Exploring the Four-Day School Week: What Every

Administrator Should Know About the Facts!

COSA Conference, BREAKOUT SESSION ROUND IJune 24, 2010Seaside, Oregon

Today’s Presentation will consist of . . .

What it is.

Why Oakridge did it.

Available research with objective exploration

Board and Community involvement Process

Comparison of seat time and work time

Positive and Negative Attributes

Strategies to alleviate negative attributes

What the five day school week isn’t . .

What is it?

Some Districts have gone to a Tuesday - Friday

If there is a Holiday on Monday go to Tuesday - Friday

Was originally started in mid ‘70s to save money and fuel during the energy crisis.

Usually only implemented in small districts

Been a dramatic increase in districts implementing in Oregon over the past 15 years.

Four days of school each week.

Typically Monday through Thursday

Why did the Oakridge School District go to the Four-Day School week?

“Exceptional” Elementary School

Looked for something to push us over the plateau

Corbett School District: April, 2008

Spoke with Board Members about the possibilities.

Have been successful on the five day week

“Outstanding” ranking of Oakridge High – Leader in OUS statistics with 90% of graduating students attending college. Less than a 1% dropout rate.

Increased teacher vitality. When I become a teacher . . .

Research and Data

Beesley and Anderson(2007); Duur (2003); Kenworthy (n.d.); Kingsbury(2008); Parker(1998); Richard (2002).

Beesley and Anderson’s Meta-analysis

Research was then combined with community forums to exam the possibilities for the Oakridge School District.

Contacted every school district in Oregon that was on the Four-Day School week.

OSLIS Search for research

Meetings Regarding the Positive and Negative Attributes of the Four Day School Week

Meetings for OJH and OHS Staff (4)

Meetings for OES Staff (2)

Evening Meetings for District Parents (4)

Evening Meeting for Public Served by OSD (1)

Evening Meeting for OSD Students (2)

Meeting for OSD Bus Drivers and Cooks (3)

August 13, 2008 Board Work Session

Board Meetings (6)

Superintendents committee on the Four-Day School week

Negatives

Worries about child care for elementary school children on Fridays

Perception that long days for OES students will cause fatigue

Decrease in hours for some classified staff

Students who are absent miss more instruction

Difficulty in community and parent reaction to plan

Perceived lessening of instructional hours

Concerns that SFA (Reading Program) will not work on a four day week.

Concerns that students will not have food when school is out on the fifth day.

Bus routes would have to be adjusted to minimize travel impact for High Prairie.

Bus driver recovery time needs to be addressed.

Positive

Student attendance increases

Teacher absences decrease

Student academic progress improved, or remained the same

Custodian use of Fridays for tasks typically put off until summer

Decreased bus maintenance

Employee morale boosted; Teacher turnover declines

Decline in student discipline

Increased parental involvement in schools

Teachers note the more effective use of class time

Students have been noted by researchers to have increased engagement as compared to 5 day week

90% of communities that adopt are very happy with the four-day week after implementation, despite reservations prior to implementation

Building an Airplane

Positive

Next year there will be six districts in the Mountain View League that will be less than five days, allowing for the movement of games typically played on Thursdays to be moved to Fridays.

Could share staff and resources between OHS/OJH and OES if the rotating schedule was no longer in effect

Bus drivers and cooks would be offered all extra duty supervision before others to make up time lost.

Longer weekends that provide for more family interactions/mini-vacations

Survey Results of Residents of the Winston-Dillard School District, Oakland School District, and Days Creek School District

November 10, 2008“Do you have children currently in the school District?”

Yes No GrandparentsWinston-Dillard 14 5Oakland 12 9Days Creek 9 5 2 “On a scale of 1-5, with five being the highest what would you rate the four day school week?” (no = 1, yes = 5)

1 2 3 4 5 Average Conglomerate AverageWinston-Dillard0 0 2 6 12 4.5 4.56Oakland 0 1 1 3 15 4.6Days Creek 0 0 1 4 9 4.57 “On a scale of 1-5, with one being the lowest, do you consider fatigue an issue for children?” (no = 1, yes = 5)

1 2 3 4 5 Average Conglomerate AverageWinston-Dillard11 5 3 0 1 1.75 1.72Oakland 11 7 1 0 1 1.65Days Creek 6 6 1 1 0 1.38“On a scale of 1-5, how difficult is it to obtain child care on the day off?” (no = 1, yes = 5)

1 2 3 4 5 Average Conglomerate AverageWinston-Dillard19 2 0 0 0 1.09 1.27Oakland 14 5 0 1 0 1.4Days Creek 11 2 1 0 0 1.38 “On a scale of 1-5, has the four day school week impacted student activities and athletics?” (no = 1, yes = 5)

1 2 3 4 5 Average Conglomerate AverageWinston-Dillard16 3 1 0 1 1.42 1.69Oakland 15 2 1 2 0 1.5Days Creek 12 1 0 0 1 2.35

5 Day Week Teacher Work Hours

Per School Year (8:00 – 3:45)

191 Days

X 7.25 Hours

= 1384.75 Hours

*Does not include lunch

191 Days includes: 172 instructional days6 Paid Holidays4 Grading Days3 Curriculum Days4 In-Service Days (2 = .5 Days)2.5 Work days (5 .5 Days)1 Flex Day

Four Day School Week Teacher Work Hours Per

Year (7:30 – 4:00)153

Instructional Days

+20 Non-

InstructionalDays

=173 Work Days Per

Year

= 83,040 Minute

s

= 1384 Work Hours

Per Year 173 Work Days includes:

153 instructional days6 Paid Holidays4 Grading Days3 Curriculum Days4 In-Service Days (2 = .5 Days)2 Work days (4 .5 Days)1 Flex Day

5 Day Total Instructional Hours at OHS and OJH (8:20 –

3:15)

172 Days

X 415 minute

s

-25 min

(passing periods)

ODE Required Instructional Time:OHS: 990 hours per yearOJH: 900 hours per year

30 min(lunch)

- =61,920 minute

s

=1032 Inst.

