Researchers have found that children attending schools for just four days in a week perform better in mathematics than those who attend a traditional five-day school week.
“What interested me about our results is they were completely opposite to what we anticipated,” said Mary Beth Walker, dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University in the US.
The study compared fourth-grade reading and fifth-grade math test scores for students who participated in a four-day school week, versus those who attended a five-day school week.
The researchers found that a four-day school week had a statistically significant impact on math scores for fifth-grade students, while reading scores were not affected.
The study suggests there is little evidence that moving to a four-day week compromises student academic achievement.