Why It Doesn’t Make Sense For Ohio To Mandate Twenty More School Days Each Year

An interesting article in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Lawmakers Question 20 More School Days, written by Jon Craig, starts, “Ohio House members from both political parties are questioning the wisdom of extending the school year.”

“Questioning the wisdom.” I like that phrase. It’s understandable that lawmakers would question where the needed money would come from. An additional 20 days to the school calendar, I’m guessing, would cost something like $1000 per student per year. That’s a lot of money. Is Strickland’s plan wise? I can hardly agree that, even if the money could be found, that adding 20 days to the calendar is the best way to spend an additional $1000 per student per year.

The goal of mandating 20 more school days each year, according to Strickland’s education plan, in his State of the State Speech, is to “ensure the success of every student.” A great goal, but this new requirement, I don’t think, would lead to the student success its proponents hope for. I imagine that those students who would benefit would be those students who are already motivated to make good effort in their school work. But helping these already motivated students is not enough. Strickland’s goal is much more than simply helping students who are already motivated to be more successful. He wants success for every student.

As it is, many students currently are not successful in Ohio’s educational system. There is a huge number of students who never complete high school, and a huge number of students who leave high school very deficient in their preparation.

More requirements, more penalties, may help coerce a few more students into minimum compliance, but minimal compliance is not the foundation for success. And, it would seem, a logical consequence of more requirements and more penalties, in fact, would be to push drop out rates even higher than they are now.

I expressed my conclusion in this post, Motivation, Not Curriculum: The Key to School Reform, that reacted to an article about Minnesota’s efforts to improve education, via their Governor Tim Pawlenty’s efforts to increase requirements and beef up curriculum. My point is that schools already have plenty of rules, requirements, punishments and rewards. It is senseless to require more school days, when so many of the days already available are wasted. Too many students, as it is, are not motivated to come to school, to complete school, or to bring much effort to school. Mandating more school days would not help.

The key issue in education is motivation. And motivation is all about personalization. If Ohio really has an additional $1000 per student per year to spend, the wise way to spend the money is not via more requirements making the bureaucracy bigger, the hierarchy more powerful — as Strickland’s plan does. The wise way to spend this money would be a way that would motivate students and personalize education in a strategy fundamentally different from what is available right now