180 Days and Increasing

An article from the Inquirer on how the school year is getting longer in Pennsylvania.

Some school years go beyond state-required 180 days
By Dan Hardy
Inquirer Staff Writer Posted on Mon, Sep. 1, 2008

By tradition, Labor Day marks the great divide between an 11-week summer vacation and the start of school for most students.

For a small but growing number of children in the Philadelphia area and around the country, however, it's just another three-day holiday weekend.

Students at the KIPP Philadelphia Charter School have been in class since Aug. 11. The school's 340 students, in grades five to eight, get 193 days of instruction, far more than the state-required 180 days. It also has a longer school day and students come in on Saturdays for extracurricular activities.

School CEO Marc Mannella said the added time was needed because many students were years behind academically when they enter fifth grade. "As far as I know, there's no pixie dust that I can sprinkle over a child's head to make up for years of wasted educational opportunity. It simply takes more time to catch them up," he said.

Students buy into the idea. "The long hours are so they can actually teach you and help you achieve your goals and do good in class," said fifth grader Alissa Smith. "They want to help us learn and help us get a better education so we can go to a good high school and college."

Others say all American students need more time in class to compete with students from other countries who often get more instructional time and score higher on standardized tests.

The United States ties at 28th out of 29 countries in the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development at 22.2 hours of instruction per week. South Korea ranks first at 30.2 hours.

"We believe that the extra time in school in other countries has had a significant impact" on their achievement, said Jennifer Davis, who heads the National Center on Time and Learning in Boston, which advocates more time in school.

Strong American Schools, an education reform group, advocates more school time to increase America's ability to compete in the global economy. Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Japan, Poland, South Korea, and other nations have school days that are on average as much as 25 percent longer than in the United States, the group said.

Though the attention being paid to the issue is growing, the topic is not new: 25 years ago, the Nation at Risk study of American education called for seven hours of classroom instruction each day and 200 to 220 days in school.

In most schools, not much has changed. A recent survey by the National Center on Time and Learning had 28 states, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, requiring 180 days of instruction, 12 with fewer days and only four - Hawaii, Kansas, Michigan and Ohio - with more. Six states set only total hours of instruction or leave it to school boards to decide.

Still, an increasing number of states, districts and charters have extended-time programs. In Massachusetts, 26 schools, most of them low-performing, will begin this year with students spending at least 30 percent more time in school. The state pays $1,300 more per student.

That initiative inspired Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy to introduce the Time for Innovation Matters in Education (TIME) Act in August; it calls for $350 million in federal funding to set up similar programs.

In New Orleans, former Philadelphia schools CEO Paul Vallas extended the school day until 4:30 p.m. for the 12,500 students in the Recovery School District. He seeks to extend the school year by 20 days.

In Florida's Miami-Dade district, students in 39 struggling schools have an hour a day more in school and five more school days a year.

In Pittsburgh, eight low-achieving schools added 45 minutes to the school day and 10 days to the school year.

Charter schools around the country often feature longer school days and years. "There are no shortcuts for success. If we want our students' scores to grow academically, we have to put in a lot more time and effort," said Jeremy Esposito, the head of Freedom Academy Charter in Camden, a KIPP school in session since Aug. 11.

In Pennsylvania, 254 districts reported an average school year of 181 days, up one day from four years ago. New Jersey does not keep student year statistics, but Department of Education spokesman Richard Vespucci said that most have 180-day schedules.

Pennsylvania and New Jersey require students to spend less than six hours per day in class: five hours and 53 minutes in New Jersey and five and a half hours a day in Pennsylvania.

Central Bucks Superintendent Robert Laws favors a shorter summer vacation and increasing the school calendar to around 200 days. His district now has 184. "If education is to be valued in this country, we should look at the calendar," Laws said. "I don't think it's an urban issue, and I don't think it's just for the low-achieving. If we compare ourselves with other countries, we've got fewer days."

The cost of extending school time works against change, because teachers unions say they want their members to be paid for more school time.

In Pennsylvania, 31 out of 501 districts have gotten state funding to expand school time, including Unionville Chadds Ford in Chester County and Jenkintown in Montgomery County. Jenkintown added 15 minutes to the school day, eliminated some half-days and plans to add two days, going from from 183 to 185, during the next two years.

"It's simple: Kids learn more when we have more time to teach them," said Tim Wade, superintendent.

Arlene Ackerman, Philadelphia's new superintendent, says lagging students in particular need more time. "We have to give them more time if they need more time," Ackerman said. She's put the issue on her wish list for teacher negotiations.

Unions say they are not opposed to longer days but caution that more time in school is not the only solution to low achievement. "Everyone wants to find one silver bullet to close the achievement gap. There isn't one," said James Testerman, head of the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

Nicholas Ignatuk, Ridley superintendent, says extending the school year is not possible without federal funding.

"If it means raising local taxes, it is not going to happen," he said.

Ignatuk said districts already extend the day and year with after-school tutoring and summer school. "The question is: do all students need it? If the vast majority of our seniors are graduating, getting good jobs and going on to good colleges, it may not be necessary for everybody."