Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way. Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe. "Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," the president said earlier this year. "Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom."
The president, who has a sixth-grader and a third-grader, wants schools to add time to classes, to stay open late and to let kids in on weekends so they have a safe place to go. "Our school calendar is based upon the agrarian economy and not too many of our kids are working the fields today," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
Fifth-grader Nakany Camara is of two minds. She likes the four-week summer program at her school, Brookhaven Elementary School in Rockville, Md. Nakany enjoys seeing her friends there and thinks summer school helped boost her grades from two Cs to the honor roll. But she doesn't want a longer school day. "I would walk straight out the door," she said.
Domonique Toombs felt the same way when she learned she would stay for an extra three hours each day in sixth grade at Boston's Clarence R. Edwards Middle School. "I was like, `Wow, are you serious?'" she said. "That's three more hours I won't be able to chill with my friends after school." Her school is part of a 3-year-old state initiative to add 300 hours of school time in nearly two dozen schools. Early results are positive. Even reluctant Domonique, who just started ninth grade, feels differently now. "I've learned a lot," she said.
Does Obama want every kid to do these things? School until dinnertime? Summer school? And what about the idea that kids today are overscheduled and need more time to play?
Obama and Duncan say kids in the United States need more school because kids in other nations have more school. "Young people in other countries are going to school 25, 30 percent longer than our students here," Duncan told the AP. "I want to just level the playing field."
While it is true that kids in many other countries have more school days, it's not true they all spend more time in school. Kids in the U.S. spend more hours in school (1,146 instructional hours per year) than do kids in the Asian countries that persistently outscore the U.S. on math and science tests — Singapore (903), Taiwan (1,050), Japan (1,005) and Hong Kong (1,013). That is despite the fact that Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong have longer school years (190 to 201 days) than does the U.S. (180 days).
Regardless, there is a strong case for adding time to the school day. Researcher Tom Loveless of the Brookings Institution looked at math scores in countries that added math instruction time. Scores rose significantly, especially in countries that added minutes to the day, rather than days to the year. "Ten minutes sounds trivial to a school day, but don't forget, these math periods in the U.S. average 45 minutes," Loveless said. "Percentage-wise, that's a pretty healthy increase."
In the U.S., there are many examples of gains when time is added to the school day. Charter schools are known for having longer school days or weeks or years. For example, kids in the KIPP network of 82 charter schools across the country go to school from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., more than three hours longer than the typical day. They go to school every other Saturday and for three weeks in the summer. KIPP eighth-grade classes exceed their school district averages on state tests.
In Massachusetts' expanded learning time initiative, early results indicate that kids in some schools do better on state tests than do kids at regular public schools. The extra time, which schools can add as hours or days, is for three things: core academics — kids struggling in English, for example, get an extra English class; more time for teachers; and enrichment time for kids. Regular public schools are adding time, too, though it is optional and not usually part of the regular school day. Their calendar is pretty much set in stone. Most states set the minimum number of school days at 180 days, though a few require 175 to 179 days.
Several schools are going year-round by shortening summer vacation and lengthening other breaks. Many schools are going beyond the traditional summer school model, in which schools give remedial help to kids who flunked or fell behind. Summer is a crucial time for kids, especially poorer kids, because poverty is linked to problems that interfere with learning, such as hunger and less involvement by their parents. That makes poor children almost totally dependent on their learning experience at school, said Karl Alexander, a sociology professor at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University, home of the National Center for Summer Learning.
Disadvantaged kids, on the whole, make no progress in the summer, Alexander said. Some studies suggest they actually fall back. Wealthier kids have parents who read to them, have strong language skills and go to great lengths to give them learning opportunities such as computers, summer camp, vacations, music lessons, or playing on sports teams. "If your parents are high school dropouts with low literacy levels and reading for pleasure is not hard-wired, it's hard to be a good role model for your children, even if you really want to be," Alexander said.
Extra time is not cheap. The Massachusetts program costs an extra $1,300 per student, or 12 percent to 15 percent more than regular per-student spending, said Jennifer Davis, a founder of the program. It received more than $17.5 million from the state Legislature last year.
