says, states on the low end like Oregon should add instructional hours to help students become proficient in math and English.
Despite the risks, the four-day movement continues to gather steam. In the upcoming school year, at least five more districts in Arkansas will make the shift and another one in Missouri is converting, too. And Indiana will debut its first four-day school, Vinton Elementary.
Vinton Principal Cindy Preston says while she has concerns about the academic impact of the shift, the longer school day will help teachers provide more meaningful learning experiences.
“Having that extra day off during the week will allow our students and staff to find that quality school-life balance that benefits their mental health,” Preston said.
This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.