Five states are looking forward to extending school by 300 hours. This idea is expected to begin in 2013 with Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and Tennessee taking part in it first. Tens of thousands of students in 40 schools will be affected. However, schools, teachers and parents are still deciding whether increasing school hours, adding more school days to the year or both will diminish student failure. The goal is to include additional schools and help students who are falling behind in class. In McKinley High School, Tiger Time€ is a study hall period meant to allow students to catch up on work and get ahead. However, the idea does not seem to be effective. For some students, time is spent sleeping in class or conversing with classmates on irrelevant topics.

Briana Levian (12) said, “€œIt’s good ‘€˜cause it’€™s giving students the chance to get extra help whenever it’€™s needed and plus you have that extra 45 minutes of school to catch up with your work or just do homework.”

According to Sheyna Cueto (9), “€œTiger time is very useful for me because that’€™s when I can do all my make up work.”€

Michael Kamei (10) has the opposite opinion. He said, “Tiger time is a waste when usually people go to their teachers after school, and if a student is doing well it just takes away time for them to enjoy high school life.”

To solve this issue, teachers are in a stage of planning to add an additional period to next school year in hopes that it will improve student grades. This may affect school hours. With 7 periods, students may have to stay in school some minutes longer. It may not seem like a lot, but it adds up in the end. With so many more hours being added, how are the states going to pay for this? They are going to receive funds from the federal, state, district and two other foundations, the Ford Foundation and the National Center on Time & Learning. Educational officials said that the extension of school hours is intended to give students more time for a well balanced curriculum. With the added hours, students will get more opportunities to grasp concepts in math and science. So will McKinley’s plan for the 7 periods.

Kamei (10) thinks “€œseven classes is a great idea as long as Tiger Time is removed since people these days only have so much time to do things like sports and clubs yet still get their work done on time. Seven classes minus Tiger Time is a good balance between academics and extracurricular activities.”€

The additional period will help students falling behind earn enough credits to graduate. Furthermore, the added time will help step up the public education system.

Levian (11) said, “€œI honestly don’€™t really mind. I had seven periods in my other school before so it’€™s fine with me, but I don‒t wanna be ending school later than now.”€

Although the plan of increasing school hours seems to be the solution to heightening student performance, not everyone agrees that short school days are the concern.

Cueto (9) said, “€œI don’€™t really like the idea of having a 7th period because it’s just gonna take up more time.”€

The National School Boards Association’s Center for Public Education said that countries like South Korea, Finland, and Japan still achieve more than U.S. students. They have shorter school hours according to a report they took last year. The question still remains whether the extension of school days will be helpful for all schools.

Work Cited Lederman, Josh. “5 States to Lengthen Public School Days.” Honolulu Star- Advertiser [Honolulu] 3 Dec. 2012, A9 sec.: A9. Print.