Longer School Days Not Good for Quality

I never thought I would be agreeing with Chester Finn, Jr., but his recent Gladfly post, comparing educational goals in Singapore and the United States, strikes a chord. While Singapore is pushing mightily to increase educational access for its citizens, it aims at quality and increased access in the first through tenth grades and, for about a quarter of the population, in the equivalent of senior high school. It does not aim to get everyone into university even though the tiny country counts heavily on the knowledge-base of its citizens.

Meanwhile, in the United States, a surge is gaining ground to increase how much schooling students should have -- more hours, more days, and more years. Asks Finn, is this really a cure? Or is it just "pigging out on the educational equivalent of fast food -- fattening but not nutritious"? Pushing for more and more education dilutes what we have and bypasses quality.

So what would longer hours do for us?

Part of the push for more schooling comes from envy of the academic prowess of Chinese students. I've been consulting and doing research in the schools of China and the United States for 20 years, and every time I head for China, U.S. teachers and parents ask me how we can get our students to be more like the Chinese students -- more studious, more focused, and good at math. Meanwhile, the Chinese tell me how much they long for American-style education because it teaches children to innovate and think outside the box. They, and the Chinese government, talk of how debilitating their exam-focused education is.

Over the years I have learned one fundamental truth: we both want what the other has. But paradoxically, the United States places more and more emphasis and school time on standardized testing. American schools, especially in the elementary grades, are getting rid of field trips, supplementary books beyond the textbooks, and "extras" like art, music, P.E., and sometimes social studies and science. They are replaced with test practice and drills aimed at improving performance on the narrow bits of information being tested. We're getting rid of exactly the things that the Chinese see as our strengths.

Chinese students spend many more hours than Americans on schoolwork -- inside and outside of school. But to what end? They take more subjects than Americans, with math, Chinese, and English the most emphasized. I have found they dig much more deeply into subjects. When they read a piece by an author, they delve well beyond its general meaning to analyze how the writer used words and to what effect, how and why characters interact. In the process, they are expected to memorize the text and everything associated with it.

Said one parent, among many I have interviewed, "Chinese kids memorize everything. Even the commas." They need to do this to pass in-class exams, but also to pass the high-pressure college entrance exam, the only means into university.

Many middle class Chinese parents hate the memorization and extensive hours of study. They wish their children had far less pressure, and more time to explore other activities. Several talked of helping their child finish the huge amounts of homework, and others of family savings spent on providing extra tutoring to give their child an advantage in exams. One father and mother who do not believe in filling their son's life with extra after-school and weekend classes encouraged him to participate only in the after-school chess club, because he likes it. The rest of the time, when he isn't doing his regular homework, he plays with the family cat and thinks up projects and activities he can do by himself because all of his classmates are in school late into each afternoon and on weekends. They said their son is an average student, but a happy child, unlike many who are excelling.

In recent years, one of the major family discussions of middle-income parents in China is whether to send their child to the United States or Canada for high school or college in order to escape their exam-ridden education system. Droves are now coming. The number of Chinese undergraduates in the United States has increased dramatically. Before 2007 it was about 9,000 annually. According to the Institute of International Education it jumped to 16,000 that year, and rose to nearly 160,000 in 2011, a huge increase from 2007.

Here is the paradox: Americans want what the Chinese have; the Chinese want what we have.

The Chinese crave the individuality and independence found in American schools because they see these traits leading to innovation; we want our students to have the intense focus and discipline that we believe leads to Chinese students' academic excellence. Where Chinese educators and parents say they are desperate to change the iron grip of test preparation, Americans are narrowing the curriculum to increase class time for test preparation aimed at producing Chinese-caliber exam scores.

We would do well to focus first on improving, rather than diluting, the quality of K-12 education in both countries, and realize that longer school days are not an answer.

 

Comments

[yooperz michigan]

11:23 AM on 05/21/2012

8 hour school days and 11 months of school.

[ObscureStreamMe]

09:55 AM on 05/20/2012

"They, and the Chinese government, talk of how debilitating their exam-focused education is..."

And we're developing the same system. Schools here in Maryland now "teach to the test" because the government here assumes that students will fail without rigorous curriculum standards.

Honestly I don't care if kids in Baltimore city or Prince Georges county fail as long as kids with good genes receive a proper education, the same kind of education that put us on the moon. Now the Chinese will be more organic like we used to be and we'll become more and more boxed in.

