States and school districts nationwide are moving to lengthen the day at struggling schools, spurred by grim test results suggesting that more than 10,000 schools are likely to be declared failing under federal law next year.
This article explores the idea of lengthening children’s school days in order to better their education. In the article it talks about many different states that are taking part in this idea of starting to lengthen students schools days and school years in order to help students learn more and there for schools will be able to help their children to pass the states standardized tests and be seen as better schools.
The article states that . . . Still others question the equity of moving toward a system where students at low-performing, often urban, schools get more teaching than students at other schools.
I really think that this is a good idea. Giving students more time to learn seems like a very good idea to me. I think that at first the students, parents, and teachers in the area might take a while to adjust to the new schedule, but things will get easier and eventually better for the group. Students will learn more and get more out of school, teachers will be praised for their students getting better scores on tests and learning more and parents will actually be able to be home for their students when they get home from work and school. Students being able to spend more time on their studies seems like a really good idea to me. The more time and practice you get or give to anything the better you are going to be at it. Schools is just the same if the teachers spend more time teaching their children than it seems that their students would start to learn more and do better all around in school. I think that if communities come together and work on getting this longer school day thing happening in their area that there students will be learning more and in turn having better lives. All in all this whole Idea that is sweeping the nation is really a great thing. Students seem to be achieving more and things are working better all around. Anything to give students a better education is good in my mind.
Whole article . . .Failing Schools See a Solution in Longer Day
canknight Said:
on March 30, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Although you make good points that follow the motto “practice makes perfect” or the more you do something the better you get at it, I would have to say that lengthening might not be the solution. I do not have numbers to back up this assumption, but I think that if the school day is lengthened than students will lose out in other important areas of their lives. What about students who have to work to help their family? Will they find time for this anymore? Or what about students that participate in extra-curricular activities? They will have an increasingly difficult time balancing school, sports or band, family, homework, and possibly work.
It is important for us to keep in mind that these are not adults, they are stilling learning and developing. They already devote nearly seven hours a day to the school, roughly one third of their day. I know that the “real world”, or life after grade school often is more hectic, but that is why it is set up for adults. They have the mentally ability to handle it.
There must be other solutions that the educational system and schools can come up with. They need to look at how much work time is actually being used, and how much is being wasted. Let’s face it, we all can remember times nearly everyday when educational time was wasted. I think we need to try to eliminate some of this downtime before we add more time to the day.
Grade school is not only about the education in the classroom. During this time in students lives it is important that they learn more than just pencil and book work. They need to be able to develop social skills, physical wellness, strong family bonds, and relationships that will carry them through life. Students need time away from the four walls of a classroom and cutting down on that might help benefit standardized test scores, but will it really improve the person?
myotts Said:
on April 5, 2007 at 12:54 am
When I first read this post on the benefits of lengthening schools days and years, I was torn. I believe that any new, innovative ideas to improve education and the learning process should be tried, if only temporarily. Lengthening the school day would allow more material to be taught and perhaps increase the amount of ’stuff’ that children learned. However, in the long run I think that the negative aspects outweigh the positive ones. For starters, students are usually exhausted at the end of the day. I remember how tired I’d be at the end of a day in high school, going from 7:25 in the morning until 2:40 in the afternoon. That is a long day for a teenager, especially if he/she has extracurricular activities or a job after school. If school days get lengthened, students will become cranky and non-responsive two or three days into the week. They need time to rest their brains and their bodies and to do other things. Keep in mind that primary and secondary students are still children. There is only so much sitting in a desk and taking notes that they can handle. In addition, I do not believe that learning more information is the magic solution to passing standardized tests. Teachers need to focus more on their teaching methods and their interactions with students – perhaps this will help students. If students can’t retain the information now, adding an hour onto their school day isn’t going to help them retain it any better.
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matt4386 Said:
on April 11, 2007 at 3:40 am
As with the other comments, I am somewhat torn. Although I believe that students could use a longer day to help continue the learning process, I don’t understand why the teachers just can’t make the regular class time more productive. Of course, this is easier said than done and the teachers may be very efficient (I’m not trying to complain about the teachers) but personally, I can see students reacting negatively to longer days and not being able to participate in other activities such as sports or clubs due to time issues. If parents and teachers are concerned about a child’s learning progress, I believe there needs to be a good amount of communication between parents and teachers. The teacher can explain to the parents that their particular child should have time set aside each day after school to work on school work and practice the skills they have learned in school. This way, not only is the child practicing and continuing the learning process, but the parent(s)/family is involved in the work the child is doing, creating a better family atmosphere. Of course, some family structures are not perfect and not all parents have time to sit down due to work or multiple children, but communication with their children is essential to the future success of their child, so they should strive to make time.
That's What Matt Said. . . « What has two thumbs and is ready to blog? This guy! Said:
on April 11, 2007 at 4:43 am
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