Q. Our school district is considering adding more than an hour to the school day. Parents can give input at the October board meeting. It would be great for my own schedule, and maybe my son, Marcelo, could participate in more activities. However, he is easily bored at school, so more time spent being bored could be a problem. What should I ask at the upcoming board meeting?
A. There's a growing group of thinkers who believe that the six-hour school day, 180 days a year, is obsolete.
Some districts are expanding the school day; some are even expanding the school year. It makes parents happier. It helps incorporate myriad enrichment options that keep kids safe between the end of the school day and the time parents are home.
Perhaps most important, there's good evidence that when kids have more time in school — if intelligently used — they do better in school.
"Intelligently used" is the key, says Christopher Gabrieli, a proponent of adding time to the school day and co-author of "Time to Learn" (Jossey-Bass, 2008). "It has to be a redesign of the entire school experience to be successful. Simply tacking more of the same on to the standard day won't work."
"Most dismissal bells ring around 2:30 p.m., some as early as 1:30. Despite the widespread impression that children spend much of their time in school, the truth is, they go to school for only about 20 percent of their waking hours. This schedule, unquestioned for decades, helps explain why American families are so poorly served by our schools," says Warren Goldstein, Gabrieli's co-author. "One of the reasons Marcelo may be bored in school is that a short day teachers feel they have to cram requirements into is, in fact, pretty boring."
Any rethinking of the day should involve students in artistic, cultural and athletic activities that have been seeping out of the conventional school day, Gabrieli says. "The best redesign emphasizes three key elements: more time for core academics, expansion of enrichment opportunities and more time for professional development and planning time for teachers."
Goldstein and Gabrieli find that in the more than 1,000 "new day" schools, kids are more interested in classwork, because schools have increased enrichment programs that enliven the curriculum. "Debate, arts, music and drama, as well as karate, cooking and quilting, are just a few examples of activities that have been introduced in these schools," Gabrieli says.
Not only are kids more interested; their grades go up. There's more time for hands-on projects and experiments that help learning sink in. Students need science fairs, plays, pageants and "theme units," and they like to practice what they're learning and put it to work, Goldstein says. "These activities increase student interest, while deepening their engagement in core academic offerings."
What should you ask at the meeting? Gabrieli and Goldstein suggest these questions:
• What is the district trying to accomplish with this change? What challenges will this change help my child's school address? How will the school day be fundamentally redesigned, in order to effectively address these challenges?
• How will the approach to teaching and learning be different with a restructured day? Will new strategies, such as project-based learning or small-group instruction, be introduced?
• Will additional time in the school day allow for tailoring instruction or personalizing education for students with different learning styles and needs?
For example:
Will my child have additional enrichment opportunities? What types?
Will teachers enjoy additional professional-development opportunities targeted to their individual needs and the needs of our students?
Will teachers have more time to plan and collaborate with one another?
For more advice from Gabrieli and Goldstein, go to timeandlearning.org/timetolearn.
Leanna Landsmann is an education writer who began her career as a classroom teacher. Her column appears every other Monday. Do you have a question about your child's education? E-mail Leanna@aplusadvice.com.
