Longer Days and Fewer Total Hours: Examining the Four-day School Week in Missouri

In the third of our three reports on the four-day school week (4dsw) in Missouri, we conduct a descriptive analysis of districts that use the 4dsw in order to compare them to districts that have continued to use the traditional five-day school week (5dsw). Some of the results were unsurprising; for example, districts that use the 4dsw tend to be smaller, rural districts. But  at least for the time period we examined (primarily the 2021-22 school year), we found no statistically significant differences between 4dsw and 5dsw districts in terms of overall per-pupil revenues or expenses. Our finding that teacher retention rates are lower in 4dsw districts than in 5dsw districts is noteworthy because teacher retention is often cited as a reason for switching to the 4dsw.

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