Obama To Possibly Lengthen School Time(WORKING TABS VERSION)

[Indigo Jeans]

So, as some of you may or may not know, Obama is thinking of lengthening the school year. He plans to achieve this by

• Lengthening school hours

or

• Shortening summer break

"Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas. 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. We can no longer afford an academic calendar designed when America was a nation of farmers who needed their children at home plowing the land at the end of each day. That calendar may have once made sense, but today, it puts us at a competitive disadvantage. Our children spend over a month less in school than children in South Korea. That is no way to prepare them for a 21st century economy.

Source: The Partisan
Source: EduInReview.com

The point has been duly noted.

President Barack Obama says kids today spend too little time in the classroom, something he would like to change.

Source: ReporterNews.com


Right now, it seems, Obama wants to lngthen school time so that kids of today can have a chance in tommorow's job market, and keep the U.S.'s economy up and running. This looks like Obama is making it almost a competition with Eastern countries.

School kids in Asian countries like Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan spend less time in school each day than American children, but these Asian students constantly do better on math and science tests than American kids.

Source: The Partisan

Here is a table showing the length of the school year for different countries in days, courtesy of MSN Encarta:

As you can see, Japan has the most school days in a year, with 243. The US has 180 days in its instructional year.

 

[Indigo Jeans]

But is the amount of school days really all that accounts for the high test scoring of countries like Taiwan and Japan? Maybe not. Eastern countries may have more longer school years, but the school days are generally much shorter or less intense than those here in the U.S.

[quote="Jenny" at YahooAnswers]Hey, I'm an exchange student now here in Japan.

A lot of students take the train, walk or bike to school. I walk, take the train, and then take a bus!

School starts about an hour later here than it did for me in America, it starts at about 8:30. School ends at about 3:30, but the earliest I leave is 4:00 because of cleaning duties plus a short homeroom after school.(1)

I have 7 classes a day, 4 before lunch, 3 after. They're about 45 minutes long.(2) Sometimes we have Saturday school, I think two or three Saturdays a month(3), but they're shorter than regular school days.
Electives usually include music, calligraphy, and art. And gym is pretty much what you'd do in your country.
Once a day I take a period for Japanese tutoring (conversation, kanji, grammar). Other than that I attend the classes but don't always do much.

The students are kind, sometimes shy, sometimes...very loud. When I first walked into the classroom I was immediately greeted with shouting. If you're outgoing, they'll want to be friends. Never be shy!

I'll be glad answer any more questions as I have a lot more answers. My email is in my profile.
Source(s):
Rotary Exchange student[/quote]
Source: YahooAnswers.com


Compare those to these statistics for my school schedule:
(1)I wake up at 5:30, ride the bus for an hour, and school is from 7:00-3:00
(2)I have four classes a day, which are each 1 hour 45 minutes long
(3)From what I have heard, Saturday school is every Saturday of a month, that is, 3-4 Saturdays


Another downside to a longer school day is stress. Studies have shown that stress can make students perform badly on tests.

Temporary factors, such as fatigue or stress, can affect test scores on one occasion but not another (i.e., temporal instability).

Source: Becoming a Behavioral Science Researcher


But, as you can see, it says that stress can cause temporal instability, meaning that stress will not always affect test scores. In fact, here is a list of pros to year-round school:

• Children retain information better, there is no long period of time between one year ending and another school year starting
  
  The 15 day period of time can be used for extra curricular activities that enhance what the child is learning in school and therefore reinforce what the child learns
  
  Kids don't get bored with a long summer break and they like having breaks to look forward to every few weeks
  
  Other countries use this system successfully
  
  With staggering the scheduling, school buildings can be used for more students which is more economical and efficient

And here is a list of cons from the same source:

• Families with children on different scheduling tracks have a difficult time
  
  Certain school clubs and groups like sports, cheerleading, band, theatre, could have difficulty in planning and practicing when there are frequent breaks
  
  Schools have to be equipped for year round weather to accommodate year round schooling
  
  Community programs and private industries that provide youth camps and such activities suffer but now entirely, it just has to be scheduled right. However, if you have schools in the district on staggered schedules it is hard to get an influx in kids for these programs
  
  Teachers may spend more time reviewing information than with a traditional year because even in two weeks, kids tend to forget. This may not be entirely negative as it helps students keep reviewing information and therefore, keeping it fresh in their minds

And yet from the same source, a neutral standing:

Studies regarding both schedules have been inconclusive as to which is better for students.

Source: EducationBug.org

 

[Indigo Jeans]

Summary
A quick summary of pros and cons to more school time.

