In 2011, Jefferson High School was one of the first in Montana to adopt a four-day school week. In the years since, 152 school districts across the state — representing more than a quarter of all schools in Montana — have switched to a four-day schedule.
But a recently published study by the University of Montana (UM), commissioned by the state Office of Public Instruction and anchored in 15 years of school data, challenges the efficacy of that innovation, claiming that the shorter weeks are negatively impacting student performance, among other harms.
The study recommends a return to a 180-day school year, or a mandated five-day school week. Yearly instruction requirements are presently set at 1080 hours per year for grades 4-12.
JHS officials, in interviews with The Monitor, disputed the study’s conclusion that “the four-day school week has not been beneficial to most students in the state of Montana.” Principal Mike Moodry said: “All of the tools used to measure student performance are strictly competency based. Seat time isn’t nearly as important as skill development, and I don’t believe the study has shown a significant impact on test scores, at least at the high school level, from a four-day week.”
The UM study showed that the average composite ACT scores for 11th grade students enrolled in five-day week programs, averaged from 2013 to 2023, was 18.93. For students in four-day week programs, the average composite score was 18.81.
However, the study also claims that student ACT scores under four-day week programs weaken over time. Researchers compared average ACT scores for students attending districts in the first year of a four-day week schedule to the twelfth year, and measured a 2.3 point decrease in composite scores.
“When I look at this report, I take the ACT findings to be pretty negligible,” said JHS Superintendent Erik Wilkerson. “Ultimately, when the State Legislature takes a look at this, my guess is that they’ll leave things as they are. Local control is a point of pride for schools, and communities, in Montana. I don’t think the study gives cause to change that.”
JHS and other districts claim to favor the four-day school week because it aids in the recruitment and retention of teaching staff and helps bolster student enrollment. “I think the schedule is a real draw for students to both stay here and transfer in,” said Wilkerson. “And for bringing in teachers it’s obviously a great help, but as more school districts opt-in (to the four-day week) it gives us less of an advantage.”
While the UM study did not collect sufficient data to come to a conclusion on the four-day week’s impact on teacher recruitment, it reported that schools, on average, lose 3.1 students after transitioning to a four-day schedule. However, the study includes no data on student enrollment from the current school year — the first since House Bill 203 came into effect this past July, allowing students to freely enroll in any neighboring school district, so long as their desired school has room.
The UM study, through data collected through the Youth Behavior Risk Survey administered to high school students in Montana twice a year, also sought to measure potential impacts four or five-day school weeks might have on student risk behaviors. While the study was unable to identify clear evidence for a meaningful difference between cohorts, roughly 84 percent of students attending four-day week schools reported no fights at school — compared to roughly 65 percent of students at five-day week schools. Other national studies, such as one published by researcher Emily Morton in the journal “Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis” in 2022, suggest four-day school weeks may reduce the incidence of in-school fighting by as much as 31 percent, and general instances of bullying by as much as 39 percent.
Other findings in the UM study were mixed. Students at four-day week schools reported marginally decreased rates of marijuana use, though slightly higher rates of alcohol consumption. Five-day week school districts reported slightly higher overall graduation rates, while four-day school districts graduated a higher percentage of economically disadvantaged students. Daily student attendance, measured in school districts that transitioned to a four-day week for two years before and after, was situationally skewed. 31 school districts reported more consistent attendance before the transition, and 26 school districts reported improved attendance after.
“I think it (a four-day week) just brings a lot that’s positive to our kids,” said Wilkerson. “They can get a job on Friday, if they like, and, how we schedule things, they spend a lot less time out of class for extracurriculars. I think the football team missed three periods this year, at most!”
Despite certain perceived advantages to both teachers and students, the UM study seemingly debunked two common motivations Montana high schools have for transitioning to a four-day week: increased course planning time for teachers, and cost savings. High school teachers in four-day week school districts had an average of 44.35 minutes fewer to plan their courses than those in five-day week school districts. The study also identified increased costs for instruction, maintenance, and transportation at four-day week schools, though reduced expenditure on food. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the most a school can expect to save on its annual budget from transitioning to a four-day week is roughly five percent, and depends largely on how severely they close their facilities when class is not in session.
“In no way, shape, or form will I ever claim the four-day week saves us money,” said Wilkerson. “People don’t want to lose money just because you’ve shortened the week, which means schools have to come to new agreements with all the third parties that help them function. For us (JHS), that meant some language changes in the contracts, but there wasn’t any cost impact.”
While JHS officials strongly defended the use of the four-day week in Montana high schools, they also acknowledged the study’s findings of a more serious negative impact at the elementary school level. Jefferson County’s grade schools all operate on five-day schedules.
While the study included instances of four-day week elementary schools outperforming five-day week programs, there were largely dramatic proficiency gaps in reading and mathematics between cohorts. Grade schools with five-day week had up to five percent more students proficient in mathematics than four-day week schools, and up to 21 percent more proficient in reading.
Parents of younger children are also more reliant on schools to provide daycare services, the study noted, and the younger children themselves are often more vulnerable to food insecurity. A day less of school means parents have to source additional daycare, and poorer children may miss a meal they would have otherwise received at school.
“I understand the difficulties a four-day week might place on an elementary school, and why it’s so important to make sure kids still have food and services, even if you drop a day,” said Moodry. “But, here, at JHS, we aren’t considering any changes. Our weeks work really well for us.”
