Four day school weeks

[jimbogumbo]

https://thehill.com/homenews/3888891-almost-60-school-districts-in-texas-have-now-made-the-switch-to-four-day-weeks/

[mythbuster]

So what do young children of working parents do on the fifth day? And are the days now longer? Summers now shorter? So many questions not answered by this article.

[apl68]

It's not the only innovation in K-12 scheduling out there.  In our state some schools are replacing the summer break with several shorter breaks scattered through the year.  The idea is to prevent summer learning loss.  A school district adjacent to ours is considering that.

[AmLitHist]

Some are going to 4-day F2F, and one day virtual learning, too.

[MarathonRunner]

It's not the only innovation in K-12 scheduling out there.  In our state some schools are replacing the summer break with several shorter breaks scattered through the year.  The idea is to prevent summer learning loss.  A school district adjacent to ours is considering that.

That's pretty standard in the places I've lived in Germany. Shorter, more frequent breaks. But parents (and everyone else) have better leave/vacation entitlements. How does it work in the US where even parental and sick leave isn't legislated, much less vacation leave?

[jimbogumbo]

It's not the only innovation in K-12 scheduling out there.  In our state some schools are replacing the summer break with several shorter breaks scattered through the year.  The idea is to prevent summer learning loss.  A school district adjacent to ours is considering that.

That's pretty standard in the places I've lived in Germany. Shorter, more frequent breaks. But parents (and everyone else) have better leave/vacation entitlements. How does it work in the US where even parental and sick leave isn't legislated, much less vacation leave?

Not that well from relatives' experience. It is a schedule that has been pretty widely tried in the US, and it does not appear to result in higher test scores in this country.

[Antiphon1]

Our local school district will go to a 4 day week next year.  The savings touted are minimal at best.  It's just a sop to teachers who really need help and a raise. Say goodbye to raises, folks.  80% of a week is 80% of pay.

[kaysixteen]

And, again, very hideous for many k12 kids, who really cannot access ol ed, for a wide variety of reasons.

[Sun_Worshiper]

I'm all for a shorter work week (not that it matters for me as a professor), but the transition won't be seamless as the posts on children in school demonstrate.

[apl68]

I'm all for a shorter work week (not that it matters for me as a professor), but the transition won't be seamless as the posts on children in school demonstrate.

Yes, there's no way such a dramatic change in the schooling schedules of so many households could not lead to disruption--the sort of disruption that people are very, very quick to complain about.  Doesn't seem like something a district would want to try unless they had some very convincing evidence that it would help in some way.  I hope that the decision makers have thought through what they're doing carefully, and plan the transition in such a way as to try to minimize the disruption.  It's the sort of thing that could be done well or done much less well.