Today’s blog was written by Andrew Camp and summarizes the results of his new working paper on teacher retention and four-day school week calendars.
Teacher Retention Is an Ongoing Challenge for Arkansas Schools
Recruiting and retaining teachers has always been a major concern for Arkansas school districts, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. While teacher retention is beginning to return to pre-pandemic levels, many districts experienced increases in turnover during the pandemic. Lower rates of teacher retention are concerning given how important teachers are in promoting student growth and the negative effects that turnover often has on teacher quality.
One strategy that Arkansas school districts are increasingly using to better recruit and retain teachers is offering a four-day school week (4DSW). Last spring, researchers at OEP interviewed 18 superintendents leading districts operating on a 4DSW calendar and found that improving teacher retention and recruitment was the most common rationale that superintendents gave for adopting the calendar. However, there is relatively little evidence exploring just how effective a shorter school week is at improving teacher retention.
Four Day School Week Calendars Are Increasingly Popular in Arkansas
While 4DSWs have a long history, the recent wave of adoptions began during the 2019-20 school year with Kirby School District. At the time, only Kirby and two charter schools (which served adult learners or students at risk of dropouts) operated on a four-day calendar. Since then, 31 other districts have adopted 4DSW calendars over four academic years.
The interactive map below shows the spread of four-day school week calendars in Arkansas. Mouse over to see district names and calendar adoption status.
As a result, a total of 32 school districts in Arkansas used a four-day calendar during the 2023-24 school year with more districts slated to adopt the shorter week for the upcoming 2024-25 school year.
How Can We Tell if Four-Day School Weeks Are Making a Difference?
Teacher retention occurs when a teacher remains in the same district from one year to the next and is generally seen as a positive. Replacing teachers who leave can be costly for districts and may have negative impacts on student’s academic growth. However, it can be difficult to determine if adopting a 4DSW improves teacher retention. While some districts report lower teacher turnover in the first years after adopting a four-day calendar, many factors contribute to turnover including the overall health of the economy and stressors common to all schools like the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, average teacher retention in Arkansas increased by 1.2 percentage points during the 2023-24 school year. Without comparing teacher retention between districts, leaders in a 4DSW district might mistakenly think that the calendar change increased teacher retention when retention rates simply increased for most districts.
Since the 2019-20 school year, a total of 32 districts have adopted 4DSW calendars. These adoptions did not take place all at once, however. Figure 2, below, shows the percent of teachers from the previous school year that return to work in the same district, or teacher retention. Colored lines show the average teacher retention rate for districts that adopted a four-day calendar between the 2020-21 and 2023-24 school year. The black line on each graph shows the average teacher retention for districts that did not adopt a 4DSW calendar and ranges between 80 and 85%. The dotted line in each graph shows when districts represented by that graph began using a 4DSW calendar.
There are a few interesting patterns to note in these graphs. Retention rates between districts that adopted 4DSW appear similar to those that remained on a five-day calendar with the exception of the 2018-19 school year. Here, we can see that districts that eventually adopted a 4DSW calendar saw unusually low teacher retention as compared to other districts in Arkansas. Looking at what happens after adopting the 4DSW calendar, I find that those districts who adopted in 2021-22 saw an increase in teacher retention in the first year, followed by decreases over the next two school years. Districts that adopted a 4DSW calendar in 2022-23 initially saw no change in teacher retention but had a retention rate about 7 percentage points lower than five-day school week districts in the 2023-24 school year.
Just examining these graphs, it is difficult to draw overall conclusions. During the current, 2023-24 school year we see that two groups of 4DSW adopters (2020-21 and 2023-24) had retention rates slightly above the average for five-day school week districts while two other groups of 4DSW adopters (2021-22 and 2022-23) had retention rates below that average. To determine the overall effect of 4DSW calendars on teacher retention, I use statistical models that account for differences between districts and for common trends across all districts in Arkansas. These models also allow me to determine how much a 4DSW calendar might improve teacher retention in a district and to determine if that change is statistically significant.
Four Day School Weeks Help Retain Teachers
Using these statistical models, I find that adopting a 4DSW calendar has a positive impact on teacher retention. Teachers in districts that adopt a 4DSW calendar are about 1.4 percentage points less likely to move districts than teachers in districts operating on a five-day school week calendar. Given that about 6% of Arkansas teachers move districts each year, this is a relatively large increase in teacher retention. However, I find some suggestive evidence that nearby districts which remain on a five-day school week calendar see a decrease in their teacher retention rates.
In addition to increased teacher retention, Arkansas superintendents have reported that adopting a 4DSW calendar has allowed them to recruit higher quality teachers. To examine this claim, I use similar statistical models to compare the characteristics of new teachers hired by 4DSW and 5DSW districts. Overall, new hires in districts operating on a four-day calendar have similar years of experience as new hires elsewhere but are about 6 percentage points more likely to hold a master’s or specialist degree. While some may view this as a positive, it’s important to remember that these degrees are poor predictors of teacher quality and typically do not benefit students.
What Does This Mean for Policy?
On average, four-day school weeks improve teacher retention in Arkansas. However, the ultimate test of an educational policy should be its effects on students. Here, the evidence is less supportive of shorter school weeks. In general, four-day school week calendars have been found to have negative effects on student’s academic outcomes. These negative effects are especially pronounced for schools in non-rural settings and female students. However, implementation of the calendar and context may matter as recent research from Arkansas largely finds no differences in terms of growth or achievement between 4DSW and 5DSW districts.
Taken together, the evidence from Arkansas and elsewhere indicates that there may be some benefits to adopting a 4DSW calendar in some situations, but the potential for negative impacts on student’s academic outcomes means that we should be careful when changing to a shorter school week. One example of how we might exercise caution while still allowing districts to respond to the needs of their community comes from our neighbor state, Missouri. Recently signed legislation there requires districts serving larger communities to seek voter approval to continue using or adopt a four-day calendar. This policy is consistent with evidence that the 4DSW calendar has negative impacts on students in non-rural settings.
In addition to these state-level policies, I encourage district-level leaders to have clear plans in place to collect and analyze data before and after adopting a 4DSW calendar. If district leaders see evidence that the shorter school week is harmful for students’ academic growth they have a responsibility to make changes and ensure that whatever happens in their schools has the best interests of students in mind.
To read more about teacher retention and the four-day school week, read the full working paper or email Andrew at ac103@uark.edu.