Pros:
-Children retain information more effeciently, as there is less of an interval and a chance to forget
-The 15 day break intervals can be used for extracurricular activities to benefit the children's mental growth
-There is less idle time with 15 day break intervals than with two month summer vacation, and children like looking forward to the 15 day breaks
-Many other countries, namely in the Eastern Hemisphere, have used thi system effectively
-By staggering scheduling, school buildings can be used for more children, which is very economical
-Children may have a better chance in tommorow's job competition

Cons:
-Families with differing Child-Parent schedules have a difficult time making time work
-Certain school clubs could have difficulty planning schedules for practice and the like with the 15 day break intervals
-Schools have to be ready for year-round weather difficulties
-Community programs, youth camps, and the like now suffer greatly from year round school
-Teachers may spend more time reviewing information than with a traditional year because even in two weeks, kids tend to forget
-Stress of long school hours can cause poorer test results

-

In my opinion, there is no need for longer school hours. A shorter school day with a longer school year could work, but there is no entire need for that. Many children here in the U.S. already do very well academically, and get perfect Finals scores, me included. If more school time were put into effect, this could have a negative effect, causing children to lose interest in school and possibly perform poorly in school. Right now, we have a perfect balance in between school hours and a school year, where there are just enough hours in the instructional day to keep students alert and interested in school.


--

So, is Obama making a good decision thinking over the possibility of more school time? Or is this a bad call that will ultimately have negative or no effects on students nationwide? Happy debating.

 

[Dorsey]

Interesting topic. Of course Obama is making a good decision in regard to thinking over this possibility, but to be quite honest I have mixed feelings over the issue. It's apparent that there's a correlation between more school days and intelligence/technological developments/advancements in society. However, I do _not_ think that the length of school days is the primary concern in this matter. There are other parts of America's educational system that should be a higher priority for reformation than the length of school days. So in short, yes it's a good idea to consider but it's not the only thing to consider, nor is it the most important thing to consider concerning our nation's educational system.

As to whether it will affect our country in a positive or negative way--the answer is both. Of course it would affect some in a negative way and some in a positive way. I don't think that's the proper way to look at it. I think Obama is attempting to look at the bigger picture as other countries have with this. However, being that America is behind scholastically in comparison to other countries the correlation made with improving education through lengthening school days is difficult to make here; lengthened school days in order to receive more of a sub-par education doesn't accomplish much in comparison to better educational systems. I'm not saying the education here is poor though, although it definitely was at my school.

Ultimately, our country should not do this until educational standards are raised, otherwise the full intent of this(improving education) will not be met.

 

[Jam Stunna]

My problem with this isn't because I don't think that more time in school is good. My problem is that this is not a federal issue. States have traditionally taken care of education, so leave it there (and yes, that's also my primary gripe with NCLB).

 

[Indigo Jeans]

Dorsey, that's how I feel too. Lengthening school time won't help if the teachers aren't willing to teach(I've run into plenty of those) and students aren't willing to learn(90% of them).

And of course, Jam Stunna has a point. School time has always been left to the state's mayor and his group. But, if the states aren't willing to cooporate as a whole, then how will we get anything accomplished. IMO, Obama should use his presidential power to an extent to regulate school time. He should regulate it, but not dictate it. The problem here is that unless the majority of the States decide to try to fix the educational system, the United States will keep lagging behind scholastically.

 

[xLeafybug =D]

I'm not completely sure on how I feel about this.

I was raised in a household where you either did something right, or you didn't do it at all. I was taught all my life that success was attained by hard work and determination. Most kids these days don't seem to completely understand that. I don't truly believe that the time that kids spend in school that's the problem. Most kids these days just don't work hard enough.

 

[CStick]

I think what sets the top-rated educational systems apart is more related to their standards held for education than it is how long their school day is or how many days they are in school for. They take education very seriously and with strict discipline in other countries when compared to here in the US. Lengthening the school year won't do anything to change that.

 

[Indigo Jeans]

That's very true. But it all shouldn't have to fall on the teachers. The students need to care about their education so that we as a nation can stand formidably in the world.

 

[Sucumbio]

That's very true. But it all shouldn't have to fall on the teachers. The students need to care about their education so that we as a nation can stand formidably in the world.

I went to a school with over 1000 people in it *(grade 9-12) and maybe 10 percent of them actually cared about their education.

The rest only cared about the social aspect of school, and/or not getting in trouble w/their parents for bringing home bad report cards (which was normally anything lower than C average, especially the athletes).

Making students care about learning is difficult at best, impossible at worst.

I'd also like to point out that block scheduling has replaced period scheduling in many school districts, mine included. This has neither helped nor hindered the overall achievements of the students, there are still 10% who do exceedingly well, 80% average and another 10% bordering on failure (remedial).

Lengthening the school year will not necessarily do anything to provide better education, nor would lengthening the school day.

It would however provide a stronger public service which the administration assumes will lead to less juvenile delinquency.

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." -source

What they seem to fail to realize is that by forcing students to endure more school, they run a greater risk of students burning out. As has been pointed out, other country's schooling may indeed be longer, but it's not our schools they're spending those days in, but theirs.