District Moves the 4-day School Week Forward
Platte Canyon School District continues to move the 4-day school week discussion forward despite new and current data showing negative impacts on student academic growth and achievement. A recent research brief published by RAND Corporation (10/2021) has provided new information regarding academic achievement and growth see the study here .
The study reveals that common pro 4-day beliefs such as fiscal savings, reduction in student absences and teacher retention/recruitment are more fiction than fact. Another pro 4-day belief is that achievement and growth are not impacted, the study provides this information: "The weight of evidence indicated that student achievement improved in 4dsw districts, but the improvement was slower than it would have been if the same schools had maintained a 5dsw. Moreover, these effects of the 4dsw on student achievement would accumulate over time. For example, by eight years after adoption, the 4dsw student achievement in English language arts was between 0.145 and 0.229 standard deviations lower than student achievement in similar 5dsw districts, and 4dsw achievement in math was between 0.144 and 0.189 standard deviations lower. The sizes of these differences are considered meaningful in the educational context and are larger than the average effect sizes of most educational interventions." An article from EdWeek has this to say about impacts on student growth: "Around three years after the switch, student growth in the four-day districts began to fall short compared to that in similarly situated five-day districts. The finding grew more pronounced with time and the slowdown in achievement was more dramatic in math than in reading. In all, the declines were on the order of between 0.05 to 0.15 of a standard deviation lower after three years, and around 0.2 of a standard deviation after eight years." (article linked below)
The district will be conducting a work session on October 24, 6 pm at Deer Creek Elementary School.
Can Platte Canyon School District and its students afford to experience a slowing in achievement or growth? See our performance framework here.
For more information and current studies on 4-day week vs. 5-day week:
Kommentarer