950 Contact hours

The Saskatchewan Party's announcement to increase student/teacher contact hours to 950 has sparked a great deal of lively debate over social media in the last 24 hours or so.  I feel compelled to weigh in on the issue and to post my own concerns.

First of all 40 hours is an arbitrary number.  Each school division will need to decide how best to implement the required extra hours. It is important to know that staff in each school division have different local bargaining agreements which govern items like preparation time, recess, lunch hours, professional development etc.  The divisions must honour these contracts so, it isn't as simple as cutting out recess as some have suggested.  Some divisions may choose to lengthen the school day itself, others may add additional days depending upon the contractual requirements and what the divisions feel will be most appropriate for their students, staff and stakeholders.

The question that I ask is "who benefits?" is the point of the additional minutes to equate instructional minutes from province to province?  Is it, as some have suggested, to ensure teachers are working longer days?  Is it to improve academic achievement?  Is it to increase graduation rates?  The purpose is not yet clear to me therefore it is difficult to weigh in on whether or not the additional contact time will achieve the desired results!

Quantity of instructional time and quality of instructional time are significantly different.  More time does not necessarily equate with more learning.  Further, even if adding contact minutes for students already attending school does improve achievement, it still does not address the students who do not attend school.

Currently, there is very little that individual schools can do to enforce attendance.  Schools can contact homes, send letters, do home visits, connect families with other agencies and support programs but schools cannot force students to come to school.  Social Services indicates that non-attendance does not constitute neglect so the Ministry of Social Services cannot support schools in this regard.  The gap in learning widens as these children miss more and more per-requisite material and basic skills.  This makes coming to school even less appealing for them.  By the time students like this reach high school they are so far behind that it seems pointless to bother coming.  I doubt very much that lengthening the school day or school year will do anything to address this increasing and significant problem.

Our families who need the most support have access to the least resources.  These same families have often had negative experience with schools and tend to be distrustful of teachers and school professionals.  If we want to positively impact these children and provide them with more and better educational opportunities, the Provincial Government needs to do more than make the school day longer.  We need a comprehensive collaborative plan including the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Services, and the Ministry of Education.  We need resources targeting these most vulnerable Saskatchewan citizens. We need support for these families in the areas of parenting, education, employment, health and various other services.

I know that when you ask people what they need more of in order to do something well, the answer is inevitably going to be 'time' but it isn't just about time, it is about how you use that time and for some of our students, time is running out.  I am afraid for them, 950 is not the solution.