Friday, August 16, 2024

AV#275 - Three cheers!!! At last – a study of Colorado’s 4-day school week

 

  A heartfelt thank you to the Keystone Policy Center for producing its report on the four-day school week. And a sincere thanks to the media for its follow-up reporting. After waiting years for Colorado to take a hard look at a school schedule that has expanded with little clarity about its impact on students and learning, we finally have hard data and a careful overview of this practice. The Keystone report gives us the opportunity to ask hard questions that we have brushed aside for too long.

   It is a complex issue, but as we know, the only thing worse than a difficult debate is no debate at all. We see other states where policymakers and educators have wrangled over this issue and what is best for students. In the past, many of these states have looked to evidence from Colorado to guide their decisions. Sadly, we had little of any value to report.

  I hope this study will spur a thoughtful reassessment of a practice that most districts across our state have embraced. It won’t be easy. But a review is long overdue.


Doing Less with Less: How a four-day school week

affects student learning and the teacher workforce

Written, researched and organized by Alan Gottlieb, Maya Lagana and Van Schoales

https://www.keystone.org/our-work/education/fourdayschoolweek/

Four-day school weeks have exploded across Colorado districts — and are setting students back - Erica Breunlin, The Colorado Sun - https://coloradosun.com/2024/08/14/four-day-school-weeks-colorado-results/#:~:text=

 

   More guardrails for Colorado districts that want 4-day weeks, report urges - Ann Schimke, Chalkbeat Colorado - https://www.chalkbeat.org/colorado/2024/08/13/keystone-4-day-school-week-report-recommends-expert-panel

 

Is the four-day school week in many Colorado school districts helping students and teachers? - Jenny Brundin, Colorado Public Radio - https://www.cpr.org/2024/08/13/colorado-four-day-school-week-study/

 

Kudos to all for excellent reporting. I merely add three points.

 

1.     Colorado no longer alone: among states with many 4-day districts, now we, too, have data


The Colorado Sun produced the last in-depth analysis of the four-day school week in our state.

   

Aug. 27, 2019 – “Colorado now has more school districts* on four-day weeks than any place in the nation—with little research on the benefits

Money moved more than 100 districts to forge ahead with the largely untested strategy. Parents and teachers learned to love it, but nobody knows its impact on kids and learning.[i]

   Aug. 29, 2019 – “Colorado made kindergarten a priority. But when it comes to four-day school weeks, lawmakers don’t see a problem.”

While many are uncomfortable with the trend of districts adopting four-day school weeks, it receives surprisingly little attention in a state where education has long been a top political issue.[ii]

 

  For its review, the Keystone report looked at many studies (see “What national research shows”). I would also point to several state reports done for Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Oregon – see Addendum A. Colorado is late to this discussion. For this reason, I hope state leaders feel a sense of urgency about digging into this issue.

   My efforts over several years to advocate for such a report included a critique of the studies on the website of the Colorado Department of Education (Addendum B). Only last year did CDE take down its dated “research” of Colorado’s four-day week.

   Note the report’s strong recommendations for CDE. Another View will soon build on one: “Create a rigorous process for state approval of four-day school weeks…” The 2023 School Performance Frameworks show 19 districts on Performance Watch; 16 use a four-day schedule.[iii]

 

2.     “Though a shorter week, overall class time is the same.” A compelling argument?

 

   The Keystone report included a key phrase from national research on “the degree of impact” on achievement and academic growth: it “varied based on a range of factors including school setting, gender, and amount of instructional time.(Emphasis mine.) It quoted one study showing achievement did not suffer if the total amount of time students spend in school in a four-day week was equal to that in five-day week schools.[iv]

   Colorado’s policy would appear to address this concern. Districts seeking waivers on the 160-day minimum must show their “planned teacher-pupil instruction and teacher-pupil contact” meets these targets: 1,080 hours for secondary schools, 980 for elementary. How is this attainable? Eight-hour school days. This is a critical factor. We cannot only think in terms of holding school an “equivalent amount of time.” The report rightly recommends: Study how instructional time is used to enable students to reach state standards …” My specific concern: Let’s find out how well our youngest boys and girls are learning between 3:00 and 4:00 pm.

   In the report Durango superintendent Karen Cheser’s emphasized days, not hours. “It has just not been apparent to us in any way that the best thing for students would be to reduce the number of days.” Durango has 169 “student contact days”[v]; in many four-day school districts it’s less than 150. (Examples - Addendum C. Note how Colorado compares to the rest of the nation.) Inviting a broader question. The four-day structure may work well in 100 districts; but are 145 school days good enough?

 

3.    Another View’s ongoing review of student achievement in District 27J. September issue.

 

   The report’s “Stories from the Field” included the contrasting views of superintendents in District 27J and Adams 12. Chris Fiedler, recently retired superintendent in 27J, is quoted as saying “the impact of the four-day week on student achievement has been ‘neutral – it’s not any better or any worse.’” Another View has been reporting on declining scores in District 27J since before the pandemic. I ask readers to look for my update with 2023 and 2024 data. 

   New leadership in both District 27J and Pueblo 60 provides an opportunity for these larger districts to take a fresh look – at the Keystone report, and at results on our state tests. Neither district should feel defensive about decisions made in 2017-18. But both are responsible for next year. 

   A common (and cynical) refrain about the four-day school week is that no district, having made the switch, reverts to a five-day schedule. But that line suggests school districts allow inertia, not honest self-examination, to be their guide. We are better than that.

 

   To Keystone: again, THANK YOU! On a critical issue for our state, we much better informed.

