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OK, I'm in TN and have no idea if my school will be one of the 40 that are participating in this pilot program. The systems can decide whether to add the 300 hours to each day, add more days to the calendar, or a combo of both. I have a lot of concernss about this.
1st: how is this gonna affect the kids who have been used to a shorter schedule? Will they burn out much quicker?
2nd: if you increase my work load by over 20%, are you gonna increase my salary in compensation? If not, there's gonna be a mass exodus for adjacent states.
3rd: It's going to increase many other costs as well (building use, transportation, utilities, etc.). Will the Fed fund it, or will the state &/or locals be responsible, or a combination?
4th: I've seen some reports showing increases in achievement, & others showing no significant gains. Will this be a good thing, or will it just give many teachers even more time to beat our heads against the wall?
I don't want to diss something that might actually help, but this sounds extreme. thoughts?
I would assume pay would increase. Do you have any links?
This article mentions a couple of sources which will be used to pay for it, but doesn't specifically say what will be paid for.
Sorry, I have no links. The article was both in the local paper and on the local news, but I didn't find it on their websites. Your article pretty much stated the same info I saw.
As for funding, the articles didn't state what the foundations were paying for, but this has to be an extensive list of needs for the schools.
Still won't fix achievement gaps. Same way Chicago started adding all these year long schools. Education starts at home. If children aren't getting what they learn reinforced at home, it won't make a dirt of distance.
I think adding 300 hours to each day might take more then a state mandate!
As a teacher I have had days that felt like they lasted that long!!!
As for the extended time, I have no problem with it as long as I'm compensated for the time. I'm just not sure it will help that much. Many of the kids we aren't reaching now will just have more time in order to hate what they're forced to do. Oh, I understand that many students will benefit from the shorter breaks and hopefully avoid the brain drain. Others will benefit from the increased instructional time to aid retention. But will these potential increases be worth the costs (financial, emotional, psychological, etc.)? There is a point of diminishing returns that I think each and every teacher faces.
OK, I'm in TN and have no idea if my school will be one of the 40 that are participating in this pilot program. The systems can decide whether to add the 300 hours to each day, add more days to the calendar, or a combo of both. I have a lot of concernss about this.
1st: how is this gonna affect the kids who have been used to a shorter schedule? Will they burn out much quicker?
2nd: if you increase my work load by over 20%, are you gonna increase my salary in compensation? If not, there's gonna be a mass exodus for adjacent states.
3rd: It's going to increase many other costs as well (building use, transportation, utilities, etc.). Will the Fed fund it, or will the state &/or locals be responsible, or a combination?
4th: I've seen some reports showing increases in achievement, & others showing no significant gains. Will this be a good thing, or will it just give many teachers even more time to beat our heads against the wall?
I don't want to diss something that might actually help, but this sounds extreme. thoughts?
There is a lot of time in the school year that is currently wasted. For example, many people in Pennsylvania think that students go to school for 180 days. If you look closely at your local school calendar in PA, you will find students go less than 180 days. The reason I say closely is it may actually say 180 days. The following is copied from an actual school calendar:
Teacher Days 185
Student Days 180
Inservice Days 5
Act 80 Days 5
What is not clear from the school calendar is that Act 80 days are counted as student days, but students do not attend school on these days. In PA we get some snow, so you might have 10-12 2-hour delays during a year. This time is not made up. Many districts have implemented study periods during the school day in secondary schools. Some have an extended homeroom, others have 1-2 periods during the day that students can go to teachers for help, have band or chorus lessons or study, do homework, etc. Unfortunately, in many classes this is just a time for socializing or playing games. Many students come to these classes without books.
At the secondary level, it should be beneficial to extend class periods by a few minutes. A typical class period is 40 minutes. When I was in school decades ago, our class periods were 46 minutes. How much more chemistry or geometry could be taught in that extra 6 minutes a day x 180 days in a school year? It amounts to 18 hours.
While I said that class periods are 40 minutes, many teachers do not teach for 40 minutes per class. Many teachers stop 5-10 minutes early and let students socialize as a reward for behaving. In many classes, students are packing up and moving to the door at least 3 minutes before the bell rings.
So 300 hours should have the potential of improving education, there is much more that could be done with the present system to improve efficiency. There is no sense in adding 300 hours if schools are going to continue to be run the same as they are now.
Will students burn out? Few students take home books or do any reading at all. How are they going to burn out?
if you increase my work load by over 20%, are you gonna increase my salary in compensation? If not, there's gonna be a mass exodus for adjacent states. Some teachers are currently overpaid, many are underpaid. I doubt many teachers will move to another state because of this. There are plenty of people looking for teaching jobs that will take there place.
It's going to increase many other costs as well (building use, transportation, utilities, etc.). Will the Fed fund it, or will the state &/or locals be responsible, or a combination? Why would transportation increase? the effect on utilities will be minimal.
I've seen some reports showing increases in achievement, & others showing no significant gains. Will this be a good thing, or will it just give many teachers even more time to beat our heads against the wall? If student actually spend 300 additional hours in real classroom learning experiences and they don't show some type of achievement or learning, then maybe this country should rethink the entire education process and figure out what the objective really is.
Will students burn out? Few students take home books or do any reading at all. How are they going to burn out?
If these students aren't going to be doing any more than they already are, then what's the point?
if you increase my work load by over 20%, are you gonna increase my salary in compensation? If not, there's gonna be a mass exodus for adjacent states. Some teachers are currently overpaid, many are underpaid. I doubt many teachers will move to another state because of this. There are plenty of people looking for teaching jobs that will take there place.
I hate to ask, but... are you now, or have you recently been, a public school teacher? I don't what job you hold, but increasing anyone's workload by over 20% a year - without compensation - is going to drive people away. Are you telling me ifyour boss suddenly decided to add 300 hours to your days/year without a raise, you'd be fine with that? Come on...
It's going to increase many other costs as well (building use, transportation, utilities, etc.). Will the Fed fund it, or will the state &/or locals be responsible, or a combination? Why would transportation increase? the effect on utilities will be minimal.
Well if they add 40 days to the calendar, like some systems will choose, that's 40 more days of the buses being on the road, using 40 more days of gas, driven by drivers who will have to be paid for 40 more days of work. As for utilities, if the buildings are occupied - fully - during the summer, that's more electricity, more water, etc. So, no, the utilities effect would be more than minimal.
I've seen some reports showing increases in achievement, & others showing no significant gains. Will this be a good thing, or will it just give many teachers even more time to beat our heads against the wall? If student actually spend 300 additional hours in real classroom learning experiences and they don't show some type of achievement or learning, then maybe this country should rethink the entire education process and figure out what the objective really is.
But this does depend on the student. What do you think is going to happen to the average student that has, for the last 10 years, been given 2 months off during the summer, then suddenly has it taken away, only to be filled with more of the same stuff that they hate. This might get better if the Kindergarteners were to start with this. They wouldn't know what they are missing.
Of course, I'm assuming that the extra 300 hours is added to the calendar and not the day. If added to the day, this might be much better, on that I agree with you.
Understand, I'm not saying your wrong. I'm voicing actual concerns that many of the teachers I work with are voicing. And not just the few teachers I am close to: I'm hearing this from teachers in other states as well.
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