Almost 70% of Colorado districts now on a 4-day school week. Will we ever stop?
My
newsletters opposing this trend have proved futile. Do school leaders and policymakers
care about the impact on student achievement? I see no evidence. What if I say
less, and show more?
The # of Colorado districts and the #
of K-12 students taught in a shorter week grows & grows.
2018-19 – 104
districts[i]
now on a 4-day week – adding
35,000 students from two districts alone
District 27J and Pueblo 60, both
non-rural and among the state’s 20 largest districts, begin operating on a four-day
week. They added over 35,000 students to the total being taught on a shorter
week.
AV #207, March 2020, “Alarming Results in Year One: District
27J Schools’ shift to 4-day school week brings drop in academic performance”
[ANOTHER 10]
2021-22 – 114 districts now on a four-day week
AV
#236, August 2021, “Why
we must have a study of the 4-day week in Colorado”
No such study has been conducted.
[ANOTHER 10]
2022-23 - 124 districts now on a
four-day week – 426 schools[ii]
Colorado still #1 - Two-thirds
of our districts on the four-day week – a new high
With 10 new districts Colorado
has “raised” its status as the state with the highest percentage of school
districts operating on a shorter school week: 124 out of 178 = 69%. What’s more, we have added over 12,000 Colorado students
to the those taught on a shorter school week.
|
# of students enrolled in the 10 newest districts to
convert to 4-day week, 2022-2023[iii] |
|
|
Bayfield 10
JT-R |
1,281 |
|
Brush RE-2
(J) |
1,366 |
|
Fort Morgan RE-3 |
3,423 |
|
Idalia RJ-3 |
172 |
|
Ignacio 11JT |
641 |
|
Kit Carson
R-1 |
101 |
|
Montezuma-Cortez |
2,461 |
|
Silverton
School District 1 |
87 |
|
Weld County
RE-1 |
1,837 |
|
Yuma 1 |
886 |
|
TOTAL |
12,255 |
now enroll over
37,600 students.
In the past five years Colorado has
added over 50,000 students to the
four-day school week schedule. Colorado now
has 110,478 students[iv] in four-day week
schools.
**
Colorado:
2007-2022
Over the past 15 years
the number of Colorado school districts on a 4-day week doubled.
At that same time NAEP
math scores in our rural schools showed a steady decline.
CDE - http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeedserv/fourdayschoolweek_approvedschooldistricts
NAEP-NDE - https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ndecore/xplore/NDE. Source for all NAEP scores recorded
here, pages 2-4.
**
Another look at those declining
NAEP MATH scores in our rural (mostly four-day week) schools…
4th grade – NAEP MATH
SCORE– Colorado – City-Rural Gap Closes
(Throughout,
changes in scores - my math.)
|
|
2007 |
2009 |
2011 |
|
2017 |
2019 |
Change from 2007 to 2019 |
2022 |
Change – ‘19 to ‘22 post- COVID drop |
|
City |
234 |
239 |
240 |
|
235 |
238 |
+4 |
233 |
-5 |
|
Suburb |
244 |
245 |
247 |
|
244 |
245 |
+1 |
239 |
-6 |
|
Town |
230 |
243 |
243 |
|
239 |
238 |
+8 |
236 |
-4 |
|
Rural |
248 |
245 |
249 |
|
248 |
245 |
-3 |
238 |
-7 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gap –
City/Rural |
14 |
6 |
9 |
|
13 |
7 |
|
5 |
|
https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ndecore/xplore/NDE - Major Reporting Groups – School
location - City, Suburb, Town, Rural
City-rural gap closed from 14 pt difference in 2007 to 7 pt
difference in 2019, 5 pt difference in 2022.
Rural schools – highest scores in 2013 and 2015 (252, 251). Declining to 245, in
2019, pre-COVID.
Post-COVID, 2022, further decline, now 10 pts lower than it had been in 2007.