HoursODE Maximum Seat time per dayOHS, 9 – 12: 7 hours per day

Four Day School Week Total Instructional Hours at OHS and

OJH (7:55 – 3:45)

153 Days

X 470 minute

s

-35 min

(passing periods)

ODE Required Instructional Time:OHS: 990 hours per yearOJH: 900 hours per year

30 min(lunch)

- =61,965 minute

s

=1032 Inst.

HoursODE Maximum Seat time per dayOHS, 9 – 12: 7 hours per day

Four Day School Week Total Instructional Hours at OES

(8:00 – 3:00)

153 Days

X 420 minute

s

-

ODE Required Instructional Time:OES 4 – 8: 900 HoursOES 1 – 3: 810 HoursOES K: 405 Hours

30 min(lunch)

=360

Minutes

= 918 Inst. Hours

ODE Maximum Seat time per dayOES 4-8: 6.5 Hours per DayOES K -3: 6 Hours per Day

-30 min

(recess)

Traditional vs. 4 Day WeeksTeacher Work

Five Day School Week

Paid Days: 191Hours Per Day: 7.25Instructional Days: 172Non-Instructional Days: 20Start time: 8:00 End time: 3:45Work Hours per year: 1384.75HS Inst. Hours/year: 1032OES Inst. Hour/year 918Fridays Worked: 35Fridays w/ Students: 30

Four Day School Week

Paid Days: 173Hours Per Day: 8.0Instructional Days: 153Non-Instructional Days: 20Start time: 7:30 End time: 4:00Work Hours per year: 1384HS Inst. Hours/year: 1032OES Inst. Hours/year 918Fridays Worked: 13Fridays w/ Students: 6

Negative Attribute Alleviation:Hungry Students on the Weekends

School District partnered with local ministerial society to provide “snack pacs” of nutritious food for the weekend. Cereal was provided through “Food for Lane County”

This program has increased community involvement.

Negative Attribute Alleviation:No one will be able to find

babysitters on Fridays

Research has shown this to be more of a perceived than actual negative attribute.

Most families were able to find family members to babysit the OES students.

The District provided Red Cross Child Care classes for any interested high school students. A list of certified babysitters was compiled, and any parent that needed childcare would be submitted to the Certified Childcare students.Not a single request came in from parents that did not have child care.

.5 days cut out of the schedule – easier to find child care for every Friday than all the .5 days (We will discuss that in more detail later!)

Negative Attribute Alleviation:Days too long for Young Elementary

Students

Research has shown this to be more of a perceived than actual negative attribute.

Oakridge did not make any specific adaptations to address this attribute.

District has not received any complaints of concerns of the perceived negative attribute.

Aligned with OSD focus on differentiation of instruction – cut out lecture.

Negative Attribute Alleviation:Bus Drivers and Cooks would be

losing income.

Perhaps the most significant hurdle to union acceptance.

Oakridge made all extra curricular activity supervision (games; dances; concerts) available to these specific employees first.

Some of these employees (bus drivers; cooks) actually saw an increase in salary while others did not because they did not sign up for this work.

Negative Attribute Alleviation:Increased Crime

Research has shown this to be more of a perceived than actual negative attribute.

SRO was freed up to provide community patrol.

21st Century School Grant.

Negative Attribute Alleviation:Lessening of Instructional Time

Nothing could be further from the truth!

Earlier tables showed proposed schedule – slight differences in minutes and we increased instruction by over 30 hours at OHS and 20 hours at OES

Not only are there more seat hours, there is higher engagement of students

Negative Attribute Alleviation:Difficulty in Community and Parent

ReactionInvolvement and review

Opportunity to really involve the community in the decision making process

Not a forgone conclusion – every community is different.

Herding Cats

Do not mandate, simply explore. Question every aspect.

Administrator support; Board support

Trial basis with objective data analysis

Negative Attribute Alleviation:Student Athletes will not have time

for homework

Research has shown this to be more of a perceived than actual negative attribute.

Coaches have study tables.

Project work is done on weekends.

Lunch time study hall set up.

Negative Attribute Alleviation:SFA will be harmed

Assigned part of a classified employees time as “SFA Coordinator”

Make all teachers SFA teachers, decreasing class sizes, and focus on SBE

What a five day school week isn’t . . .

A five day school week is not a five day school week.

Everyone on a five day week please stand.

Rural Gifted Students: Victims of Public Education

3.6 million per grade; 40% of all districts; 30% of all kids

2.5% are TAG; 378,000 students; $5,000:$1; all funding $21,000:$1

More work, not different work; inadequate services

Hurts our best and brightest kids

Hurts society

Simple cost neutral solution

victimsofeducation.com

Final Thoughts on Four Day

Community must support it – consider a trial basis

Board must support it

Board support not enough – admin must support!

Communication to parents: Structured sleep hours

Powerpoint presentation available at victimsofeducation.com