Four-Day School Week Adoption: The Case of Texas

The four-day school week (4DSW) has been gaining popularity across the nation, most often adopted in rural areas, as is the case in Texas. As an important first step in understanding the student and teacher outcomes associated with 4DSW adoption in such a wide and varied state, this paper explores the various approaches to 4DSW adoption and the ways in which they vary. We begin by documenting the extent of 4DSW adoption in Texas through collecting and qualitatively analyzing school calendars. We then create a dataset of 4DSW school districts to explore the demographic makeup of the districts adopting 4DSW over time. Our findings suggest that two typologies of 4DSW have emerged in Texas, full 4DSW and hybrid 4DSW, and a vast majority of 4DSW school districts predominantly utilize their off days for teacher-centered activities, such as professional development (PD) and additional planning time. We also find that a large proportion of 4DSW school districts are primarily rural and small, have a higher proportion of White students and lower proportions of students of color and English learners compared to the statewide averages. The paper brings forth the nuances in 4DSW adoption and discusses future work necessary to explore such policy adoption in small and rural school districts.