The Importance Of Education In The United States
Students in the United States typically attend school for about six and a half hours a day for one hundred and eighty days. Many experts in the educational field believe that, right now, there is simply not enough time during the school day for children to learn the necessary curriculum. Many other countries spend more time at the school during the day but is the United States ready for that commitment?
Today’s teachers and schools are under pressure to improve students’ learning because of both state and national requirements. A federal law passed in 2002 called No Child Left Behind requires annual standardized testing in schools to measure students’ progress and knowledge. Therefore states are requiring students and schools to pass standardized
tests in order to graduate. In accordance with these standardizes test states have made standards and frameworks to ensure that students learn exactly what they are suppose to within a grade level. If the tests results are not on par from one year to the next, schools could lose federal funding, and might even be forced to close. This added pressure has increased the curriculum that teachers are required to teach and many believe that the need for a longer school day will decrease this pressure. Christopher Gabrieli, a member of Massachusetts 2020, a nonprofit education organization that supports longer school day, stated that, “When you start realizing that we're really having a hard time raising kids to standards, you see you need more time to teach them”. Currently teachers feel the pressure to teach to the test. If a longer school day was in effect, teachers could once again be creative with their teaching. This would allow teachers time for more instruction in different ways so that all types of learners would fully understand the required curriculum. Some successful charter schools such as Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) schools suggest that by “increasing instructional time will yield high achievement, particularly for at risk students”.
Although there are many in agreement to the benefits of a longer school day, realistically many states and school districts would not be able to afford it. The average cost of an extended school day would cost $1,200 extra pre student. Not to mention the increase in salaries for those who work within the school. A longer school day could cost some districts upwards of $20,000 more for senior teachers per year for working the extended hours. In Massachusetts alone it would cost taxpayers an addition $656,500 per year to implement a longer school days. In towns and cities that have five elementary schools educating their children it would cost almost $3.3 million per year.
Others who are against the extended school day are parents. Some parents believe that children are not ready or able to perform for that long and that it will be too exhausting. Some parents also believe that longer school days will affect their family lives but taking away time spent with their children.
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Today’s teachers and schools are under pressure to improve students’ learning because of both state and national requirements. A federal law passed in 2002 called No Child Left Behind requires annual standardized testing in schools to measure students’ progress and knowledge. Therefore states are requiring students and schools to pass standardized
tests in order to graduate. In accordance with these standardizes test states have made standards and frameworks to ensure that students learn exactly what they are suppose to within a grade level. If the tests results are not on par from one year to the next, schools could lose federal funding, and might even be forced to close. This added pressure has increased the curriculum that teachers are required to teach and many believe that the need for a longer school day will decrease this pressure. Christopher Gabrieli, a member of Massachusetts 2020, a nonprofit education organization that supports longer school day, stated that, “When you start realizing that we're really having a hard time raising kids to standards, you see you need more time to teach them”. Currently teachers feel the pressure to teach to the test. If a longer school day was in effect, teachers could once again be creative with their teaching. This would allow teachers time for more instruction in different ways so that all types of learners would fully understand the required curriculum. Some successful charter schools such as Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) schools suggest that by “increasing instructional time will yield high achievement, particularly for at risk students”.
Although there are many in agreement to the benefits of a longer school day, realistically many states and school districts would not be able to afford it. The average cost of an extended school day would cost $1,200 extra pre student. Not to mention the increase in salaries for those who work within the school. A longer school day could cost some districts upwards of $20,000 more for senior teachers per year for working the extended hours. In Massachusetts alone it would cost taxpayers an addition $656,500 per year to implement a longer school days. In towns and cities that have five elementary schools educating their children it would cost almost $3.3 million per year.
Others who are against the extended school day are parents. Some parents believe that children are not ready or able to perform for that long and that it will be too exhausting. Some parents also believe that longer school days will affect their family lives but taking away time spent with their children.
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