Griffin, who also was board chairman for North Carolina’s Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, said increasing students’ time on task makes sense, but students need to learn how to be both critical and creative thinkers by spending time working in groups and with different types of people.
“Extending the school day is not the silver bullet. That concept, along with other strategies, will make sure that students are able to be competitive globally,” he said.
Other education experts think additional time spent in school will benefit learning.
Charles Ballinger, executive director emeritus of the National Association for Year-Round Education, said he knows critics of the idea say many schools need to do a better job with the school days they have now before the year is extended.
“But we think we need to correct what is wrong and continue to add the days at the same time,” Ballinger said. “If there is learning going on in a school, additional days should create additional learning.”
Ballinger noted that extending the school year is not a new idea.
“Extended-year schools have been in business since the 70s,” he said. “There are currently about 3,000 year-round schools in the nation, and there are probably about 300 extended-year schools.”
He said that if schools extend their school years by only 15 days, over the course of their 12 years of schooling students would have spent an extra year in school. The standard school year lasts about 180 days.
For longer school calendars to catch on more broadly, several hurdles would need to be overcome. For one thing, Ballinger admitted, cost would be an issue.
“The … cost involved in having more teaching days and personnel” could be a problem, he said.
Kay Brilliant, director of education policy and practice with the National Education Association (NEA), the nation’s largest teachers union, said that while she agrees increasing learning time maximizes student achievement, ED would need to fully fund whatever initiatives it proposes.
“NEA supports innovative proposals to increase learning time, such as through an extended school day, school week, or school year. Increasing learning time … helps ensure students access to a full and rich curriculum that includes art, music, physical education, and other subjects necessary for a well-rounded education,” she said.
But districts have to explore the options that best fit the needs of the students they serve, Brilliant said.
“Change must be purpose-driven and based on research that indicates that more time on particular tasks will improve student learning, and [it] should be appropriately funded. Any efforts to extend the school year [or] school day for students need to be made with the input and consent of school employees–including teachers and education support professionals–and [must] also protect educators’ collectively bargained rights,” she said.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Links:
National Association for Year-Round Education
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