4-day school weeks are on the rise in districts across America. Are they working?

School districts across the country are trying to attract and retain teachers by shifting to a four-day school week

In Missouri, nearly a third of the districts in the state have made the switch.

The PBS NewsHour’s St. Louis communities correspondent Gabrielle Hays explores what schools, and families, in Missouri are learning as more districts make the switch.

“This was 100% about attracting and retaining the very best staff,” said Dale Herl, the superintendent of the Independence School District, which began using a four-day school week this year.

Aaron Pallas, who is with the teachers college at Columbia University, says this new model is quickly gaining popularity nationwide.

“We have seen a sharp increase in the number of school districts around the country that have adopted a four- day school week,” Pallas said.

Places like Missouri and Oregon have embraced the four day school week. In other states, like Oklahoma, the government has limited which districts can make the change for fear of students falling behind.

The average starting teacher salary in Missouri is the lowest in the nation, which has made it difficult to hire new teachers, or convince existing teachers to stay. Almost 14 percent of full-time teaching positions were unfilled, or filled with under qualified employees, in the 2022-2023 school year, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

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