8th grade – NAEP MATH
SCORE – Colorado – City-Rural Gap Tightens
|
|
2007 |
2009 |
2011 |
|
2017 |
2019 |
Change from 2007 to 2019 |
2022 |
Change ‘19 to ‘22 post COVID-drop |
|
City |
278 |
280 |
282 |
|
280 |
281 |
+3 |
270 |
-11 |
|
Suburb |
291 |
292 |
297 |
|
292 |
289 |
-2 |
280 |
-9 |
|
Town |
279 |
281 |
291 |
|
283 |
277 |
-2 |
271 |
-6 |
|
Rural |
296 |
294 |
296 |
|
289 |
285 |
-11 |
277 |
-8 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Gap –
City/Rural |
18 |
14 |
14 |
|
9 |
4 |
|
7 |
|
https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/ndecore/xplore/NDE - Major Reporting Groups: School
location - City, Suburb, Town, Rural.
City-rural
gap closed from 18
pt difference in 2007 to 4 pt difference in 2019 and 7 pt
difference in 2022.
Rural schools – highest scores in 2007 and 2011 (296).
Pre-COVID, significant decline from 2007 (296) to 2019 (285),
11 pts lower than 2007.
Post-COVID, 2022 (277), rural scores decline further, 19
pts lower than it had been in 2007 (296).
HIGH SCHOOL RESULTS in District 27J and Pueblo 60 –
PSAT and SAT -
the two largest districts in Colorado
to shift to 4-day week schedule.
Their PSAT & SAT MATH SCORES have declined over the past five years, 2018-2022.
With COVID-19, PSAT & SAT MATH scores declined state-wide. But the drop in District 27J and Pueblo 60, two non-rural districts that switched to a 4-day school week in 2018-19, is even greater than the state-wide dip.
Grade 10 – PSAT MATH – Mean Scale
Score[v]
|
2018 (5-day week) |
2019 (4-day week) |
Change from
’18 to ‘19 |
2022 (4-day week) |
Change from
’18 to ‘22 |
|
|
STATE of Colorado |
465 |
462 |
-3 |
455 |
-10 |
|
District 27J |
440 |
440 |
- |
418 |
-22 |
|
Pueblo 60 |
423 |
415 |
-8 |
408 |
-15 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
“It’s all due to COVID-19.” Really? Is
that honest?
District 27J and Pueblo 60 have operated
on a four-day week for four years. Well, not quite, due to COVID. How do we
apply the COVID handicap when examining the decline in student achievement over
these four years? COVID hurt, no question. But wouldn’t it be simplistic to say:
“this is all due to COVID”?
Year one, 2028-19.
Pre-COVID. No COVID impact. (AV#207 showed the decline in achievement in
District 27J, comparing 2018 and 2019 results. Overall negative trend. Not
“flat.”)
Year two, 2019-20. Normal year until shut down in
March. COVID impact limited to final 7-8 weeks of school.
|
“During the first two years of the
pandemic, the federal government gave schools a reprieve from accountability.
Now that grace period is over.” Chalkbeat (Feb 1, 2023)[vi] |
**
SAT MATH SCORES in
District 27J and Pueblo 60 show significant decline over 5 years, 2018-2022.
Declines highlighted in yellow.
Grade 11 – SAT MATH – Mean Scale
Score[vii]
|
2018 (5-day
week) |
2019 (4-day
week) |
Change from
’18 to ‘19 |
2022 (4-day
week) |
Change from
’18 to ‘22 |
|
|
STATE of Colorado |
501 |
496 |
-5 |
483 |
-18 |
|
District 27J |
473 |
463 |
-10 |
441 |
-32 |
|
Pueblo 60 |
454 |
448 |
-6 |
419 |
-35 |
|
SAT - MATH |
2019 |
2022 |
Decline ’19-’22 |
|
STATE of Colorado |
39% |
34.6% |
-4.4 |
|
District 27J |
25% |
16% |
-9 |
|
Pueblo 60 |
18.9% |
9.0% |
-9.9 |
The Colorado Department of Education and the College Board both say that a 500 Math score (out of 800 possible points) is the minimum score needed to be seen as “college ready.”
(See GRADUATION GUIDELINES | FACT SHEET –Menu of College and Career-Ready Demonstrations, Colorado Department of Education.[viii])
**
Academic Achievement Trend – from CDE’s
School Performance Framework - 2018-2022
We have seen declining scores in many districts over the past few years. But District 27J is the largest district in Colorado to convert to a four-day week during this time. Hence it deserves a closer study.