 


 

Addendum A


 Studies done on other states with many schools on the 4-day week

 

Minnesota

“An Examination of the Four-Day School Week Schedule in Select Minnesota School Districts,” St. Cloud State University, Dec. 2017. https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/edad_etds/39/


Missouri

“4-day school week has neutral impact in Missouri,” Feb 2024. https://www.k12dive.com/news/4-day-school-week-impact-student-learning/707340/#:~:text

“Interpreting the Impact of the Four-Day School Week: An Examination of Performance before and after Switching to the Four-Day School Week,” 2017. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED580751

 

New Mexico

"Instructional Time and Four-Day School Weeks,” State of New Mexico - Legislative Education Study Committee, by Kevin Force and Abigail, August 16, 2018.

https://www.nmlegis.gov/handouts/ALESC%20081518%20Item%209%204%20day%20school%20calendar%20brief.pdf

 

Oklahoma

 Four-Day School Weeks: Student Outcomes and School Budgets,” Oklahoma Education Journal, Oct. 26, 2023. https://oej.scholasticahq.com/article/89149-four-day-school-weeks-student-outcomes-and-school-budgets

“Effects of Four-Day School Weeks on School Finance and Achievement: Evidence From Oklahoma,” August 13, 2020, AERA. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X20948023

 

Oregon 

“Is four less than five? Effects of four-day school weeks on student achievement in Oregon,” Journal of Public Economics, Jan. 2021. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047272720301729#:~:text=Using%203rd%20through%208th%20grade,the%20four%2Dday%20school%20week.

 

Idaho, New Mexico, and Oklahoma

One of the most recent studies (and one of the most hard-hitting) looked closely at the impact of the four-day week in Idaho, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

“A Four-Day School Week? Here Are the Costs and Benefits,” Rand, Aug. 31, 2023. https://www.rand.org/pubs/articles/2023/a-four-day-school-week-here-are-the-costs-and-benefits.html

 


Addendum B

 Another View - 2020-2023

 

AV #207 - March 12, 2020

Alarming Results in Year One:

District 27J Schools’ shift to 4-day school week brings drop in academic performance 

A chance for other districts to learn what NOT to do if they want better academic results

… what we know today compels us to ask: Is this the best we can do? To have most districts, now even urban districts, offer just four days of school each week? We all want Colorado schools to be #1 – in something we can be proud of. A shorter week is not it.

 

AV #236 - August 31, 2021

Why we must have a study of the 4-day week in Colorado

Are we proud of this: to be #1 in the country in a practice without knowing its impact on students?

In Colorado, no debate—true? Any attempt to insist on research to gauge the impact?

AV #236 included six pages on the research on Colorado schools using the 4-day week schedule:

“dated and of dubious value”

The research often referenced about Colorado districts and schools on a 4-day schedule is neither recent (data gathered are from 2011, or earlier) nor reassuring.

The four studies of Colorado schools on a four-day schedule were published in 2011 (two reports), 2015, and 2016. NOTE: Student achievement and growth data in these reports are at least ten years old, and come from a state assessment we stopped using in 2014.  Study #1) CSAP results in 2000-2010; #2) CSAP results in 2008; and #4) CSAP results in 2010 and 2011 (proficiency and growth).

Based on my review, I do not see how anyone can make the case, in 2021, that we have evidence that the four-day school week is proving beneficial to student achievement in Colorado.

 

AV # 256 – February 2023

The 4-Day School Weak – Who Believes One Day Less is More?

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.



Addendum C – How many days in the school year? – a comparison

State*

# of days

Colorado**

Kansas             Gr. K-11 – 186/ Gr. 12 - 181

4-day week districts

Illinois

185

10 examples – Fewer than 150 days

North Carolina

185

 

Alabama

180

Otis RE-3 - 148

Alaska

180

Las Animas - 148

Arizona

180

Garfield 16 – 148 K-11/ 144 Seniors

California

180

Centennial RE1 - 147

Connecticut

180

Hanover 28 - 146

District of Columbia

180

West Grand 1-JT - 145

Florida

180

Ellicott 22- 144

Georgia

180

Burlington RE-6J – 144 MS-HS/ 142 Elem.

Hawaii

180

Moffat County - 143

Indiana

180

La Junta – 143 Jr-Sr High/ 141 Interm-Primary

Iowa

180

 

Maine

180

** From my collection of districts’ calendars on their website. Any errors are mine.

Most from 2024-25; some from 2023-34.

Maryland

180

Massachusetts

180

Michigan

180

 

Mississippi

180

 

Nevada

180

 

New Hampshire

180

 

New Jersey

180

 

New York

180

 

Oklahoma

180

 

Pennsylvania

180

 

Rhode Island

180

 

South Carolina

180

 

Tennessee

180

 

Utah

180

 

Virginia

180

 

Washington       Gr. 1-12: 180 days/K- 180 half-days

NOTE 

In most of the other 13 states the number of days is either not specified in state policy or is set by the local school board.

West Virginia

180

Louisiana

177

Vermont

175

Wyoming

175

Kentucky

170

 

Minnesota          Gr. 1-11 – 165/ all-day K – 850 hrs.

 

Colorado

160

 

*From Education Commission of the State- https://reports.ecs.org/comparisons/instructional-time-policies-2023-02

 

Endnotes


[iii] “CDE 2023 Final District Ratings (XLS)- December 13, 2023,” Colorado Department of Education, https://www.cde.state.co.us/schoolview/datafiles

[iv] “… the evidence suggests that the four-day school week is not detrimental for achievement per se, but that four-day school weeks implemented in districts with low overall time in school are likely to have meaningful negative consequences for student academic progress. Thus, maintaining adequate overall time in school should be a key consideration for school districts thinking about adopting this type of alternative school schedule.”

“Only a matter of time? The role of time in school on four-day school week achievement impacts,” Paul N. Thompson, Jason Ward, Economics of Education Review, Volume 86, February 2022. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272775721001138?via%3Dihub

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