U.S. varsity study says 4-days a week school can produce better academicians

Here's a good news for students. A new study has claimed that shortening the school week to four days school can improve the academic performance of students.

The Georgia State University and Montana State University study analysed the impact of a four-day school week on student achievement by comparing fourth-grade reading and fifth-grade math test scores from the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) for students who participated in a four-day school week, versus those who attended a traditional five-day school week.

The researchers found a four-day school week had a statistically significant impact on math scores for fifth-grade students, while reading scores were not affected.

The study suggested there was little evidence that moving to a four-day week compromises student academic achievement.

Mary Beth Walker, the dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State, said that they thought that especially for the younger, elementary school kids, longer days on a shorter school week would hurt their academic performance because their attention spans were shorter.

Walker said the change in the calendar did not have negative effects which they thought was an important result.

They also speculated that a four-day school week lowered absenteeism, so students who had dentist's appointments or events might be able to put those off until Friday and not miss school.

The study is published in the Journal Education, Finance and Policy.