Oxnard’s Extended School Year Draws Mixed Reviews

Students in Howard Davis’ economics class at Hueneme High School usually don’t get a chance to learn much about international trade, unemployment and inflation.

But this year is different. It’s longer.

Thanks to an experimental state-funded program, teachers in the Oxnard Union High School District have another three weeks with students this year--time that Davis is using to delve into macroeconomics.

Under the four-year pilot project, expected to cost $12 million if grants are renewed each year by the state Legislature, Oxnard students and teachers will spend more time in the classroom than their counterparts in California’s other public school districts.

Just over a year into the project, district officials say it’s too early to tell if 195 days of class will improve student achievement. But they say the investment is worth it--whatever the outcome.

State officials, however, are not counting on the experiment to change the face of California public education, and some education experts question whether a longer school year alone will make a difference.

And many students are giving the experiment a big thumbs-down.

“I don’t think I’m going to come out of here a genius because of three extra weeks,” said Oxnard High School senior Carly Kloeris.

Senior Alison Withers agreed, complaining that the longer year has left her too tired to focus on schoolwork.

“I’m not learning anything else. If anything, I’m learning less,” she said.

Practical Considerations

Administrators in the district, which includes five high schools in Oxnard and Camarillo, however, are upbeat. Teachers are reporting more in-depth explanation of subjects, writing assignments and group projects, district officials said.

“There are some indications that things are improving and looking pretty good,” district Supt. Bill Studt said. “But those are anecdotal at best.”

Ray Wood, an art teacher at Oxnard High School, likes the longer year, saying this is the first time in 29 years of teaching he has been given more time to teach.

“With the extra three weeks, it allows us to let these kids really work,” Wood said, noting that his students have been able to complete more projects.

That’s why Jim Castro, a government and work opportunity teacher at Hueneme High, supports the program.

“I think it helps increase student learning, and that’s good,” Castro said. “That’s what we’re all here for.”

The longer year has caused some practical difficulties, though. Hueneme junior Christine Glenn, for example, will only have time for one summer-school class because of the longer year; she had hoped to take two to lighten her senior-year load.

Extending the traditional 180-day school year also means Oxnard students’ schedules don’t always jibe with the world around them. Some say college-bound students will have to rush to take their placement exams.

“Those are legitimate concerns,” Assistant Supt. Gary Davis said. “We had to make a hard call on this. By no means were those concerns ignored, but our priority is our pilot program to improve student achievement.”

Extending the school year is the brainchild of Studt and Davis, an idea the two hatched while looking for ways to increase student achievement for the 14,000 students in the district.

They liked the idea of making the year longer, reasoning that more time in class translates into more learning and higher test scores.

When they began considering the project in 1995, they wanted to extend the year by 20 days.

But that was quickly rejected after consultants at School Services of California, a private consulting and lobbying firm that represents public schools, said it wasn’t feasible. The district revised the plan to add 15 days and went to work finding money and local support.

With the help of Assemblyman Nao Takasugi (R-Oxnard), the district got $1.75 million for an initial seven extra days of school at the end of last year. The state Legislature approved another $3.7 million last summer for 15 extra days this year.

The district hopes to get a similar sum in this year’s budget to underwrite the costs--including extra pay for teachers--of an extended school year in 1999.

More Time to Teach

While legislators focus on ensuring the funding, school officials must work to keep their students focused on their studies.

“They’re not bored, because the teachers are working. Nobody’s bored,” Oxnard High School Principal Daisy Tatum said. “Everybody’s on task here.”

At Hueneme High, English teacher Brenda Christianson is spending the final two weeks of class teaching the J.D. Salinger classic “Catcher in the Rye.”

“The biggest factor that I’ve noticed is that students have kind of tuned out,” Christianson said. “That’s what I’m fighting.”

Although the English teacher thinks change in education is necessary, she still isn’t convinced extending the school year is the best route.

Some experts agree.

“More of the same is not going to help many kids. More of something better might,” said Thomas Sobol, former commissioner of education in New York and now a professor of education at Columbia University.

Joe Nathan, director of the Center for School Change at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute, said longer school years can make a difference for students but curriculum changes also are essential.

“Wise policy is not just about extending the year, it’s about changing what the teachers do while they are there,” Nathan said.

Studt agreed that more class time alone won’t solve everything.

“I don’t think it’s a complete cure-all, but I think it’s a major part of the medicine,” he said.

Some curriculum changes have been made. Teacher training, usually scheduled on school days, is now held after school. Incoming freshmen with deficient language-arts skills will be required to enroll in summer school.

And this week, district officials will ask the school board to approve higher standards for students.

Despite the energy and money the district is pouring into its unique program, state officials don’t expect the experiment to show concrete results.

“Are longer school years going to increase student achievement? We might not even be able to tell once we get the evaluation,” said Jannelle Lee, who has tracked the Oxnard project for the legislative analyst’s office in Sacramento.

Ted Bartell, director of research and evaluation for the Ventura County schools office, is responsible for the evaluation of the pilot project. His initial assessment indicates some curriculum changes have already occurred.

“We’re actually getting a fairly large number of reports of changes in course content and instruction practices that they have introduced as a result of the extra time, and those would be fairly encouraging,” Bartell said.

Favorable reports now and later can’t be entirely conclusive, making a statewide policy change on extending school years difficult. But discussion may be prompted.

“If it’s successful, it’s going to create an interesting dilemma,” Studt said. “The state’s going to have to consider if they want to fund it. I think it surfaces an interesting debate.”

Oxnard officials are not the first educators to confront the complexities of extended school years. The idea has been tossed around for decades, but in the last 10 years educators nationwide have started to take the idea seriously.

An influential study called “Prisoners of Time” was used by Oxnard officials to study the question. The 1994 study by the National Education Commission on Time and Learning found that American school systems are “captives of clock and calendar.”

“Educators do not have the time they need to do their job properly,” the report said.

Studt agreed, noting that every year educators in California are asked to teach more without being given more time to do it.

Proponents of the extended year also point to high levels of school achievement in Germany and Japan, where students spend 225 to 240 days in class.

Takasugi cites this as a major reason why he believes the traditional American school system is out of date and the longer year in Oxnard schools is improving education.

“It’s moved our schools on par with other countries. When they get out of school, they are going to be on a global competitive basis with these kids,” Takasugi said.

But the American love of long summers, a high price tag and unknown results have turned many districts away from trying to tack extra days onto the school year. A handful of schools around the country, however, have begun to implement programs similar to the Oxnard project. Early indications appear promising, but solid conclusions are tough to formulate.

In the meantime, Howard Davis will continue to teach a few more macroeconomics lessons before his students take off for the summer. Although seniors in his third-period class wish they had finished high school a few weeks ago, some admit the longer year hasn’t been all bad.

“In the three weeks, we’ll learn a little extra,” senior Julia Kaopua said. “It’s not going to kill us.”