The think tank Autonomy UK has just released a new report, A Four-Day Week For Schools. Not surprisingly, teachers like the idea, especially after the last couple years.

There have been some schools or districts in the US that have moved to a 4-day week, but most have done so because of budgetary pressures, or they’re schools in rural areas trying to improve teacher retention or reduce the amount of time children have to spend commuting every week. The impact on student performance seems to be slight (though there’s some disagreement about this), and it definitely benefits teachers.

The biggest problem has been with the mismatch between a 4-day school week and a 5-day workweek: shifting schools to a 4-day week creates a challenge for working parents. Yet another reason to make this a coordinated shift across the public sector, private sector, and schools.

The Guardian also has an article about a school in London that’s moved to a 4.5 day week, similar to the schools in the UAE that just shifted to a shorter workweek in January.