December 5, 2012
Judge Tom
2

Longer school days are coming

School Desks

Starting in 2013, approximately 20,000 students in five states will be part of a pilot program to boost student achievement. The plan is to add 300 hours of learning to the school year, either by lengthening the school day or by extending the school year.

Students at 40 schools in Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Tennessee will participate in the three-year program. The goal is to make schools in the U.S. more competitive on a global level. Education officials believe that spending more time in the classroom will provide students a more well-rounded curriculum, individual help and opportunities to reinforce critical skills.

 

Photo by Bagaball (Flickr)

Studies in recent years have indicated that American students are at a disadvantage compared to their peers in India and China. On the other hand, students in high performing countries spend less time in school than most U.S. students. Experts point to Japan, Finland and South Korea as examples. While the debate continues, some students will see an increase in their hours at school and the plan is to extend the program across the country if successful.

What do you think about a longer school day? Is it necessary? If your school adopts longer hours or additional days, what subjects would you like to see added to the curriculum? Has your school dropped arts and music or other courses you might be interested in?

Judge Tom

The Author Judge Tom

Judge Tom is the founder and moderator of AsktheJudge.info. He is a retired juvenile judge and spent 23 years on the bench. He has written several books for lawyers and judges as well as teens and parents including 'Teen Cyberbullying Investigated' (Free Spirit Publishing) and 'Every Vote Matters: the Power of Your Voice, from Student Elections to the Supreme Court' (Free Spirit Publishing). In 2020, the American Bar Association published "Cyberbullying Law," the nation's first case-law book written for lawyers, judges and law students. When he's not answering teens' questions, Judge Tom volunteers with the American Red Cross and can be found hiking, traveling and reading.

Find great resources in our

Teen Help Network

Leave A Comment

2 Comments

  • Clare
    April 29, 2013 3:52 pm count( 0 )

    I think that a longer school day will not help at all. The reason why countries such as Japan, Finland, and South Korea are more successful than us when it comes to education is that students in the United States CARE less. Many students don’t want to learn; they are taught that it’s better to just get by with a high school diploma earned by getting C’s than to work hard so you can get a better education. Too much emphasis is put on sports, especially in the public schools, and academics are bypassed.

  • william the creator
    January 5, 2013 7:51 pm count( 1 )

    ScI read that higher achieving countered sentence their children to less school. This make perfect sense. Just the opposite should happen. Lengthening school will only make the problem worse. It would give the kids less time to themselves and psychologically sabotage us. Thus we could learn less. Another attempt by the government to turn us into easily controlled idiots see any resemblance to George Orwell’s 1984?