In AV# 207 I compared 27J’s 2018 Performance Framework Ratings (before the switch) to 2019 (year one on a 4-day school week). Time for an update. I add 2017 scores to show that from 2017 to 2018, prior to the shorter schedule, there were signs of improvement. But then the district cut back to a 4-day week.
School District 27J - Scores and ratings from Final District Performance
Frameworks, 2018 and 2019[ix]
Declines highlighted in yellow.
Impact of the 4-day week on our most vulnerable
students
Any district converting to the
four-day school week should have seen studies warning of the harm it might
bring its most vulnerable students. See AV #207 Addenda A-C. That newsletter
showed the declines for the four groups of students (listed below) in District
27’s first year on the four-day week.
Here I show how their scores,
worrying in 2018, have only dropped further by the spring of 2022.
Scores from Final District
Performance Frameworks
School
District 27J – 2018-2022
Colorado has
four ratings: Exceeds, Meets, Approaching, & Does Not Meet. Highlighted:
scores rated Does Not Meet.
|
|
5-day week |
4-day
week |
|||
|
LEVEL - ELEMENTARY |
2018 |
2019 |
Decline ’18 to ’19 |
2022 |
Change ’18 to ’22 |
|
Academic Achievement |
Mean Scale Score |
||||
|
CMAS-ELA (grades 3-5) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
English Learners |
727.0 |
725.0 |
-2.0 |
720.5 |
-6.5 |
|
Free/Reduced Price Lunch Eligible |
730.3 |
728.2 |
-2.1 |
721.9 |
-8.4 |
|
Minority Students |
735.6 |
734.5 |
-1.1 |
728.0 |
-7.6 |
|
Students with Disabilities |
704.5 |
701.1 |
-3.4 |
701.5 |
-3.0 |
|
CMAS – Math (gr. 3-5) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
English Learners |
724.6 |
723.0 |
-1.6 |
717.2 |
-7.4 |
|
Free/Reduced Price Lunch Eligible |
727.0 |
724.0 |
-3.0 |
717.0 |
-10.0 |
|
Minority Students |
731.9 |
729.1 |
-2.8 |
723.1 |
-8.8 |
|
Students with Disabilities |
704.2 |
703.1 |
-1.1 |
705.6 |
-+1.4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LEVEL - MIDDLE |
2018 |
2019 |
Decline ‘18 to ’19 |
2022 |
Change ’18 to ‘22 |
|
Academic Achievement |
Mean Scale Score |
||||
|
CMAS – Math (grades
6-8) |
|
|
|
||
|
English Learners |
715.1 |
710.9 |
-4.2 |
707.3 |
-7.8 |
|
Free/Reduced Price Lunch Eligible |
718.3 |
714.8 |
-3.5 |
710.7 |
-7.6 |
|
Minority Students |
721.6 |
718.8 |
-2.8 |
715.0 |
-6.6 |
|
Students with Disabilities |
698.0 |
695.6 |
-2.4 |
697.5 |
-0.5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LEVEL - HIGH SCHOOL |
|
|
|
|
|
|
SAT – Reading &
Writing (gr. 11) |
|
|
|
||
|
English Learners |
418.8 |
401.4 |
-17.4 |
410.1 |
-8.7 |
|
Free/Reduced Price Lunch Eligible |
453.5 |
447.4 |
-6.1 |
435.9 |
-17.6 |
|
Minority Students |
459.3 |
457.1 |
-2.2 |
446.5 |
+6.2 |
|
Students with Disabilities |
398.5 |
365.9 |
-32.6 |
393.0 |
-5.5 |
|
SAT- Math (gr.11) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
English Learners |
419.6 |
392.5 |
-27.1 |
395.3 |
-24.3 |
|
Free/Reduced Price Lunch Eligible |
452.1 |
432.1 |
-20.0 |
419.9 |
-32.2 |
|
Minority Students |
458.5 |
446.6 |
-11.9 |
426.7 |
-31.8 |
|
Students with Disabilities |
370.7 |
369.6 |
-1.1 |
373.1 |
+2.4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
**
Concerned now? Enough to say this issue deserves a thorough study?
