Cobb County enrollment projections
2014-15: 109,767
2019-20: 112,362
Poverty and Georgia students
Graduation rate: About 40 percent of “economically disadvantaged” students did not attain a high school diploma in 2013, compared to about 30 percent of all students who didn’t graduate
Proportion growing: Economically disadvantaged students became the majority of Georgia public school students in 2007, and now comprise 62 percent of students
Household income: In 2012 Georgia was sixth in the number of food stamp recipients. Median income dropped 16 percent from 2006 to 2014
Cobb County school board members are looking to possibly extend the number of days students are in class as a way to boost achievement and to help the growing number of low-income students, who often struggle more academically compared to their more affluent peers.
The percentage of students in Cobb, who quality for free or reduced lunch, one indicator of poverty, grew from 31 percent in 2004 to about 47 percent this year, state Department of Education numbers say. The increase is also felt across Georgia, where that number is now 62 percent.
Proponents of a longer school day and year say it gives struggling students more time to learn core subjects like math and reading and can expose them to enrichment courses like music, art and foreign languages. But extending the day would cost the system more, and some parents and others say students are already at school long enough and don’t need extra time.
School board member Susan Thayer said the district faces a potential crisis, with its reputation as one of the highest-achieving school systems in Georgia at stake, if the district doesn’t adequately address this growing population of students. Cobb is the second-largest district in Georgia and 24th-largest in the U.S. with close to 110,000 students.
“Unless we seriously look at programs and try to find things to better address the needs of our low-performing students as this wave of growth comes in, this is going to change the face of our school system somewhat,” she said. “And we will find more students coming in who are having more difficulty in our classrooms, and that’s going to impact our total system scores, which can then impact the way that our school system is perceived, and even people looking at buying homes in our county.”
At a Cobb meeting last month, school board member David Morgan noted the lauded charter school network Success Academy in New York, which has longer school days, and said Cobb district leaders should study using the model.
Most growth in Cobb over the next 10 years is projected to be in Smyrna and South Cobb where a larger proportion of immigrants and poorer neighborhoods are located. Campbell and Pebblebrook high schools and their feeder schools, in particular, are expected to be overcrowded.
Cobb’s school year is 180 days, the state-mandated minimum, and while hours vary by school, a typical school day is around seven hours. The state says students must attend at least 4.5 hours each day.
Giving students more hours in class is one way some metro Atlanta school leaders are trying to address this growing population. But it can come at a cost.
“Where are you going to raise the money for that?” said Melanie Heineman, who has a child in a Cobb middle school and another in high school. She said the idea of extending time at school has merit, based on success at other schools using this model. But she doesn’t see how Cobb schools could afford it, considering the system is still recovering from budget problems in recent years.
A number of metro area schools – mainly charter schools – have had longer school days for years and consider it a successful model.
At KIPP, which operates charter schools in metro Atlanta, students attend school 192 days, eight and a half hours a day, from 7:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. At Kipp, one day a week the students go home at 2 p.m. to allow for professional development for teachers.
Leaders at KIPP say the longer day gives students more time to prepare for college and allows those performing below grade level to catch up. They say it also allows for a robust enrichment program. One of the KIPP schools in Atlanta was recently named a National Blue Ribbon school, a prestigious federal education award for overall academic excellence.
Charles R. Drew Charter School, like KIPP, is also considered a high-achieving charter school with an extended day and year. Students attend school for 185 days from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Don Doran, head of school at Drew, said many of its students are “opportunity disadvantaged” and a longer school day and year allows them to get extra enrichment opportunities like music, drama, art and field trips.
“You can’t take second-graders and have them do math from 8 to 4,” Doran said. “It’s about exposing kids to opportunity regardless of your zip code. It’s an opportunity gap our kids from certain zip codes have experienced” due to poverty.
While the overall graduation rate ticked up in Georgia last year, it slipped nearly a percentage point for the "economically disadvantaged." Nearly four in 10 of them didn't earn a diploma last year. That compares to a state graduation rate where about three in 10 don't earn a diploma.
In 2007, disadvantaged students became the majority in Georgia’s public schools, and they now comprise 62 percent of the enrollment.
According to a recent study by the National Center on Time & Learning, in 2014 at least 35 districts in more than 10 states announced they’re considering or implementing a longer school day or year in some schools. Cobb board members asked district staff to study the possibility. The board has not taken formal action on it.
Research on whether an extended school day or year helps boost student achievement is largely inconclusive. It can be effective, if students are not just getting extra time in core subjects like math and reading but also receiving enrichment, according to Barbara Stengel, associate chairwoman for teacher education at Vanderbilt University.
“It’s building experience for students,” Stengel said. “We have to try to replace the background of experience that kids who are middle class and above have as a matter of course,” that many poor kids lack.
In Cobb, school leaders tout a pilot program at Pebblebrook High School aimed at boosting achievement. The approach includes Usher's New Look program, in which all 600 freshman are participating. The program merges subjects like the music industry with math and science to show students how such subjects apply to "real life."
“I believe achievement results will follow when you have students that are engaged and learning,” said Mary Elizabeth Davis, Cobb’s chief academic officer. “We have been underserving students who need more out of their high school experience than what our historical model has provided.”
Jade Bobb, a freshman at Pebblebrook, likes the program, where she’s learned more about the music industry and how it intersects with different school subjects. As for a longer school day or year, she thinks getting more class time could be beneficial, though that might be difficult to accomplish because a lot of students are busy with homework and extracurricular activities.
“It (longer day/year) would give people more time to learn and understand what the teachers are teaching us,” she said
About the Author
