FUTURE OF FAILURE? STUDYING THE EFFECTS OF A SHORTENED SCHEDULE ON THE ACADEMIC SUCCESS OF STUDENTS

Abstract

This study examines the effects of changing from a five-day to a four-day school week on academic achievement for public schools in Oklahoma, a state which ranks high on poverty and near the bottom on educational quality compared to other states. Yet since 2013, Oklahoma school districts have increasingly adopted the four-day school week in response to less state spending on education. We use clustered-regression analysis and a sample of 1,336 schools from public-use Oklahoma State Department of Education (OSDE) data to examine the effect on the measure, a school’s academic report card score, for those who have experienced the shift from a five-day to a four-day school week over the period 2012 to 2016. This research finds a negative relationship between the change to a four-day school week and school report card scores, compared to schools that maintained a five-day school week. These results differ from those found in similar studies in other states, highlighting the importance of considering unique socioeconomic factors inherent to a state when implementing policy changes that affect our vulnerable future. And for Oklahoma, the switch to a four-day school week has for the most part been felt by children in rural schools, who are already economically challenged, so this may widen the already existing academic achievement gap between richer and poorer students.