School closed for the summer is a thing of the past along with a regular school day of 7 hours. That is – if it is up to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. He states “School in countries that are beating us are going to school 25-30 days more than us.”
In further researching the topic, data from OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) and the World Data on Education say that students in India and China are not required to spend more time in school than students in the U.S.
Each of our states has it’s own requirements for time spent in school, which makes comparing our students to other countries a difficult task. In general, U.S. schools require about 175 to 180 days of school per year averaging to around 900/1,000 hours of time for instruction. Countries such as India and China vary the instructional time between grade levels, which average out to about the same as U.S. students.
Finland scores near the top on every international assessment and require fewer hours than any state in the U.S. In fact, there is not evidence that students in other countries are required to get more instruction than our U.S. students. It is possible that schools in other countries are providing more instructional time through offering night classes, Saturday classes, and tutoring.
In providing additional time, as Secretary of Education Arne Duncan suggests can be effective in improving student outcomes if that time is used wisely.
If schools are increasing instructional time, are they covering more subjects, more reading and math, offering arts and sciences? And how are schools paying for the additional time?
I agree that the American School calendar is antiquated. Educators need to be creative and devise methods for more and better instruction. We need to keep our schools open longer. Schools should not sit idle after classes are over, on weekends, or during holidays and summer months. It seems that politicians have the answers but not the solution to providing more money for more efficient operation of our buildings. Professional development is needed for data driven instruction, accountability, and incorporating the latest researched programs and methodology.
The advantages of a longer school year are clear. What’s unclear is exactly how to accomplish it. There are three main factions: parents have to want it, teachers have to agree to longer hours, and it must be funded. Foremost, we must invest in our students to keep up and stay with the rest of the world. Let’s stop worrying about other countries and keep our children’s educational needs the focus.