Have I shown you enough to cause concern? I now direct
a few specific concerns to: 1) the two non-rural districts I have studied, 2) the
media, and 3) the Colorado Department of Education. Many have a role to play if
Colorado is to re-assess the 4-day week.
1.
27J and
Pueblo 60
I trust District 27J and Pueblo 60 will check my numbers. If correct, how will their school boards respond? In the medical field, Do No Harm is a north star. School boards have an extraordinary responsibility. If the choices they made in 2018 are proving harmful, now what?
Superintendent Chris Fiedler has become the go-to person for the media on this issue. Last summer an extensive look at the trend by Education Week[x] included this passage:
Fiedler says the pandemic has made it difficult to gauge the impact of the condensed schedule on student academic outcomes. The district hasn’t had full-blown statewide assessments since the spring of 2019; results from internal assessments, he says, have been pretty flat.
“I’m pleased with flat, given all the
other distractions of the pandemic,” Fiedler said.
At that time, as
noted, results from the state tests (taken in the spring of 2022) were not yet available. What I have shown here indicate the district’s “internal assessments” must have been
way off base. How did that happen? How does the district now speak about its
academic performance?
Superintendent Fiedler
is retiring this summer. A much-needed re-examination of the 4-day week may
have to wait for his successor. I hope the school board will be honest with
candidates who wish to lead the district forward. They must see how much achievement
scores have declined the past four years. Is the board adamant about sticking
with the four-day schedule? That would surely deter good candidates. The next
district leader will need to have the authority to say: let’s look at the
facts and see if these are the outcomes we want for our kids.
Tracy Rudnick was the district’s public information officer in 2018 and
2019. In AV #207 I reported:
Bold mine
In the fall of 2018, as this new schedule went into
effect, [Rudnick] told KUNC News: “The
district is happy with the new schedule … and plans to reevaluate the
program in three years.”
I also quoted what
she told The Colorado Sun in August 2019:
“If scores were to
drop immensely, obviously that is something we would have to look at, but we
are not expecting that to happen. It’s going to take a couple of years to
really create the concrete data.”[xi]
I have presented “concrete
data.” Insufficient to lead to a rethink? Perhaps District 27J will insist that
it is still too soon, even if last year was year four on the shorter
week. COVID-19 changed everything, they will say. All current data is
suspect.
I hope that won’t fly. We do have good information now. I know it is a cliché, but District 27J and Pueblo 60 must be accountable and transparent. After all, they took a gamble. (How else to describe it, to become the first large non-rural districts anywhere in the country to revert to a four-day week?) Superintendent Fiedler spoke to Education Week of the community response when the four-day week was introduced to the district. “We went from being afraid they [parents] were going to tar and feather us to getting a round of applause for being innovative and brave.”[xii] That was then. The courageous act now would be to own up to the results.
2.
Media
|
Jennifer Brown, 2019: “Among
education experts, the four-day week is seen as a phenomenon that’s taken off
without
much debate and ahead of any conclusive research.” (Bold mine) John Aguilar, 2020: “… some metro Denver school districts
have recently put four-day weeks on the table for discussion. Last fall,
Littleton Public Schools considered it as a cost-saving measure to help plug
an anticipated $4 million shortfall.”
|
Last
fall Brynn Carmen of KYGO (Colorado Springs) produced a story on the four-day
week.[xv] She
quoted Superintendent Fiedler: “We have had great success around our graduation
rates and seeing a steady increase over the years since we've gone to a
four-day week.” By now, Colorado reporters should know that our graduation
rates have no relation to achievement scores. Can we please stop pretending
otherwise? District 27J is a good example.
Carmen added: “There are also education gaps to take into consideration. The Colorado Department of Education recently did a study that found students do no worse on a four-day week compared to the traditional schedule.” (Bold mine.)
I was puzzled. I asked Carmen “what ‘recent’ study you are citing here?” She said CDE had provided her with the study on its website.
