Youth Indicators 1996 / Indicator 38, Chart 1

Indicator 38. International Comparisons of Educational Systems

Average number of days per school year, by country: 1991

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Learning Science.

The United States has a shorter school year than many other countries, but the school day is relatively long. In a 1991 study, 12 out of 16 other countries had school years longer than the United States, but only France reported a longer school day. Some countries, such as Korea, averaged an hour less of instructional time per day. Because of the relatively long school day, U.S. schools had more instruction hours per year than 11 out of 16 countries.