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Solomon Lo

Mr. Van Velzer

Beginning Composition - Block 1

29 September 2015

Longer School Days

Did you know that school schedules haven’t changed much since the late 18th century?

The school schedules of today are designed for the needs of someone during the Industrial

Revolution, and not for kids of the 21st century. Education Secretary Arne Duncan once said in a

recent interview with The Associated Press, that "Our school calendar is based upon the agrarian

economy and not too many of our kids are working the fields today." Today’s jobs are vastly

different from the jobs popular during the 18th century, but school schedules haven’t changed to

compensate for this difference. The easiest and most effective way to prepare student for these

new jobs is to increase the length of school days. Increasing the length of school days will give

teachers more time to teach the curriculum better, allow kids to have a more well-rounded

education, and will free up time for longer school holidays.

School days should be longer because it gives teachers more time so that they can teach

the curriculum better. According to staff writers in the online article “10 Telling Studies Done on

Longer School Days,” longer school days led to substantially higher test scores.The staff writers

supported their claim by explaining how the Department of Education in Massachusetts, in a

study from 2006-2007, found that increasing the school day by 25% in 18 schools around the

state caused test scores to rise by 4.7-10.8 percentage points. An increase in length of the school

day will increase students' knowledge of the curriculum and also improve their test scores.
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Students are being victimized by a school schedule that is out of their control. Lengthening the

school day will give students the education they deserve, and prevent their curriculum from

being rushed. Some students may say that a longer school day would cause them to not have

enough time to do homework along with other extracurricular activities. However, with a longer

school day, students will have more time to do their homework in class. Students will also be

able to get help from the teacher when they need help, instead of not understanding the

homework and not doing it as a result. A longer school day will actually give students more free

time for extracurricular activities, instead of giving them less. This is because students will be

able to get homework done more quickly and efficiently in school, instead of struggling through

it at home. Longer school days give students the education they deserve, instead of a rushed

education that they'll struggle with for the rest of their life.

School days should be longer because it will allow kids to have a more well-rounded

education. Instead of limiting children to the bare necessities needed for going to college, a

longer school day could help kids discover hidden talents and passions, such as music and art.

Christopher Gabrieli and Warren Goldstein, in the article “Time to Learn:Benefits of a Longer

School Day,” explain how a longer school day will allow students to explore a broader range of

subjects. Gabrieli and Goldstein support their claim by showing how with longer school days,

students will “be able to take enrichment activities, as well as a range of programs in social and

emotional learning.” Creative thinking is an essential job skill that students will need when they

are older, and lengthening school days is an excellent way to teach them to think

unconventionally. Some teachers may say that they are underpaid as is, even without the addition

of extra hours in their work day. However, a longer school day will be a strong point teachers
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can use against other people who say that teachers should be paid less, or the same amount.

Lengthening the school day will help teachers get paid more, and allow students to discover their

interests.

School days should be longer because it allows students to have more school holidays

during the school year. Because school days will be longer, less school days will be needed to

reach the original amount of time required in school. This increase in school holidays will let

kids spend more time with their parents. This is important, because school usually leaves little to

no time for students to bond with their family. However, more school holidays will let kids spend

time with their parents when it matters most in their life. More school holidays also allow kids to

get more sleep. Michael J. Breus, PhD, in the article “Back to School, Back to Sleep,” explains

how students who have a lack of sleep do significantly worse in school than people who do get

enough sleep. Breus supports his claim by stating a study where students with C's, D's and F's

got about 25 fewer minutes of sleep and went to bed an average of 40 minutes later than A and B

student. School holidays offer students a chance to recover from the lack of sleep because of late

nights and all-nighters from doing homework or projects. Some parents may argue that longer

school holidays lead to lower grades because students will forget what they have learned, since

they aren’t constantly reviewing it in school. However, school holidays actually improve scores

for people struggling with the curriculum, because it gives struggling students time to study and

catch up to students who already know the material. Longer school holidays offer nothing but

benefits for students, who desperately need respites from the stress of going to school everyday.

In the 21st century, the current school schedules don’t prepare students for future

education, jobs, and lives. If we keep these current school schedules, students all over America
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will be ill-prepared for the future. However, a longer school day will yield many benefits, such

as a more well-rounded education and better overall health for all students. Because of this, we

need to lengthen the school day, preparing our students for the jobs of tomorrow.
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Works Cited

Feature, Michael J. Breus PhDWebMD. "Fixing Children's Sleeping Problems Could Improve

Grades and Behavior." ​WebMD.​ WebMD, 02 Sept. 2004. Web. 28 Sept. 2015.

Gabrieli, Christopher, and Warren Goldstein. "Time to Learn: Benefits of a Longer School Day."

Reading Rockets​. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Sept. 2015.

"Obama Proposes Longer School Day, Shorter Summer Vacation." ​Fox News.​ FOX News

Network, 27 Sept. 2009. Web. 28 Sept. 2015.

"10 Telling Studies Done on Longer School Days - OnlineUniversities.com."

OnlineUniversitiescom​. N.p., 30 Jan. 2012. Web. 28 Sept. 2015.