Local students spend significantly less time in school than national average

Eugene and Springfield students spend significantly less time at school than the average American student — by new estimates, three to six weeks less a year.

Newly aggregated data from public policy research firm ECOnorthwest, commissioned by Oregon educational advocacy group Stand for Children, offers insights into each district’s widely varying “contact hours” from district to district through a searchable tool. Contact hours constitute the time students spend in school from bell to bell, including transitions, instruction, lunch and recess.

The data was taken from the 2025 school year and measures districts against the state and national averages for students’ time spent at school. In addition to the large variance in instructional time within the state, Oregon ranks 47th in the nation for average hours in school according to a 2024 research article.  

The analysis release mirrors a new push by state officials to increase oversight on Oregon school districts’ instructional time. The Oregon State Board of Education recently approved Gov. Tina Kotek’s temporary rules (codifying an executive order) mandating districts not use furlough days to plug budget gaps and creating new, stricter hour requirements.

While local districts acknowledge the positive impact of increased instructional time, leaders say new state mandates must come with funds to sustain them.

How Springfield, Eugene districts measure up

Oregon is one of a small number of states with a minimum requirement for instructional hours, instead of days. Additionally, districts can include recess time, 30 hours of staff development and 30 hours of parent-teacher conferences in the minimum hours (although Kotek’s temporary rules prohibit this). 

Here are the minimum requirements:

• Grades K-8: 900 hours
• Grades 9-11: 990 hours
• Grade 12: 966 hours

Comparing instructional hours is not apples-to-apples in Oregon, because of the state’s laws that favor local flexibility and choice. Districts allocate varying amounts of the 60 hours to parent-teacher conferences and professional development time, depending on union contracts and school board decisions. 

On average, Oregon students spend 1,116 hours in school, according to the ECOnorthwest analysis, which equates to 165 days, 15 days less than the national average of 180 days, which equates to 1,231 hours. The ECOnorthwest analysis takes out half days, early releases and late starts from districts’ “total annual contact hours” to better calculate an accurate number of total, bell-to-bell hours.

Eugene School District 4J, Springfield Public Schools and Bethel School District all exceed minimum state requirements for instructional time, but vary in how they compare to state and national averages. 

• Springfield primary and secondary students average 1,135 hours in school, 19 hours more than the state average, and 96 hours less than the national average. This equates to a deficit of 15 days or three weeks, calculated by the district’s average school day length of 6.5 hours.

• 4J primary and secondary students average 1,100 hours in school, 16 hours less than the state average, and 131 hours less than the national average. This equates to a deficit of 20 days or four weeks, calculated by the district’s average school day length of 6.5 hours.

• Bethel primary and secondary students average 1,050 hours in school, 66 hours less than the state average and 181 hours less than the national average. This equates to a deficit of 30 days or six weeks, calculated by the district’s average school day length of six hours.

Local districts respond

Stand for the Children connects Oregon school districts’ lower-than-average contact hours with the state’s struggle to return from pandemic slumps in standardized testing scores.

Leaders from local districts have mixed opinions about the heavy importance placed on hours.

Alisha Dodds, Bethel communications director, said the district agrees instructional time is important.

“In Bethel, we’ve expanded summer learning, strengthened early literacy support and increased credit recovery options — giving students more opportunities to learn beyond the school day,” Dodds said in an email.

Brian Richardson, Springfield schools communications director, said Springfield Public Schools also agrees with the importance of adequate time in school, but said the importance of what happens during school hours is greater. The 2024 study that put Oregon at 47th in the nation for instructional time found increased instructional time helps student outcomes, but only when time is used effectively.

“Research has repeatedly shown that high-quality teaching practices, targeted supports, and how districts structure our valued learning time are what ultimately drive student outcomes,” Richardson said.

At 4J, Kelly McIver, communications director, said the district is working with the Oregon Department of Education to learn whether they will need to add days to future school years as a result of Kotek’s new, temporary instructional time rules. He said while adding instructional time would be valuable to student outcomes, it is “beyond the district’s means in this economic environment.”

Bethel and Springfield schools also pointed to budget constraints.

“Like any mandate, increases to required days or hours would need to be paired with dedicated, sustained resources,” Richardson said. “Ongoing shifts in state priorities can leave districts working to adapt on short timelines, which makes long-term planning more difficult.”

State education advocates push for stricter rules

Sarah Pope, executive director of Stand for Children, said the purpose of the searchable tool is not to compare districts, but to highlight a statewide issue of low standards.

Pope said in an April 22 press conference that Stand for Children supported the passage of Oregon’s Early Literacy Success Initiative. In the aftermath, however, Stand for Children heard from educators that there were not enough hours and days in the school year to implement the new curriculum. This led them to commission the ECOnorthwest analysis.

“We do want to highlight a system with a serious design problem,” Pope said. “One that combines our state-wide low expectations with very high degrees of flexibility, a long history of cutting days when budgets get tight, coupled with some of the highest rates of chronic absenteeism in the country.”

Oregon’s abysmal attendance rate (ranking 43rd out of 45 states, according to a FutureEd national analysis) is also a main focus of the Stand for Children.

The advocacy group is now pushing for a new policy mandating a floor of 180 days for all Oregon school districts.

Rep. April Dobson, D-Happy Valley, also at the press conference, said she is committed to collaborating with districts and educators to mandate 180 days.

“We’re going to be working hard at the state level to untangle the system that will give us the amount of days that our students need in school to learn and give teachers the support they need to make that happen,” Dobson said.