That study was produced in 2011. Done-in-house by two
CDE staff. Based on student data from 2002-2010.[xvi]
3.
Colorado
Department of Education
“… found students do no worse…” I challenged
that in AV#236.[xvii]
You can see here[xviii]
the full Student Performance section at CDE’s “Four-Day School Week
Overview.” Read the three most unnerving sentences; it is as if the state is
saying: We don’t know - and we don’t care.
The general feeling is that students do no worse on the
four-day week than on the traditional schedule. If student performance is
judged by satisfaction, then the results are very favorable.
Few districts have changed from five to four days with the
expressed purpose of improving student achievement; it has not been a
significant issue.
While working on this newsletter I was glad to learn that CDE staff “initiated an update on the study.” They expect to have a new report by this summer. I trust it will explore recent research. For example, I would point to 1) the (peer reviewed) study of six western states (Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming) published in August 2022. I present two pages of highlights from that report, Addendum B; 2) the most recent (January 2023) and timely, the impact on District 27J, Addendum C; and 3) a list of five other recent studies, Addendum D.
CDE has a difficult balancing act: to honor “local control of instruction,”[xix] while not saying, anything goes. But since 2019 the state proved it can intervene when necessary. Pointing to “the science of reading” and extensive research, CDE insisted on changes in how reading is taught. Surely it is equally important to listen to the research on the impact of the four-day school week. A body of knowledge is mounting. I trust we are open to hear what it tells us.
And then to act on what we find out. As Georgia Heyward reminded us in her 2018 study:
“… there have been recent instances when districts do go back to five-day schooling, proving that it doesn’t have to be a permanent move if the schedule doesn’t deliver the benefits educators had hoped for.” (“What do we actually know about the four-day school week?”[xx])
And I repeat, let’s not ignore one key matter: Let’s understand and report on the outcomes for student achievement. What we learn might have an impact well beyond our borders.
**
Addendum A
Colorado Department of Education
The general feeling is that students
do no worse on the four-day week than on the traditional schedule. If student performance
is judged by satisfaction, then the results are very favorable.
An academic comparison study of
Colorado school districts operating four-day and five- day calendars was
completed by Dianne L. Lefly, Ph.D., Director of CDE Research & Evaluation and
Jhon Penn, Executive Director of CDE Field Services in 2011. At the time of the
study, there were sixty‐seven Colorado school districts that operated all their
schools on a four‐day week rather than a five‐day week. Because Colorado law
requires that all districts provide a specified amount of ‘contact time’ for
students, the shorter week includes longer days so the actual ‘contact time’ is
the same as the schools with longer weeks. The study compared the academic
achievement and student growth of the four-day districts to the academic
achievement of five‐day districts of similar size. Overall, the results
indicated that both groups of districts performed similarly on the state
assessments and that their students showed very similar amounts of academic growth
as reflected by the Colorado Growth Model. A Comparison of Colorado School
Districts Operating on Four-Day and Five-Day Calendars 2011 (PDF).
Few districts have changed from five
to four days with the expressed purpose of improving student achievement; it
has not been a significant issue.
https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeedserv/fourdayschoolweek_overview#studentperformance
Addendum B
Annenberg-Brown University
“A Multi-State, Student-Level Analysis of the Effects of the Four-Day
School Week on Student Achievement and Growth”
Authors: Emily Morton - NWEA
,Paul Thompson - Oregon State University, Megan
Kuhfeld - NWEA
Page 7
– THE RESEARCH TO DATE
Prior
research consisted of anecdotal evidence from interviews and opinion surveys
that generally touted various benefits of the schedule for students. Since
2015, seven studies [sources] have leveraged panel data and
difference-in-differences research designs to study the causal effects of
attending a school with a four-day week as opposed to school with a five-day
week. The majority of this research, as summarized in Appendix Table A1, uses
standardized test score outcomes and estimates small, mostly negative average effects of the schedule on
students in grades 3-11, ranging from +0.02 SD to -0.09 SD on math and
-0.02 SD to -0.04 SD on English Language Arts (ELA) or reading [sources]. One notable exception,
Anderson and Walker’s (2015) study of the four-day school week’s effect in
Colorado finds a significant, positive effect of the schedule on achievement:
they report a 7.4 percentage point (p
One
limitation of Anderson and Walker’s (2015) study relative to more recent
research on four-day school week achievement effects is their chosen outcome
measure, the percent of students scoring proficient or advanced. While this may
be an important metric from a school accountability perspective; however, it is
limited for the purpose of understanding the effect of the policy on student
achievement, as it is impossible to know whether the schedule improved
achievement on average or just around the state test proficiency threshold (Ho,
2016). Nevertheless,
Anderson and Walker’s (2015) study is the only previous study of the four-day
school week that includes achievement data from Colorado, one of the states
with the greatest prevalence of the schedule.
