Should school days be longer?

I think school should be shortened. It is not are fault that we had a ice storm, it was not are fault that it snowed alot. I think we should be able to end school the same day we had planed on getting out of school.

Start school later in the day. High School should not start before 9:00 am. Keep the schools open afternoons and evenings. Denying students access to all of the resources that schools have to offer is simply criminal. Longer classes is not the answer. Providing all the materials and equipment for students to work independently on homework or class assignments would greatly improve student achievement. If schools were open in the evening it would provide an opportunity for parents to participate in their children's educational process. Just think about how much of our nation's educational resources are locked up from 3:00 pm until 7:00 am each day. What a shame. Businesses would fail too if their resources were locked away from employees for that amount of time each day.

While more time along cannot address learning needs it should be clear that trying to fit all academic, music, art, and physical education inside the traditional American school day is not working. Thinking outside the box with teacher schedules, classroom work, and technology can and should be considered. All the talk about too much homework where there is no help can be addressed if we stop thinking with a 1920's schedule.

BOTH the school day and the school year should be lengthened; however, educators MUST be prepared that this does NOT mean a longer lecture/listen day! Project-based learning (the most authentic kind) necessitates more quality time.

We have met the enemy and it is time. This is a significant killer of innovation, creativity and synergistic efforts to change schools. Right now we are in the mode of teacher as customer, student as know all, without recognizing that there are students who are unconnected, and teachers who are savvy. Then the schedule of the schools remain the same.

I believe creative problem solving needs to be used. How long are the teachers work days going to be? I already have 10 hour days now. Are they working a 4 day week? Are we just adding time and not money? The reality is good quality teachers active in the school are already working long hours and many with kids in afterschool activities. Are these extra curricular activities not also important? Simply adding time to the day or even the school year will not solve the problem. Getting rid of the various administrative tasks (attendance problems, passes, interuptions, state surveys, etc.) teachers must do on top of teaching in their alloted amount of time would help. How do you do that? Blocks of time in classes with less classes each day seems to be a better option. Better yet perhaps blocks of classes for each semester.

Clearly many students need more time but HOW time is spent is critical. More isolated drill on test related content is not the answer. More time for enrichment and for activities that build vocabulary and background knowledge in meaningful ways is what is needed. Additionally, summer programs, particularly for children living in poverty, are of more importance than lengthening the school day.

The school day needs to be more flexible, especially for secondary students. Why are we tied to the "up with the chickens" schedules of a bygone era? We need to accept that schools are an important part of the economy since parents depend upon schools as a safe place for children to work while parents are at work. Let's provide flexible scheduling to benefit all stakeholders: students, parents, staff, employers.

The school day should be longer in many places. When I was a child in Ohio, we had in elementary school 5 and one-half hours. In addition, we went home for lunch for an hour. We got out of school at 3:15. In middle school and high school we had 6 hours of school plus 20 minutes for lunch and 20 minutes to relax or see a movie. (The movies were serialized in the auditorium) Then we had sports after school. Many schools today have fewer than 5 hours and that includes lunch. I would propose 6 hours of learning time plus time for lunch and for sports or other activities. I have also been a life long teacher. I think if my classes were smaller, I would be happy to have a longer school day.

I think the school day, at most grade levels, is more than long enough - with the possible exception of kindergarten classes and some early primary grades. I do agree that more time is needed if students are to adequately meet the standards that are being set for them and to give teachers the time to assist all students in meeting these more rigorous expectations. For that reason I think the school year should be lengthened. We long ago ceased to be an agrarian society that needs its children to help bring in the harvest and work the farms. America has one of the shortest school years in the industrialized world. We can no longer afford that luxury. We also need to use what time we have more efficiently and effectively. Increasing seat time is a waste of time. We need to make sure that students are actively engaged in learning to the maximum extend possible. Increasing the engagement time of students is the key to improved and increased learning no matter how much time is in the school day/year.