MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Each year, more schools abandon the traditional week and move to a four-day schedule. And many parents and educators love this approach, but some researchers are concerned that a four-day week could lead to academic losses. And they say the approach is often a symptom of larger problems with schools, especially in rural America. The Midwest Newsroom's Nicole Grundmeier has more.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Hi.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Hi.
NICOLE GRUNDMEIER, BYLINE: It's back-to-school night at Martensdale-St. Marys near Des Moines, Iowa, and young voices are booming through the building. This is the second year these students are going to school four days a week.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Hi, Miss Sammie.
GRUNDMEIER: Eighth-grader Tucker Dooley now spends his day off with his friends, playing sports or riding bikes.
TUCKER DOOLEY: I like it 'cause we have our Mondays off, and it just feels like we get a whole different break. And the school days don't feel much longer at all.
GRUNDMEIER: Tucker's mom, Aria Biondi, has three children in the district.
ARIA BIONDI: I think it was a great change for us. Like, Mondays they could study if they needed to. A little extra care at home if they need to. More time with family, which was great.
GRUNDMEIER: More than 2,100 public schools in 26 states are on four-day school weeks. Researchers say districts that make the switch save about 1- to 3% of their budget, mainly from busing, substitute teachers and food services. The most common reason cited for making this switch is teacher recruitment and retention. Many schools are struggling with teacher shortages, and rural districts can't pay teachers higher salaries, but they can offer them a better work-life balance with shorter weeks. William Watson, the superintendent at Martensdale-St. Marys, says that before last year's switch, his district couldn't keep teachers.
WILLIAM WATSON: At one meeting, the concept of the four-day school week came up, and I would tell you, initially, I thought it was crazy, and initially, I was against it.
GRUNDMEIER: After community meetings, the district made the switch. Now all teaching jobs are filled, and families from outside the district's geographic area are enrolling their children into the district. Research suggests there is another bonus. Student behavior improves. There is less bullying and fighting when districts make the switch.
MOLLY FRITZ: I think that was the biggest, like, shock to all of us is how much better behaviors were.
GRUNDMEIER: Molly Fritz is a master teacher at the Saydel Community School District in central Iowa.
FRITZ: Saydel is a low socioeconomic school. Like, we're used to high-level behaviors, and we dropped over 50% of our behavior calls to the office this year. And I think it's a combo. Teachers are more patient and calm with that day off, so then that is reflected in kids.
GRUNDMEIER: But there can be negative outcomes, according to Heather Peske. She is the president of the National Council on Teacher Quality in Washington, D.C.
HEATHER PESKE: Students usually pay the price, and learning losses are more common than gains in student learning.
GRUNDMEIER: Another issue is how to handle child care on the day off. Jon Turner is a professor at Missouri State who has researched four-day school weeks for over a decade. He says most districts assume childcare will be a problem. He says some districts start the year offering child care.
JON TURNER: By Thanksgiving, people get it figured out. Even if it's free, even if the child care is free on the fifth day, families just figure it out, and they stop showing up.
GRUNDMEIER: Some parents, like Eric Sentell, support keeping the five-day school week. His 10-year-old son attends Missouri's Clearwater School District, which considered a switch last year. Sentell, an English professor, says research he found by the RAND Corporation about the four-day school week worried him.
ERIC SENTELL: You know, our main concern was, are our kids going to learn what they should learn, or are they going to keep up with their peers at five-day schools?
GRUNDMEIER: Other parents also pushed back, and the district is not making the switch. They're even taking an uncommon step and asking for a bond referendum for a tax increase to pay their teachers more.
For NPR News, I'm Nicole Grundmeier in Des Moines, Iowa.
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