Long School Year Getting Good Marks

An extended school year in the Oxnard Union High School District has helped improve SAT scores and reduce dropout rates, but may have caused more absences, according to an independent evaluation by two Los Angeles researchers.

Students also took more Advanced Placement tests, and more students who spoke limited English were reclassified as fluent, the report said.

“I’ve been waiting for two years for this, so it’s a pretty good Christmas present,” Supt. Bill Studt said. “We’re pretty excited to have data to substantiate some of the benefits.”

In 1996, Oxnard became the first district in California to add days to its school calendar. That year, high school students attended class for 187 days, seven days longer than other California public school students. Now, the students attend school 15 additional days each year.

Studt and Assistant Supt. Gary Davis designed the extended school year to improve performance in the 14,000-student district. The district received $14 million in state funds to test the program for four years.

The two liked the idea of making the school year longer, anticipating that more time in class would translate to more learning and higher test scores.

So far, that’s exactly what the added days have done, the report said.

“It’s not rocket scientist’s work,” Studt said. “To learn how to play the piano, if one person practices twice a week and another person practices four times, who is going to be the best?”

Ted Bartell and Jeffrey White, researchers for the Los Angeles Unified School District, prepared the independent evaluation for the state legislative analyst. They presented the results to Oxnard school board members Wednesday night.

“The most important benefits are the achievement gains that seem to occur in different subject areas at different grade levels,” said Bartell, director of research and evaluation for the Los Angeles district.

Researchers have been evaluating the extended year since the fall of 1997 and will continue their analysis through next summer. They have observed teachers, surveyed students and teachers, and analyzed test results.

The researchers point out, however, that the study is preliminary and that they will present a final report in the fall of 2000.

They also added that other factors, such as class size reduction or new teaching methods, may have contributed to the improved student performance and reduced dropout rates.

In surveys, teachers said the extended school year has allowed them to add material to their courses and to teach topics more thoroughly. They also said they worked with more students one-on-one, tried new teaching methods and increased the amount of student work.

One-third of teachers, though, said they did not see benefits to the extended year.

Students said they have received more help and more homework since the days were added. They also commented that teachers explained concepts more in depth.

By analyzing three separate standardized tests, researchers noted gains in both 11th- and 12th-grade math and reading scores over the three-year period. They also reported improvements in ninth-grade math and 10th-grade reading.

SAT scores jumped 14 points in verbal and 12 points in math during the past three years. Students also took more Advanced Placement exams, but the pass rates were lower. And the dropout rate decreased from 2.9% to 1.6% after three years with the extended year.

“Any time you give teachers extra time with students, you are going to have a benefit,” Hueneme High School Principal Roger Rice said. “There’s no doubt that it’s done our students a great service.”

The only downside, according to the report, was the number of absences. When the days were added onto the school year, students missed school 1.7 more days and teachers missed 1.3 more days.

“Students at that point of the year are seeing their friends that are out of school,” Bartell said. “So there could have been a greater tendency for some of the students to feel that they should not be in class.”

The researchers added, however, that the absent rate seems to be lower this year.

This is the last year of the pilot project, but Studt hopes that state officials will decide to continue supporting the program and allocate money for other districts.

“I’d like to find a way to continue to fund it, but at this point, it’s up in the air. It’s up to Sacramento,” he said. “We’re anxious to see if there is any interest in trying to replicate it so other districts can try it out.”