--
Page 9
–10 - TIME
More
specifically, Thompson and Ward (2022) find that their estimated negative average effects of the four-day
week on district-level achievement across 12 states are driven by larger
negative effects of the schedule (-0.04 to -0.06 SD) for districts in
the bottom third of the distribution for weekly hours of school…. This finding
suggests that the four-day week’s effect on student achievement may depend on the
extent to which the schedule decreases students’ total time at school.
Furthermore, this type of information is very valuable for policymakers and
practitioners, as they respectively decide on policy constraints for school
schedules and consider implementing or revising a four-day school week schedule
in their district.
Page
10 - NON-RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS (like District 27J & Pueblo 60. See
pp. 5-8, declining scores)
Thompson
et al. (2021b) also find that the negative effects of adopting a four-day week on achievement are
concentrated in non-rural schools. More specifically, among 11th grade
students in Oregon, average negative achievement effects of four-day school
weeks … were explained entirely by the effects of the schedule among students
in non-rural schools ….
However, whether this association holds in states other
than Oregon and the implementation factors that explain the differences in the
effects for rural and non-rural districts is unknown.
Page
12 and Page 14 – DATA FROM 2008-09 to 2019-20; SAMPLE - 1 MILLION STUDENTS
This study employs 12 years (2008-09 to 2019-20) of
school-level data from a national database of school-level four-day school week
adoption history (p. 12). The sample includes over 6 million total fall and
spring test scores (in math and in reading) of approximately 1 million
kindergarten- to eighth-grade students in over 1,700 schools across 619
districts (p.14).
Page
24-25 – EFFECTS OF FOUR-DAY WEEK
Examining how the effects of the four-day school week vary
(or do not vary) across schools and students is important for further
investigating what factors
could be responsible for driving the observed negative average effects.
For
spring achievement, we find no detectable effect of rural four-day weeks on
math (𝛽=0.02, n.s.) or reading (𝛽=-0.04, n.s.), but we find a
significant 0.08 SD decrease (p we find a significant 0.08 SD decrease
(p<.05) in math scores and 0.11 SD decrease (p<.01) in reading scores as
effects of non-rural
four-day school weeks. (p.24)
Separate event study specifications for rural and
non-rural four-day week schools were
conducted to further examine the dynamic effects of the
schedule in each setting.… the
pattern of increasingly negative effects of the four-day school week over time
we observed in the overall sample is also observed, respectively, in the rural
and non-rural four-day week school samples… (p. 25)
Pages 25-26 – NEGATIVE IMPACT ON HISPANIC STUDENTS
We also find some significant differences by race: the four-day school week has a less
negative effect on Native students’ math gains (𝛽=0.12, p<.01) and a greater negative effect on
Hispanic
students’ math gains (𝛽=-0.07, p<.01) relative to
its effect on White students’ math gains.
For reading gains, our interaction effect estimates are
also positive for Native students and negative
for Hispanic
students relative
to White students, but the magnitudes of the interaction effects are
smaller and not statistically significant.
Page
28 – CONCLUDING REMARKS
We
find that four-day school weeks significantly decrease students’ reading and
math gains by
0.06 SD, just barely a “medium” effect size (Kraft, 2020). The effect is again more
negative … [sic] among non-rural schools, where students’ fall-to-spring
gains dropped 0.08 SD in math and 0.09 SD in reading as an effect of their
school adopting the schedule.
https://www.edworkingpapers.com/sites/default/files/ai22-630.pdf
Annenberg-Brown University
"How Do Homeowners, Teachers, and Students Respond to a Four-Day School Week?"