The Montgomery County, Md., summer program, which includes Brookhaven, received $1.6 million in federal stimulus dollars to operate this year and next, but it runs for only 20 days. Aside from improving academic performance, Education Secretary Duncan has a vision of schools as the heart of the community. Duncan, who was Chicago's schools chief, grew up studying alongside poor kids on the city's South Side as part of the tutoring program his mother still runs. "Those hours from 3 o'clock to 7 o'clock are times of high anxiety for parents," Duncan said. "They want their children safe. Families are working one and two and three jobs now to make ends meet and to keep food on the table."
Neither the President or Mr. Duncan set a date for a formal plan to be presented to Congress though. However in an article by Cahty Arnst wrote on Jaunary 22nd of this year entitled, “BUSY KIDS, LONGER SCHOOL DAYS”, she speaks to the very issue of longer school days and kids being more busy than ever in our society. Arnst says, “Many of the high-achieving parents I know worry about whether they are enrolling their kids in too many activities, and a study I wrote about in October from the American Academy of Pediatricians didn’t help. It concluded that children today are overscheduled, stressed out and need more unstructured playtime. This week, an article in Time, The Overscheduled Child Myth, begs to differ. Writes author John Cloud:”
Last year a team led by Joseph Mahoney of the Yale psychology department wrote a paper for the journal Social Policy Report showing that most of the scheduling is beneficial: kids’ well-being tends to improve when they participate in extracurriculars. The paper notes that only 6% of adolescents spend more than 20 hours a week in organized activities. And there’s no consistent evidence that even these enthusiasts are worse off. Instead they report better well-being and less drug use. They even eat meals with their parents more often than those who don’t participate at all.
Along those lines, a new report from the think tank Education Sector calls on schools to make both the school day and the school year longer. Currently, the national standard calls for 180 6-1/2 hour days, settled on in the 1960s. But students in Europe and Asia attend school anywhere from 190 to 240 days a year, usually until 5. And they have higher test scores.
Several states are experimenting with longer days and more of them, particularly for low-performing schools. The Education Sector report notes something that could get lost in the rush to more school hours, however: Research reveals a complicated relationship between time and learning and suggests that improving the quality of instructional time is at least as important as increasing the quantity of time in school.
Arnst says, “I think kids could easily handle more time in school if they were fully engaged. My third grade daughter is in an afterschool program run by the PTA that goes until 6 pm, and she complains when she doesn’t get to go. Of course, she’s mostly playing with her friends, but there is time set aside for homework and the program offers many afterschool enrichment classes. Better there than at home watching TV or playing computer games—I think. Anyone out there have experience with longer school days? It would be interesting to hear your thoughts.”
Still not everyone is on board with Obama’s Plan to lengthy school days. Karen from Connecticut says, “I am truly concerned about and vehemently oppose any lengthening of the school day and/or year [Obama Details Plan for Overhauling Education, usnews.com]. As it is now, families are finding it hard to find the time that is necessary to fashion a family or life. Learning is a process that takes place everywhere. President Obama's plan, for me, sends mixed messages. On the one hand he advocates for education to be from "cradle to career," adding more time and more programs to the school day, yet he calls for more parental responsibility. As I see it, if children are away from their families more, his plan is abdicating the responsibility he calls for and that is so desperately needed. In my opinion, we could shorten the time, as other countries have successfully done. We also need to clearly define if we want schools to be places of learning or about "competing."”
However Cliff Rainey from Pennsylvania agrees with Obama and says, “Obama is correct [about] more years, a longer school year, and charter schools that can accept students from many states. I have taught science in public schools and private schools; chemistry for an inner-city Philadelphia public high school; computer science for a private inner-city school (7th, 8th grade); and chemistry for a suburban high school. Here are my thoughts. Add one more month and more parental involvement. The teacher unions are primarily interested in protecting the salaries and positions of senior teachers, not the new teachers who need the most support.
Jeff Parrack of Oregon says, “As a father I am troubled by the current education standards and results. In my hometown I watch too many kids drop out of school because of having a disability like dyslexia. Why? Because schools use a cookie-cutter type of set-up and if you do not fit, then you're out. Therefore, I support reforming our educational system. I support longer school days like year round schools but I am alarmed by the idea of having school six days a week. This would deny divorced moms/dads from seeing their kids. Most parenting plans allow non-custodial parents every other weekend visitation. Therefore, this would create a wedge furthering the divide between loving parents and their kids.
