The Four-Day versus the Five-Day School Week: A Comparative Study of South Dakota Schools

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine what impact the four-day school week had on the Dakota STEP test by comparing four-day schools to themselves three years before their switch to their Dakota STEP test scores in 2009 – 2011. The four-day schools were then compared to similar five-day schools’ performance on the Dakota STEP test to determine if four-day schools were outperforming their five-day counterparts. In addition to these quantitative comparisons, a survey was sent to four-day school administrators to discover what perceptions principals had of the four-day school week, what perceptions superintendents had of the four-day school week, and how teachers utilize the non-contact day.