Four-Day School Week: Beneficial Or Harmful? 

Opinions on the impact of the 4 day school week very considerably. As I’ve been hearing that more school districts are adopting a four-day school week, I’ve been wondering what the pros and cons would be for our children.  Would they benefit mentally by having an extra day to decompress? Would they be hurt academically with less instructional time? 

Texas, the 2nd largest state by population, now has 43 school districts which have adopted a four-day school week.  Although this is only 3.5% of the public schools in the state, the trend seems to be gaining popularity.  

With the implementation of a four-day school week, schools expect to recruit and retain the top teachers in the state. The intent is that these teachers will be persuaded with only four days of instruction, using Friday as a planning day.  The intent is to also increase recruitment of bus drivers which has been a major challenge for districts since the onset of the pandemic.  

Another significant factor for districts is cost cutting. A reduction in utility costs, money spent to fund school breakfast and lunch programs by 20 percent, and hourly wages for cafeteria employees, custodial support, and bus drivers are big drivers for the change.  (Similarly, when hit by tough economic times during the Great Depression, many U.S. schools reduced the number of instructional days.)  

Finally, educators believe that attendance will increase if districts switch to a four-day school week.  Since the pandemic, schools have seen a sharp increase in chronic absenteeism.  

If we are looking at a 36-week school year however, this means 36 less school days of instructional time, even if school days are longer during the four days. 

Studies regarding the affects of less instructional time on children have found that this schedule can be detrimental to their educational sphere.  A 2021 Oregon study calculated that with a four-day school week, 5th graders’ usual gains in math were decreased by one-sixth, equal to about 5-6 weeks of school.  Imagine the impact over a multitude of years. 

Another 2021 study published in Education Finance and Policy looked at student test scores in reading and math over 15 years.  Co-author Paul Thompson found that not only did math scores decrease by 6% and reading scores decrease by 4%, but fewer four-day students graduated on-time compared to five-day students.  

Contrastingly, a study conducted at NWES, a nonprofit assessment company, studied four-day school weeks around the country and found that 85% percent of parents chose to stay on a four-day school week.  I initially found this surprising as I thought most parents would find it difficult to juggle a four-day school week with their work schedule.  I came to discover however that right now, the majority of four-day school districts are in rural communities making it easier to juggle the school schedule in smaller communities.  

Through surveys, educators find that families are enjoying the longer weekends as this provides for more family quality time, more time for extracurricular activities, and more time for mental decompression. 

I obviously do not know what the right answer is but I do see the quality-of-life benefits with a shorter school week.  I also recognize the flip side, which is that our children will suffer educationally if additional instruction is not supplemented at home.  

What are your thoughts?