A new study found that 63% of teachers applying to work at the Independence School District said a four-day school week was among their top three reasons for applying. It showed that 27% of applicants rated the shortened week as their number one priority.
Independence, Missouri’s largest school district operating four days a week, made the switch in 2023.
What was the result? Job application numbers exploded.
Missouri State University’s Jon Turner led the study.
“Their application numbers went up 360%. Obviously, that’s something that is worth looking at to see why are they getting all these applications,” he said. “So, that’s the reason we began to look at Independence and dig deep on where are all these additional teacher applications coming from.”
Independence Superintendent Dale Herl said that recruitment and retention have increased since the change. The study suggested that the four-day school week is a key factor in attracting and retaining educators in a competitive workplace.
“You have to understand the marketplace is so competitive now and if you look at Missouri specific data, for example the latest reports coming out of DESE (Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) find that beginning first year teachers, only about half make it to year six. That’s unsustainable,” Turner said.
Turner said rural school districts have always dealt with recruitment and retention issues, but because Independence School District moved to a four-day week, state lawmakers took notice.
The district has more than 14,000 students and 1,200 certified staff.
“If the four-day week is attractive, as our research from Independence says it is and other research we’ve done around the state in rural settings say this four-day week is attractive, there may be people in Jefferson City that want to push back against it, but they’re not those local school boards and local board leaders that are trying to fill these positions,” Turner told Missourinet.
According to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, 182 Missouri school districts are operating four days a week this school year.
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