But perhaps Anne H. Lee from Massachusetts gives the best answer to Obama’s education idea. Lee says, “How can we add to something that is currently broken? It needs to be fixed first before we pile more on. Schools are worn thin with the resources they have now. How would they support longer days in their current state? He wants more students to go to college but how is that going to happen if students are failed by the system every day? Also, college costs are rising and the amount of debt acquired to obtain a college degree is often too much for someone to pay off. How does that help the economy? There are too many issues with our education system starting from kindergarten all the way through college. I wonder how many more students would go to college if they got the proper guidance in high school. Fix what we have now, and then maybe all of his ideas would make sense.
Then there are parents such as Mary of Pennsylvania who says, “I am the mother of three children and by the end of the school day and with the tons of homework, my children are burned out. Are my kids the only ones? I can't imagine that making the school day longer and the year longer help in any way. All I can see is that my kids would become even more lethargic toward going to school. When would they have time to have fun and be "kids"? Has Obama said exactly what kind of hours and school year these young ones would be facing? I just don't feel that kids are the problem. It is incompetent adults who have made America what it is today. Am I wrong in wanting my children to have free time to enjoy their childhood?
There are teachers who have a problem with longer school days as Steph of Arizona says, “I'm a teacher, and I work twelve hours a day as it is. I'm not the exception, either. Most of the teachers I know already work twelve hour days just to keep up with the lesson planning, grading and curriculum alignment, and many teachers take work home on weekends, after school and on breaks as well. I don't think many teachers are going to want to stretch those twelve hours into fourteen or longer. If the government wants longer school days they had better seriously consider improving teacher pay, because the hours teachers work now are already too long.
Then finally speaking a student from Nevada who wants to remain nameless says no to Obama’s idea. The Nevada students goes on to say, “I'm a eighth grade student in Nevada right now. My schedule is hectic, already giving me absolutely no personal time in weekdays to have to myself. At least two hours of homework every night and then I go to practice and have still do chores around the house. Giving more school would give me no time to even go to practice which would cut off all my psychical activity for the entire day. With more and more kids dropping out of school every year I'm pretty sure increased school hours and days would just add to this growing amount. The only way that I could even come close to supporting this idea is if you were never assigned homework by law and added on were around two hours of extra school. This way at least I don't have to take my school problems back home with me. Also after around sixth or seventh grade everything we learn in math class and a lot of other classes are pretty much useless. Almost all my algebra homework that I've had problems with, my mom, who is one of the best CPA's in the entire state, doesn't know how to do. This means almost all the stuff we learn in math after seventh or sixth grade is pretty much useless. I can see there are some jobs where you might need this information such as being a engineer of some sort. My point is that, why spend extra amounts of time in school for useless things that most people's career paths won't call for.”
Therefore it is clear that there are mixed emotions on curtailing summer vacation and extending school days as well as school years. However opposition should not stop us from at least exploring and discussing this option as we try to find ways to improve our youth not just now but for the future. It is clear that currently our youth need all the help they can get in terms of education and if extending school days and school years yields better results than let’s do it because the current way is not showing our youth are better off than the year before. Just look at the latest ACT and SAT scores which are a reflection of our students’ college readiness and according to these tests which are the tests that should matter to every state and our nation’s Department of Education, less than 25% of Americans high school graduates last year are ready for college. That is an abysmal number and that is why perhaps extended school days and school years can be aimed toward providing more study time for such tests and tutoring for students who are having a tough time learning during the regular school instructional times. We need to win this war our youth and perhaps curtailing summer vacation might keep our youth out of trouble during the summer while giving them an opportunity to compete globally academically.
We must save our youth and we must explore new solutions to the problems plaguing our youth in regards to education. Now is the time more than ever for us to change the future of youth. So let’s not allow fear to stop us from at least having a good dialogue about longer school days and school years that could improve our youth’s education future and give them a cutting edge to competing globally. It will tell all things in regards to this issue but at least we are discussing it and perhaps exploring it.
SAVE OUR YOUTH!
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