The Impact of a Four-Day School Week on Teacher Recruitment: A Case Study of a Large Urban School District

By Jon S. Turner, EdD. and Ximena Uribe-Zarain, PhD.

Missouri State University

Currently, over a third of public school districts in Missouri utilize a four-day school week (4DSW). The overwhelming majority that currently use a shortened school week are small, rural school districts.  The primary reason cited by districts for transitioning to the 4DSW is to recruit and retain certified educators in an increasingly competitive workforce marketplace. While, up to this point, the four-day school week has been a rural school district phenomenon, this is beginning to change as larger districts also struggle to find and retain staff.  This study examined the 4DSW influence on job applications to the Independent School District (ISD), which adopted a four-day school week for the 2023-2024 school year. With over 14,000 students and over 1,200 certified staff, ISD is by far the largest 4DSW district in Missouri. As policymakers analyze the 4DSW, it is important to investigate how the size and diversity of a school impact a school district's ability to attract and retain teachers.  

Key Points:

• Sixty-three percent of the applicants rated the 4DSW schedule as one of their top three priorities for applying for a job at ISD. 

• Twenty-seven percent of the applicants ranked the 4DSW schedule as their number one priority. 

• According to applicants, if given two similar job offers from districts with different schedules, 61% said a 4DSW schedule would make them much more willing to accept a job offer. 

• The vast majority of applicants are from Independence and the surrounding Kansas City metropolitan area.