Quality vs. Quantity

A ringing new debate is shaping up thanks to the proposal this week to extend both the school day and the school year. Since the proposal has come from the White House, there will be plenty of political histrionics both pro and con. Let's ignore that element of the debate and focus on the real issues.

To me, if the education students are receiving is of a high quality, then the amount of time they are currently spending in school is likely sufficient. If it is not, it is hard to believe that doing more of the same will bring positive results. Kids who embrace learning are working hard, and I fear that adding more hours and days will bring diminishing returns.

This is not to say that the current school schedule is ideal for everyone. To have extended day and year schools as an option would be a wonderful benefit to students and families who want more academic time and structure, as would shorter, better spaced breaks than the nearly quarter of the year students are off in the summer. The operative word here is option - we have seen what the 'one size fits all' approach has done in education. There is just too great a disparity between high-achieving and low-achieving schools and students to offer a single plan.

We have traveled this path before, where a simple solution (in this case, extending the day and year) is applied to a complex problem (achievement gaps), and unintended consequences will inevitably follow - and I didn't need extended time to figure that out.