Longer School Day = More Learning? Not Necessarily (1/2)

Recently we talked about how some American schools have made changes in the traditional school year. Their goal is to improve student learning.

Some have extended the school year, or reorganized it to avoid a long summer break. Another choice is to extend the school day. A new report from the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University examines research into how effective this is.

The traditional school day has not changed much in more than a century. Activities or special programs might mean a longer day. But younger children usually go to school from about 9 o'clock in the morning until about 3 in the afternoon. Older ones are traditionally in school from about 7 a.m. until around 2 p.m.

Some high schools have changed to later start times because of findings that teenagers learn better that way. But the new report says results have been mixed. Teachers say students are more awake. But students say the changes interfere with after-school activities or jobs. By 2001, almost one-third of all secondary schools had some form of block scheduling. The idea is to provide longer periods in the school day to teach basic subjects.

参考译文：

最近我们谈论了一些美国学校改变传统学期设置的做法。他们的目的是为了促进学生的学习。

有的学校延长了学年，或者调整时间以避免暑期长假。另外有的学校选择延长每天在校的学习时间。最近一个来自印第安那大学教育评估和教育政策中心的报告调查了这些做法的有效性。

一个多世纪以来传统的学时设置都没有什么变化。如果安排了课外活动或特别活动，那么那一天的在校时间会多些。不过低年级学生一般早上九点上学，下午三点放学。而高年级学生的课时安排通常是从早上七点到下午两点左右。

有些高中把上学时间延后，因为他们发现孩子们那样会学得更好。然而一份报告说明这样的改变结果喜忧参半。老师们觉得学生上课更清醒了，而学生们则认为上课时间的拖后妨碍了他们参加课后活动或者兼职工作。在2001年前，几乎三分之一的中学都安排长班授课（block scheduling，即采用90分钟课时制而取代传统的45分钟课时制的设想，在20世纪90年代风行）。这个想法是为了在每天的学时中多安排些时间来教授基础学科。