Three Cheers for School! Building a Better School Day
7 inspiring ideas to deepen learning, engage students, close achievement gaps, and better prepare our kids for a 21st-century world.
As a preschooler in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn, 4-year-old Hannah has been splitting her time between day care and an early-childhood education center. Her dad, Jason Morales, drops her off in the morning before his shift as a contractor. And her mom, Erica Oquendo, who works at a local development corporation, picks her up after work. Sometimes Hannah stays with her aunt when both parents work late.
But now Hannah is starting pre-kindergarten—and her local public school doesn’t offer any after-hours care. Her mom worries about how Hannah will continue to be exposed to art and music. And she has more practical concerns: “What will I do with her at 2:20 in the afternoon?”
For lots of parents, Hannah’s story is painfully familiar. In many districts across the country, the school day reflects a century-old model built to serve the demands of an earlier age—not modern families. And it often doesn’t reflect our current understanding of how children learn best. But what if we could wipe the slate clean and give the school day and the classroom a much-needed update, paving the way for profound improvements? Here, as imagined by leading education researchers, teachers, and policy makers, are seven ideas for a 21st-century school day.
1. Begin the Day “Over Easy”—with Breakfast
At Ellis Elementary in Denver, teachers are reinventing homeroom as a morning meeting over eggs and toast. “When students eat a good, nutritious breakfast, they can hit the ground running,” said Mayor Michael Hancock during a visit to the school last year—yet a 2011 survey found that though 77 percent of young children eat breakfast every day, only 50 percent of middle schoolers and 36 percent of high schoolers get a regular morning meal. According to nutrition researcher Gail C. Rampersaud of the University of Florida, “breakfast consumption may improve cognitive function and school attendance,” and Ellis principal Khoa Nguyen notes that tardiness and missed school days have dropped off significantly since the program began. And he’s noticed other benefits. “Both the kids and teachers know that they will have a few minutes every morning where they can eat, chat about what’s happening that day, and not be rushed,” he says.
2. Emphasize Learning, Not Testing
As a result of government policies like No Child Left Behind—which requires schools to improve on students’ standardized test performance year over year—educators are overwhelmed with testing and test prep. And that has contributed to an increasingly dysfunctional public school system, says Diane Ravitch, Ph.D., research professor of education at New York University and author of the upcoming book Reign of Error. “Schools and
