Will longer school year help or hurt US students?
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Did your kids moan that winter break was way too short as you got them ready for the first day back in school? They might get their wish of more holiday time off under proposals catching on around the country to lengthen the school year.
But there's a catch: a much shorter summer vacation.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan, a chief proponent of the longer school year, says American students have fallen behind the world academically.
"Whether educators have more time to enrich instruction or students have more time to learn how to play an instrument and write computer code, adding meaningful in-school hours is a critical investment that better prepares children to be successful in the 21st
Graphics courtesy of the Center for Time & Learning. Read the full reporthere.
But there's a catch: a much shorter summer vacation.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan, a chief proponent of the longer school year, says American students have fallen behind the world academically.
"Whether educators have more time to enrich instruction or students have more time to learn how to play an instrument and write computer code, adding meaningful in-school hours is a critical investment that better prepares children to be successful in the 21st
Can Longer School Days Close the Achievement Gap?
Graphics courtesy of the Center for Time & Learning. Read the full reporthere.In an experiment aimed to raise achievement in America's public schools, 11 school districts across five states -- Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Tennessee -- will be extending their class time learning by at least 300 hours, starting in 2013. The three-year pilot program, which will serve more than 20,000 students in 40 schools, hopes to improve under-performing schools and make students more competitive internationally.
What is expanded time?
By a standard school calendar, students attend six-and-a-half hour school days for 180 days a year. Of the 1,000 schools already participating in expanded time schedules, students attend on average 7.8 hours of school a