Longer School Year? Good thing or Bad?

CNN reported Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education, is studying programs that keep kids in school longer to boost their academic achievements. He states, "Where students have longer days, longer weeks, longer years -- that's making a difference.

Thirty percent of high school students drop out before graduation, and another 50 percent won't finish college, according to Education Sector, a nonprofit think tank. http://www.educationsector.org/ Secretary Duncan says, "We have to get dramatically better." More time in school is one of several ideas under consideration within his Education Department.

This idea doesn’t make Duncan very popular with students, or even some teachers and parents, but I wholeheartedly agree with the idea. The article states the “lazy days of summer may become a thing of the past...” In my opinion there haven’t been lazy days of summer for at least a generation of students. Kids are in so many activities, clubs and classes to keep them occupied while their parents are at work that many have longer, more scheduled days during the summer than they do during the school year.

ND has one of the lowest numbers of student contact days in the nation. We require our students to be in school for 173 days each year. The 2009 legislature acknowledged the research and recognized that this has put us at a disadvantage. In 2010-2011, ND school districts will be required to have 174 contact days, and in 2011-2012 it will increase to 175 days per year. http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/61-2009/bill-text/JARF1000.pdf
This is a step in the right direction, but we are still behind other states, not to mention the rest of the world. 34 states and the District of Columbia now require a minimum of 180 school days and only four states require fewer than 175 student contact days.

I actually support year-round schools. Speaking on behalf of two districts I know about, if Bismarck School District and Mandan School District were to move to a year-round calendar we would be able to combat two of our biggest problems; summer learning loss and space issues.

BPS saw a record high enrollment last year for its summer school sessions at all of its levels, elementary, middle and high school, and its expects the same this year. The sad thing is that the students who need the additional instructional time the most don’t often have parents who care to get them registered.

I believe the last month of school gets too crazy with the many final reports, final tests, final this, and final that. Important teaching time is consumed by “closing-down clerical tasks” that could be eliminated. Then we use more instructional time at the beginning of each year for "start-up clerical tasks” and review. It would be much better to promote students when they are ready to advance and not put an “End date” on learning. A school district in Colorado is experimenting with this idea. It will be interesting to see the results. http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0210/p01s01-ussc.html