By Adam D. Nowak, West Virginia
University; Frank Perrone, Indiana University; Patrick S. Smith, The University of North Carolina at Charlotte,
Annenberg Institute at Brown University, https://doi.org/10.26300/3nyp-gk81.
Faced with
decreasing funds and increasing costs, a growing number of school districts
across the United States are switching to four-day school weeks (4DSWs).
Although previously used only by rural districts, the policy has begun to gain
traction in metropolitan districts. We examine homeowner, teacher, and student
outcomes in one of the first metropolitan school districts to adopt the 4DSW.
We find 2 to 4 percent home price declines relative to surrounding school
districts, a 5 percent decrease in teacher retention for experienced teachers,
and a 0.2 to 0.3 standard deviation decrease in student test scores. These
results suggest the decision to adopt a 4DSW in a metropolitan setting should
not be taken lightly.
Conclusion
(pages 24-25)
Over the
past decade, decreases in state and local funding in the aftermath of the Great
Recession have coincided with an almost tripling of the number of school
districts on a 4DSW in the United States. 27J’s adoption of the 4DSW may mark a
tipping point of this movement into larger, more urban districts. Despite the
rapid growth of the 4DSW, no study has examined the policy’s effect on
market-based measures in a metropolitan region. We show that the 4DSW has a
large financial impact on local housing markets. Specifically, we find that
house prices near the border of a comparable school district decreased 4
percent in 24 27J relative to houses on the other side of the border after the
4DSW was implemented. A back-of-the-envelope calculation indicates that this
price effect was over 50 percent greater than the present value of the rejected
mill levy override.
The stated motivation for 27J’s switch to a 4DSW was to attract and retain teachers. However, we find – at least in the short term - that it had the opposite effect on teacher retention. Specifically, we find that experienced teachers were 5 percentage points less likely to return to 27J after the school district switched to a 4DSW. This finding does not necessarily mean that teachers do not value a 4DSW. Instead, it suggests that the teachers that left 27J were unwilling to trade off the higher salaries offered by outside opportunities for the benefits offered by a 4DSW. Finally, we also find that student performance decreased by 0.2 to 0.3 standard deviations on math and language arts standardized exams after 27J implemented the 4DSW. Taken together, the results of this study have important implications for homeowners voting on school funding ballot initiatives and school districts considering the 4DSW.
Addendum D
Five more recent studies
From “The four-day school week: Research shows
benefits and consequences,” The
Journalist’s Resource,
by Denise-Marie Ordway, Sept. 21, 2022
To save money and help recruit teachers, many schools are
taking Mondays or Fridays off. Scholars are studying how it affects students,
teachers and school district budget https://journalistsresource.org/education/four-day-school-week-research/#:~:text=A%202022%20study%20that%20looks,%2Dday%20weeks%2C%20on%20average.
**
Only a Matter of Time? The Role of Time in School on Four-Day School Week
Achievement Impacts
Paul N. Thompson and Jason Ward. Economics of Education Review, February 2022.
“Three Midwest Rural School Districts’ First Year Transition to the Four
Day School Week”
Jon Turner, Kim Finch and Ximena
Uribe-Zarain. The Rural Educator, 2019.
“Staff Perspectives of the Four-Day School Week: A New Analysis of
Compressed School Schedules”
Jon Turner, Kim Finch and Ximena
Uribe–Zarian. Journal of Education and Training
Studies, 2018.
“The Economics of a Four-Day School Week: Community and Business Leaders’
Perspectives”
Jon Turner, Kim Finch and Ximena
Uribe–Zarian. Journal of Education and Training
Studies, 2018.
“Impact of a 4-Day School Week on Student Academic Performance, Food
Insecurity, and Youth Crime”
Report from the Oklahoma State Department of Health’s Office of Partner
Engagement, 2017.
[i]“Approved
Four-Day School Week Districts -School Districts
Approved for Less than 160 Days,” CDE, http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdeedserv/fourdayschoolweek_approvedschooldistricts.
