It might work well for some fields (e.g., programming), but for the general labor force this idea doesn't seem like a very well thought.
I still don't know why programmers think their profession is so fabulously unique that their office time scheduling can't even apply to any other industry.
Source: R. Gordon, “Rise and fall of American growth.”
I don't recall a source, but I'm fairly sure that American school classes last longer than what data shows is effectual, i.e. teaching a class longer than X minutes (I think it's 30 or 40) has no demonstrable effect.
I found it worked out great for all subjects. You could have a mini lecture first to learn something new, have a break, then have a bunch of time applying what you just learned.
Or if we had lectures we had the lecture first then just as much time after for questions.
You could watch a documentary and then have a follow-up discussion.
We also didn't start classes until 9 AM, because the school knew that teenagers in general aren't at the top of their game in the morning.
I really liked that setup.
"In the LinkedIn post, Grant was weighing in on an Atlantic article about the time gap between when school and work days end, a bane for many parents. But it's not the first time Grant has given his stamp of approval to less work with more productivity."
The workday reduction is a bit hand-wavy - it sounds good on the surface but when you get into the nitty gritty.
Mine already did. Early dismissal at around 12:30 every friday. Thank goodness I have a stay-at-home mom for a wife, because I don't know how you're supposed to deal with that and also have a job.
Actually I do know- they offer paid daycare on fridays. It's still a little silly.
I'm very lucky that I have support from family and an employer that is very accommodating to my schedule, as I am a divorced dad with a full time job.
And how long is elementary school? 8AM-3PM? If teachers weren't often required to do work outside of class, those hours sound pretty reasonable.