http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/06/education/06time.html?_r=1&ref=education
This article, featured in the New York Times, focuses on the amount of school students must attend in America. It discusses longer days, longer weeks, and longer years. Despite all the evidence saying that our students need more instructional time, more and more school districts are moving to shorter weeks, shorter days and shorter years. For example, next year Oregon teachers will only have 165 days to teach their students, fifteen left than the standard 180 calendar. Again, American public school systems find themselves in a great contradiction.
However, I believe that there is a greater problem that no one is focusing on here: what is going on during the school day, week, and year no matter if it is shorter or longer? I have seen teachers accomplish so much in a 50 minute lesson and teachers barely get through anything in a 100 minute class. I think the greater issue that lies here is using time effectively. We must create schedules that maximize the amount of learning that is taking place in a classroom. With required drills, announcements, silent reading times, and other daily requirements that are en vogue in education today, we must make the most of the time that we have with our children. Yes, in a perfect world, we should be moving towards being in school longer. However, public education in America is failing. We should be putting all of our focus into determining why students are not learning in the time that they are in school. If a teacher is completely ineffective and time is being wasted, it does not matter if students are there for one hour or ten hours.
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I agree that the amount of time students spend at school hinges on whether that time is used effectively for learning. Learning time for students must be prioritized in order to develop a school culture that utilizes its time effectively.
I do think there is something to be said for schools that increasing the amount of potential learning time. Schools like SEED and KIPP increase its learning time for its students. The competition to get jobs at these schools no doubt plays a role in increasing overall teacher quality, and this affects student learning. Nonetheless, I do believe a significant factor lies in how schools prioritize student learning, with some schools this means increasing the learning time granted for teachers to teach and for students to learn.
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