Leah D.

Aubert
Ethics and Issues in Education
EDUW 695
Debate
March 1, 2014

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Do American Students Need More Time in School?

The debate of whether or not American students should spend more time in school is very

involved. I would love to have more time will all of my students. Also, I would love more time to
collaborate and prepare for the day. However, I do not suppport an extended school day in the
United States.
The main reason I do not think we should go to an extended school day is because our
educational system has so many issues wrong with it already. Making the day longer or going to
school for more days would not solve those problems. We should focus on creating quality
teachers. Also, I feel like we should improve the quality of our current time with students.
Education is like a pendulum, things are constantly changing. Currently as educators we must
swing towards worrying about things like educator effectiveness, smarter balance assessment,
NCLB, RtI, finding quality substitutes, PLCs, PBIS, interventions, the rigor of common core,
standards, new technology, teaching and engaging our students, etc. We also spend most days
before and afterschool in meetings learning about many of these things. The things we are not
taught about, we are given a huge binder and told to use this as a resource and figure out how to
use it in your own time. Teachers already invest hours, days, and months improving their craft for
their students. I dont think that adding more time would take this stress and pressures away. It
might even take preparation time away from teachers, they would have less extra hours to invest.
We need to change the system and focus soley on student learning. Larry Cuban could not have
said it better, How that time is spent in learning before, during, and after school is far more
important than decision makers counting the minutes, hours, and day students spend each year
getting schooled. (Cuban 331) In addition, do not necessarily believe in extended schooling due
to the potential cost. Why bother to extend the day? Why not just invest that money into the
students and improve quality of education we are currently giving them.

The other reason is that I am against extended schooling is becuase the because of the
bureaucratic policy-makers that are pushing for it. The United States seems to have this desire
to conquer and be better than everyone else in the world. This really bothers me because we
have so many issues we need to fix here first. They seem to have no idea of the real world and
what the real world application of extended schooling will actually require. They will not be
invested in the logistics of it and will let us educators deal with the mess.
There tends to be a confusion between extending the school year and year round/semi-year
round schooling. Just because a school is year round or semi-year round, does not mean that
they go to school longer. As an educator who has taught in a semi-year round district, I enjoyed
the longer breaks between quarters and felt more refreshed in the middle of the year. Extended
schooling requires more hours and/or days in school and I do not support it.

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Bibliography

Davis, J. (2012, August 31). We need a longer school year. Retrieved from CNN Opinion website:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/31/opinion/davis-longer-school-year/

Knoll, J.W., Gabrielli, C., & Cuban, L. (2011). Do american students need more time in school? In
Taking sides: Clashing views and controversial education issues (pp. 309-332). Guilford, CT:
Dushkin/McGraw-Hill.

Marcotte, D. E., & Hansen, B. (2010). Time for school? Education Next, 10(1). Retrieved from
http://educationnext.org/time-for-school/

Smyth, J. (2013, January 13). Longer school year: Will it help or hurt u.s. students? Retrieved
from Huff Post Education website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/13/longer-schoolyear-will-i_n_2468329.html

This month's expert panel: Should we extend the school year? Scholastic Administrator. Retrieved
from http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3751970