Schools in many states, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming, have implemented four day school weeks across an approximate total of 120 school districts. There are benefits and downfalls to a four day school week, but as the author of this comparison, I propose that a …show more content…
This time can be used to complete assignments, homework, and extracurricular activities throughout the course of the day. For example, a science teacher can accommodate a longer lab activity with the added time. Schools have also seen a decrease in absences, as the extra weekend day has provided for a time to accommodate dentist appointments and week-day activities aside from school.
The Colorado Department of Education has marked an increase in “advanced” scores on state testing. When the CSAP results were issued for the 2010-2011, the fifteen school districts at that time that used the four day school week saw higher rate of advanced reading scores on the test compared to schools using the five day school week system. The increased time for student-teacher collaboration allows for an increase in study and preparation time for assessments and state level tests.
In addition to an increase in productivity time per day, transportation and food service costs are reduced, and general utility costs relative to water, electricity, and internet are lower due to decreased traffic. Schools have been recognized for taking the four day school week approach in order to save money on these three