Extended school days, or extended learning time, have become ubiquitous
among charter schools and lower-performing schools looking to improve
academic achievement. The average school day in the United States varies
from state to state, but most stays require approximately 180 days for
the school year to be complete. Each state’s Department of Education
determines its own minimum school day length and stipulations for
fulfilling the 180 days. The way states add this time up can get complicated,
but typically if schools or districts choose to add time to the legal
minimum school day, the day would be considered extended. For most
states, 180 days of school adds up to somewhere between approximately 900 and 1200 hours
of instruction per year, which is actually relatively high on a global
scale. Even Finland, whose test scores consistently top international
rankings, doesn’t have compulsory schooling until age seven, and their school day is shorter than a typical American day.