The Four-Day School Week in Texas – Is This Best for Students?

Contact: Shelby Cefaratti-Bertin, 254-327-8012
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This fall, more than 100 Texas school districts have moved to a four-day school week with another 19 districts moving to a hybrid schedule, but does this move benefit students? This is a question Baylor University education expert Bill Sterrett, Ph.D., is asking as he looks at how the four-day week could potentially affect student learning, attendance, teacher retention and cost savings. As of now, Sterrett says the data is inconclusive about the benefits – and stresses – of the four-day school week.

How and Why 

How did this change to the traditional school week come about? In 2015, the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 2610, which effectively no longer required 180 days of instruction. Instead, the legislation required districts to operate for a minimum of 75,600 minutes.

“This shift from ‘days’ to ‘minutes’ gave districts the green light to adopt a four-day school week,” Sterrett said.

Many “adult-driven decisions” – largely supported by parents – have led to districts opting for a shorter school week, Sterrett said. Online learning options developed during the pandemic also helped districts realize they could “make a long-lasting tweak and try to capture some savings in terms of transportation and facilities – but those savings remain to be seen,” Sterrett said.

Benefits of a Friday “off”

Who benefits the most? Some four-day school week advocates say teachers and high school students are among the biggest beneficiaries of the shortened week. 

“School districts that adopt the four-day week can be more intentional about scheduling professional development on Friday for teachers, sports and other extracurriculars for students and being mindful about needed time off,” Sterrett said. “Teaching is stressful, and in the midst of a nationwide teacher shortage, using the four-day week can be an effective recruitment and retention strategy.”

Sterrett has heard feedback from high school principals that the overall response to the four-day school week is positive with one of the top selling points of having a day off on Friday. It offers flexibility to schedule appointments and allows students and their families to spend more time together on a long weekend without missing school.

Challenges for young students

While the change may benefit some high school students and teachers, Sterrett said it’s important to look at what’s best for all students, particularly in the elementary and middle school grades. A Friday off can pose a significant challenge for families of elementary-aged students.

“If you are a working parent who works five days a week, the four-day week might be a challenge in terms of supervising your young student on that fifth day when they are no longer in school,” Sterrett said.

Sterrett also is concerned about the loss of outdoor education time and learning about stewardship.

“This is a vital time in the development of young people,” he said. “Students need to be engaged, learning collaboratively with other students, maximizing outdoor learning experiences, for example, and this benefits from time in class- whether it’s getting your hands dirty while working in the school’s courtyard learning garden or engaging in a project-based learning experience that is interdisciplinary in nature.”

His biggest concern is about the loss of learning, which he said the data is already demonstrating. 

“Losing one day a week can have a detrimental effect on students with learning needs and exceptionalities as they may not have access to the same five full days of accommodations they need,” Sterrett said. 

Moving forward

While 103 Texas school districts and 115,000 students attend classes four days a week in Texas, for context, there are more than 1,500 school districts with over five-million students throughout the state.

Of the Texas districts that have adopted the four-day school week, only one has “reversed course and returned to a five-day week,” Sterrett said. 

For districts thinking about the four-day week, Sterrett recommends giving parents, staff and students a voice in a “community decision” that considers the needs of students, teachers and families. 

“What has worked in one district may not necessarily be the same blueprint for another district,” he said. 

Keeping students at the forefront of decision-making is key.

“‘Is this best for students?’ should be our guiding question,” he said, “and this should be an ongoing conversation that we continue to have.”

The four-day school week is not a simple issue and there is no perfect solution. Sterrett emphasizes the need to follow the five-year and 10-year data to see the impact of a shortened week on student achievement in reading, math and science, as well as student and teacher attendance.

ABOUT WILLIAM L. STERRETT, PH.D.

William “Bill” Sterrett, Ph.D., serves as department chair and professor of Educational Leadership at Baylor University. Before joining Baylor in 2022, Sterrett served as associate dean and professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Prior to UNCW, he was a principal and teacher in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he received the Milken National Educator award. Since joining Baylor, Sterrett led the U.S. State Department-sponsored IDEA-SPORT grant that included Baylor faculty, staff, and students, along with UNCW and several universities in Pakistan, to support women's leadership through sports via on-the-ground sports and leadership workshops in Pakistan and virtual professional learning communities. Sterrett also serves in the Baylor Center for School Leadership to support efforts such as Thriving Learning Communities grant work in Mississippi. 

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