INCREASING STUDY HOURS IN NEW YORK CITY’S PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR STUDENTS IN K-12

29984, Legislative Policy Analyst

ACTION FORCING EVENT

New York City’s public school students not doing well; need more hours of instruction

NYS AVERAGES ON MATH, CRITICAL READING AND WRITING VS. NATIONAL AVERAGE

Categories 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006

Source: http://www.hflcsd.org/district.cfm?subpage=616770

Current Laws in NYS Regarding School Hours

Daily Sessions of:

O Half kindergarten shall be minimum 2 ½ hours

O Full Kindergarten shall be and grades 1 through 6 minimum 5 hours

O Grades 7 through 12 shall be minimum of 5 ½ hours

Source: www.nysed.gov – Section 175.5 Length of School Day

Pilot Program in NYCO Longer hours

• 20 underperforming schools • Starting Fall 2013

O Evaluation After 3 years

Literature Review

Longer Hours Needed States with longer hours

National Center on Time and Learning (Paulson, 2012)

Washington D.C (Turque, 2010)

Scholars believe students forget during long summer breaks (Cooper, 2003).

Massachusetts – Inproved in grades since program was introduced (Mass2020.org)

Chicago (Spielman et al, 2012).

Stakeholders

NYC Chancellor – Dennis Walcott

Parent Teachers Association (PTA)

Richard Iannuzzi – NYSUT (Advocacy Group)

Governor Andrew Cuomo

Commissioner John B. King Jr.

Option 1

Extended School Day

Additional hours from Monday through Friday which will lengthen the school day

Option 2

Extended Calendar

Extension of the number of weeks students attend school from Monday through Fridays

Option 3

Saturday Classes

One additional school day to the week. Students will attend school from Monday through Saturdays

OPTION ANALYSIS

Extended school day Strong Administrative and political feasibility

Extended academic calendar Additional budget required Highly effective

Saturday Classes Effective Administratively feasible

Recommendation – Option 2

Pros Cons

Keep student academically involved for more weeks

Additional budget

Students and staff can still attend school Mon – Fri at the same time as they are used to

Shorter breaks for staff and children

Highly effective May encounter initial objection from advocacy groups