This is the source for the 104 in 2018-19,
114 in 2021-22, and 124 in 2022-23.
[ii]
Number of Colorado schools presently on a four-day week, provided by CDE’s
Division of Field Services, in email to me, Feb. 3, 2023.
[iii]
2022-2023 Pupil Membership, CDE, http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdereval/pupilcurrent.
[iv]
Number of Colorado students presently on a four-day week, provided by
CDE’s Division of Field Services, in email to me, Feb 7, 2023.
[v]
Colorado SAT and PSAT Data and Results, CDE, http://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/sat-psat-data.
[vi] “How to grade schools post-pandemic?
States must decide,” Chalkbeat, by Patrick Wall, Feb 1, 2023 - https://www.chalkbeat.org/2023/2/1/23580461/school-accountability-covid-grades-pandemic-essa.
[vii]
[vii] Colorado
SAT and PSAT Data and Results, CDE, http://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/sat-psat-data.
[viii]
Graduation Guidelines - Fact Sheet, CDE, http://www.cde.state.co.us/postsecondary/graduationguidelinesmenuofoptions09-21-22pdf.
[x] “The Latest Perk Schools Are Using to Attract Teachers:
4-Day Weeks,” by Elizabeth Heubeck, Education Week, June 29, 2022. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/the-latest-perk-schools-are-using-to-attract-teachers-4-day-weeks/2022/06.
[xi] “Colorado now has more school districts on four-day
weeks than any place in the nation—with little research on the benefits,” Jennifer Brown, The
Colorado Sun, August 27, 2019 https://coloradosun.com/2019/08/27/four-day-school-weeks-in-colorado/ August 27, 2019.
[xii] Heubeck - https://www.edweek.org/leadership/the-latest-perk-schools-are-using-to-attract-teachers-4-day-weeks/2022/06
[xiii] Brown - https://coloradosun.com/2019/08/27/four-day-school-weeks-in-colorado/ (First of a 3-part investigation by Brown and other
Sun reporters.)
[xiv] Could some of Colorado’s urban school districts catch on to a four-day week?” John Aguilar, The Denver Post, Sept. 20, 2020 - https://www.denverpost.com/2020/09/07/coronavirus-colorado-schools-four-day-week/
[xv] Brynn Carmen, KRDO, Nov. 14, 2022.https://krdo.com/news/2022/11/14/more-colorado-school-districts-consider-4-day-school-week-will-this-continue-to-gain-momentum-in-metro-areas/.
[xvi] All data here from the Performance Framework Reports and Improvement Plans, CDE. https://www.cde.state.co.us/schoolview/frameworks/welcome, https://www.cde.state.co.us/accountability/performanceframeworks.
[xvii]
From AV #236. “Research on Colorado schools
using four-day week schedule: dated and of dubious value,” (pages 8-14), https://anotherviewphj.blogspot.com/
[xviii] Heubeck - https://www.edweek.org/leadership/the-latest-perk-schools-are-using-to-attract-teachers-4-day-weeks/2022/06
[xix] Colorado Association
of School Boards, https://casb.memberclicks.net/local-control-of-education
[xx] WHAT DO WE ACTUALLY KNOW ABOUT THE FOUR-DAY SCHOOL WEEK?” by
Georgia Heyward, Center for Reinventing Public Education, June 2018, https://www.crpe.org/sites/default/files/crpe-what-do-we-know-about-four-day-week.pdf.
[xxi]"Instructional Time and Four-Day
School Weeks,” State of New Mexico - Legislative Education Study Committee, by
Kevin Force and Abigail, August 16, 2018, (11
pages).
https://www.nmlegis.gov/handouts/ALESC%20081518%20Item%209%204%20day%20school%20calendar%20brief.pdf
“… Colorado has the largest
proportion of school districts with schools operating on a four-day week, at 98
school districts, or more than half those in the state…”
“Conclusion - Due
to the general lack of empirical, verifiable evidence about the effects of the
four-day school week, policy recommendations in this arena are problematic.
However, states such as Colorado are experimenting more extensively with
four-day school weeks, meaning more comprehensive and detailed data may be
available in the near future.”
