Schools with four-day school weeks had lower STAAR scores, TEA study says

San Antonio – The Texas Education Agency released a 15-page study in February of this year that compared the STAAR test scores of schools with four-day school weeks (4dsw) to those with five-day school weeks (5dsw).

The study is called “Texas Four-Day School Week Campus Analysis 2022-2023 School Year.” You can view it in full below.

The key findings in the study showed that those in the shortened school week had lower performance on the test than those in the traditional school week.

Here are the highlights of their findings.

• The percentage of students at 5dsw campuses who met the STAAR Meets Grade Level standard in Reading Language Arts was six to eight percentage points higher on average than students attending 4dsw campuses.
• The percentage of students at 5dsw campuses who met the STAAR Meets Grade Level standard in mathematics was five to eight percentage points higher on average than students attending 4dsw campuses.

The TEA does not track which school districts and campuses have switched to a shortened school week. The calendar arrangement is left up to the school district boards.

For the study, the TEA looked at 137 campuses representing 76 districts. Fifty-seven of those campuses had been on a 4dsw for two to five years.

The study also references a study done in Oregon that looked at 15 years of student achievement data and found “that implementation of a 4dsw calendar decreased reading and math achievement by a small but significant amount, and the cost savings were comparable to other interventions aimed at reducing cost savings.”

Related coverage from KSAT:

• ‘I don’t see it ever going away’: Teachers praise La Vernia ISD’s transition to four-day school week
• Floresville ISD officials unanimously approve 4-day school week calendar
• Mixed reactions to Floresville ISD’s proposed 4-day school weeks