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Article: The perennial reform; fixing school time: education critics often call for longer school days and years. But there is little research to support such demands and several reasons why little will change.
- Article from:
- Phi Delta Kappan
- Article date:
- December 1, 2008
- Author:
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In the past quarter century, reformers have repeatedly urged schools to fix their use of time, even though it is a solution that is least connected to what happens in classrooms or what Americans want from public schools. Since A Nation at Risk in 1983, Prisoners of Time in 1994, and the latest blue-ribbon recommendations in Tough Choices, Tough Times in 2007, both how much time and how well students spend it in school has been criticized no end. (2)
Business and civil leaders have been critical because they see U.S. students stuck in the middle ranks on international tests. These leaders believe that the longer school year in Asia and Europe is linked to those ...