Forget the kids' dropout rate, what about the teachers?

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/are_violent_video_games

While watching the clip at the above link, think about how curricula are written. Are they teaching children skills that are universal? Skills that are specific to the world as it exists today? Skills that we anticipate will be in demand in the future? Skill that are already antiquated?

Also think about the classroom to real world connection. We are asked to train students to answer questions on a narrow curricula based on a narrow number of pre-approved question stems. Will children be able to apply those skills in a infinite permutation of scenarios or is their mastery of standards confined to the multiple choice questions and BCRs based on a finite number of question stems? Will children know how to kill a zombie using a fragmentation grenade or just press buttons?

---And just for fun:---

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/in_the_know_are_our_children

Another school district has cut its school week to four days:

http://www.buffalonews.com/260/story/579585.html
http://www.svherald.com/

I'm not sure of my opinion on this. I think it might be really good for high school children. It will give them more time off to pursue outside interests/jobs/sleep. I'm not convinced that younger children can realistically handle the longer hours on those four days.

This isn't even taking into account the effects it will have on families/day care and extracurricular activities, especially sports teams.

Most of the Utah state government has been put on the four day work-week, and the results have been mixed/positive according to an NPR interview I listened to with Governor John Huntsman. Sick das are down (no one calls in sick when a three day weekend is on the way), but savings in energy consumption have not met predictions. This will be very different for schools, I presume, that operate their own bus systems, because it will eliminate at least two trips every day.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100377326

DCPS would never see savings in energy consumption anyway because we always leave the lights, computers, AC, and furnace on with the windows open over the weekend.

Deena (and everyone else),

I know that I as an adult get way more done when I work on a four day/forty hour schedule, but do you think kids can sustain that-- especially young ones? Will teachers really be able to instruct for ten hours, or will we start filling up the extra time with busy work or fun "empty calorie" sort of activities, like crosswords and such?

On the flip side, if we had really strong curricular support, we might be able to fit in some really sweet extension activities, and give much more depth to our subject matter through experimentation and exploration-- especially in Science and the Social Studies.

I'm too much of a dilettante to find any research on this to put up, but it seems like we'll be able to learn a lot from these schools experimenting with this. I hope they've got some researchers watching closely.

-Chris

Apparently, I not only love the sound of my own voice, but of my own keyboard as well.....

So I couldn't help doing a little research:

http://www.ncsl.org/programs/educ/4DaySchWeek.htm

There is a review of state legislation regarding four day weeks from the National Conference of State Legislatures. I'm not familiar with this group, but according to their wikipedia article, they seem to be a legit non-ideological technocratic group-- unlike ALEC. I'm cutting and pasting their overview on the subject:

OVERVIEW:
With strapped state budgets and alluring promises of significant reductions in overhead and transportation costs, the four-day school week has been an increasingly attractive option for legislators seeking to cut education costs. According to the National School Boards Association (NSBA), a handful of states, with mostly rural school districts, are experimenting with altering their school calendar. For small, remote school districts, instituting a four-day school week may provide considerable savings by reducing transportation, heating, and other overhead costs. Supporters of the shortened week also boast of improved morale and increased attendance (by both students and teachers), open Fridays for sporting events and doctor appointments, and more time to spend with loved ones. Opponents of the four-day school week cite problems with long, exhausting class days and finding day care for children whose parents work outside the home. Additionally, educational experts worry that increased time outside of the classroom could lead to a digression in learned concepts while also making it more difficult to offer elective classes. However, the jury is still out, as there is a lack of comprehensive studies.

They also have some sample legislation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_conference_of_state_legislatures
http://www.ncsl.org/index.htm#
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALEC
http://www.nwrel.org/request/feb97/article4.html