Getting qualified teachers in the classroom is one thing. But keeping them is an entirely different, complex issue that has forced district leaders to experiment with innovative solutions to better retain educators in a post-pandemic era. One idea that’s caught the attention of many leaders this year in particular is the four-day school week model.
Missouri districts taking a leap of faith
Nearly 900 school districts in the U.S. currently leverage a four-day weekly schedule, according to CBS News. The idea has become one of the latest selling points to teachers looking to find a job at a time when the profession has become more difficult to navigate than ever.
“The number of teaching applications that we’ve received has gone up more than four-fold,” Superintendent of the Independence School District Dale Herl told CBS News. His district is one of many throughout Missouri that have opted to make the transition recently. To compensate for the loss of an entire day of instruction, the district has added an extra 35 minutes to each day of school.
“So the instructional minutes will be almost exactly the same,” he said.
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So far, at least 30% of school districts throughout the state have made the switch, according to St. Louis Public Radio. This model first became an option in Missouri about 14 years ago when the legislature altered the mandate for the required number of hours for instruction.
“Those first few years, there were very few adopters,” Associate Professor of Education at Missouri State University Jon Turner told STLPR. “You’ve seen the numbers grow astronomically.”
Arkansas districts seeing improvements in retention
Districts throughout Arkansas also adopted the policy for similar reasons. The Mayflower School District, for instance, tweaked its calendar during the 2022-23 school year. The district is one of 30 in the state using this model, according to THV11.
“We were trying to look at other areas where we could do something that would make us look different than our neighbors,” Superintendent Andy Chisum told THV11.
Since then, he’s noticed significant improvements in their retention rates. Over the years, Chisum noticed that teachers were leaving after five or six years to make more money elsewhere. Now, he says their application rates have steadily increased.
“A lot of [applicants] say, ‘Yes, that’s one reason why we applied here,'” he told THV11. “We are seeing some evidence that is helping curb the attrition rate. Student and employee attendance improved this year. We had fewer behavioral referrals and discipline issues. Overall, our summative test scores went up.”
Ohio district makes history
For the first time ever, an Ohio school district is now operating under this schedule, WLWT News reports. Superintendent Eugene Blablock of North College Hill City Schools said it was time for change.
“A lot of individuals are leaving the education profession due to the effects of COVID and also some of the pressures politically,” he said. “We’re in a situation right now where I think education or the profession of education is in trouble. We need to do something different.”
He also cited issues related to teacher attendance and student test scores that led him to make the decision.
“I can’t tell you the number of times that I was called to go over to one of the buildings to help supervise,” he told WLWT News. “We had administrators substitute classes. As I talked to the teachers and talked to even staff members, they talked about how tough it was to come here because they never got a break.”
“You know, when you’re a classroom teacher, you normally get, say, 30 to 40 minutes to plan. Teachers needed an opportunity to plan to refocus and they just weren’t getting that.”