[pllc]

01:18 PM on 05/18/2012

I had first-hand experience what it meant to have longer school days. While I was growing up in Japan as an ex-pat, I made friends with my Japanese neighborhood kids who attended school for 11 months out of the year, if you can believe that. Meanwhile, I had 3 months to kill over the summer vacation because I attended an American school there. It was a pretty lonely experience because the Japanese kids were in school during the summer except for 1 week in May. But when we did have free time, it was a fun time after school hours.

Today, however the Japanese children are even in a worse situation than their parents were during my generation. They attend school 5.5 days a week, plus attending private tutoring schools after regular school hours to bone up for their high school and college entrance exams. They no longer play after school hours anymore and the playgrounds are mostly empty of children who no longer enjoy their childhood as a time for fun. They and the parents are in a pressure cooker from the day they enter kindergarten.

I remember an episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" that covered this point where they noticed Ally was spending too much time on her homework and complained to the teacher, who said the school had an agenda to meet, and Raymond was given an opportunity to address the school board about it in behalf of the other parents who agreed with Raymond.

[Nancy Pine]

01:45 PM on 05/24/2012

Thanks for recounting your Japanese experiences. Chinese parents feel that although the government has tried to reduce pressure on kids and did away with Saturday schooling many years ago, the schools and teachers compete hard and unmercifully to produce top exam scores. They, like the Japanese, now have many private after-school and weekend tutoring programs. The government has also tried in the last few years to do away with teachers' bonuses based on the exam scores of their students, but my guess is that it continues in one way or another.

[Natalie Worlow]

10:20 AM on 05/18/2012

This teacher agrees that longer days or more days are not the answer. I remember elementary school as being so much fun -- and I learned so much in the process. It saddens me that this and future generations are getting fewer and fewer field trips, no music class, recess, etc. Teaching to the test is a horrible, horrible way to teach, and it's a horrible way to learn (if any true learning is actually done). Which is better? A passage about the Civil Rights Movement followed by eight multiple choice questions or a trip to the Civil Rights Museum? It should be a no-brainer, but apparently it's not for the policymakers. It boggles the mind.

[Nancy Pine]

01:48 PM on 05/24/2012

Thanks for that comment! I think all of us who have taught, know this. But getting that word out and convincing others is a challenge--to say the least.

[Julia Falk]

04:49 PM on 05/17/2012

You bring a much needed voice and perspective as an international educator, but one of your points deserves additional attention. I agree that tested subjects are pushing out other vital subjects like science, social studies, the arts, and physical education. In fact since No Child Left Behind was enacted a decade ago, students now spend, on average, almost an hour less per week in art and music. On top of that, two thirds of both 4th and 8th graders cannot demonstrate basic proficiency in the sciences.

But, there are at least 1,000 schools across the country that are increasing class time, and it isn’t for test preparation. They are using additional time to not only foster a well-rounded education but also to increase the amount of time teachers have to collaborate. Our outdated school calendar does not give schools enough time to prepare today’s students for success in higher education, in the workplace, and as engaged citizens. Expanding learning time offers opportunities that students, particularly those in low-income communities, might otherwise miss.

Over 100 prominent education leaders across the spectrum realize this and have signed on to support more and better learning time through the Time to Succeed Coalition. I encourage you to visit the TSC website (www.timetosucceed.com) where you can explore what more and better time really means and read case studies from schools and districts that are leveraging more time to produce the type of education that equips students with the tools to succeed.

[Nancy Pine]

01:53 PM on 05/24/2012

Thanks! Yes, I agree. And quality learning activities are essential--in and out of school. I realize some schools are doing a great job at this. What I've seen happening over the last several years, however, is that most schools are just adding more and more test prep and less and less of anything that has to do with substantive learning and engagement.

[FreireTeacher]

01:50 PM on 05/17/2012

amen sister!

[mlaiuppa]

01:46 PM on 05/17/2012

For those complaining that the U.S. has fallen behind in innovation and creating new products, inventions and ideas...there you have it. We've been going Chinese with our common core standards and standardized tests and NCLB for so long that we're losing the innovation and creativity that put our education system at the top.

We'll never be the Chinese. Now, we're not going to be American either. Just...mediocre.