Longer School Days, Years Could Hit NJ Classrooms Under New Bill

NEW JERSEY — As New Jersey seeks to make up for learning loss, one lawmaker wants to extend the school day and the school year. Under a bill in the State Senate, 20 school districts could become part of a pilot program that would see students spend longer in the classroom.

State Sen. Shirley K. Turner (D-15) introduced the bill Oct. 3. With the legislation in the Senate Education Committee's hands, Turner remains the bill's lone sponsor.

Like much of the country, New Jersey's test scores slipped during the COVID-19 pandemic, showing decreases in eighth-grade math and fourth-grade math and English. Read more: COVID Set Back NJ's Math, Reading Scores, 'Nation's Report Card' Shows

Turner's measure would establish a three-year pilot program to support districts increasing the length of the school day or year. The education commissioner would award funds on a competitive basis, with priority for districts with student populations demonstrating a "high level of need for academic support" based on statewide-assessment results and graduation and dropout rates.

The commissioner would select five school districts each in the state's southern, central and northern regions, along with five more districts throughout the state that also show a need for greater academic support.

If the bill becomes law, districts receiving grants would extend the school day or year for all or some of the student body. The three-year pilot program's grants would provide each district with up to $1 million annually.

Each participating district would send a report to the education commissioner by July 30 of each school year that highlights participation in the program and attendance rates and test scores of students with extended school hours. The commissioner would also create a separate report on the pilot program no matter than 180 days after the program's conclusion.

Extending school hours isn't a new idea. In 2005, Massachusetts lawmakers created the state's Expanded Learning Time Initiative, which approved major funding to support high-poverty schools. The U.S. Department of Education and the Ford Foundation tried the idea on a national level with the "Time Collaborative" in 2013. The three-year initiative helped extend school days in 40 schools around the country.

The authors of "Time to Learn: Benefits of a Longer School Day" argue that extending the school day positively impacts achievement in reading and math, English language learners, students with disabilities, teachers and families.

"An expanded school schedule engages students more fully, and children learn better in a more stimulating environment," wrote Christopher Gabrieli and Warren Goldstein, who authored the 2008 book. "By reducing the pressure on the system to cram math and reading and science into too few hours, the new school day opens up the schedule for subjects that students enjoy and teachers like to teach."

But the National Education Association — the largest education union in the U.S. — says such programs have produced mixed results. A 2006-07 study from the Massachusetts Department of Education found that increasing the school day by 25 percent resulted in test scores rising 5 to 10 percent. But other districts, including Washington, D.C., found no such correlation, according to the NEA.

Skeptics have also pointed to high-achieving nations such as China, Finland and Singapore, which use traditional schedules. In fact, U.S. teachers spent more time in the classroom than educators in all nations except Chile, Mexico and Colombia, according to a 2015 report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.