School's out early: Some students get much less class time than others

Students in Texas and Nebraska spend a lot more time in class than students in Hawaii and Nevada, according to new research, reports Kevin Mahnken on The 74. Over a K-12 education, it adds to several years of schooling. And, on average, kids who spend less time in school learn less.

Some school districts have longer school days or years than the state minimum, writes Mahnken. "But at the median, schools in the five states that set highest minimum amount of instructional time (Texas, Nebraska, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama) are open for 133 hours more per year than those in the five states with the lowest minimums (Hawaii, Nevada, Maine, Oregon, and Rhode Island)."

In addition, more school district have moved to four-day weeks, writes Mahnken. The school day is longer, but often not enough to make up for the missing day.

It's popular for rural districts where students face long bus rides, says Paul N. Thompson, an Oregon State economics professor. His research shows "substantial losses in achievement" for Oregon districts. "Notably, the learning losses at those schools grew the longer they stayed on a four-day week, suggesting that the effects were compounding as students lost more instructional time," writes Mahnken.

Thompson's new study of four-day weeks nationwide again found achievement declines. "The academic slippage was greatest in schools that lost more instructional time, as well as those in less rural settings."

Even when schools are open, students may stay home. Since the pandemic closed schools, chronic absenteeism -- missing 10 percent or more of the school year -- has doubled, according to the Kids Count report. "Two out of three stu­dents attend­ed schools plagued by chron­ic absence."

Student behavior is worse too, so instructional time is more likely to be disrupted.