Changing School Grade To Year-Round Education

Policy makers focus on high test scores to help to fund the schools, not focusing on teaching how the succeeding generation should expand their knowledge and continue to reach for a higher education. Schools focus on reading and mathematics, but the “...educated consumers of schooling want their students to have a full, balanced, and rich curriculum.” These affluent parents want their children to have a more diverse education, including the arts and extracurricular activities. Although this is in more affluent schools, poorer schools are forced into only focusing on the core classes that are required by state for standardized testing since they do not have the resources to do otherwise. In the article, “Still Separate, Still Unequal,” Kozol reads a letter from a student in a poor school, wishing Kozol could “make her school into a ‘good’ school-- ‘like the other kings have’”

When individuals think of year-round education, many think that it is an extension of the traditional school year with no breaks and more class time. However, this is not the case. Year-round school systems have the same number of days as any other school system, but the breaks are spread throughout the year differently than the traditional school year. This unchanging view and failure to realize the facts about the system from many people is what makes year-round education a hot topic to debate in terms of whether or not to expand the number of schools who use the system or not. Year-round education can be one of the most beneficial choices for children, as shown in Brigid Schulte’s article, when she describes the benefits her children have

In his article “Go Year-Round: A Push for True Summer School”, Milton Chen, the executive director of Edutopia, urges readers to use the year-round schooling system. He explains in brief words what the summer vacation was for. “…when farm families needed young people home during the summer months to replace the three R's with the two P's -- plantin' and pickin' " (Chen). He carries on discussing that the problem with the school days is not only the amount, but the schedule of the school day. The curriculum is too tight; neither the students nor the teachers have the time to step away from the books and text and learn from the outside. The students do not have the chance to go into the outside world and observe what is going on in the society that they live in. Additionally, the teachers do not have the chance to decide how their time is spent because it is spent on the strict schedule of the classroom.

School? All year? Although a large quantity are against the fact, many scientists are proving that a full time student attending school throughout a rolling 12 months receives higher grades and retains more information than those who receive a summer break with zero academic activity. While year-round schooling would negatively affect student’s personal lives, it would still ameliorate the students learning process throughout the year.

This is one reason that we should not have year round school in the United States. Year round schools don't learn any more than the kids in traditional nine month school calendar. The article says,"Students in "year-round" schools don't learn more than their peers in traditional nine-month schools, new research has found." This shows that kids in year round school don't learn any more then kids in the nine month school calendar. If kids don't learn any more than their peers than they shouldn't have to go to year round school. Kids in school deserve to have a summer vacation to hang out with friends and family and to be able to travel.

“The U.S. research challenges one of the main arguments for abandoning conventional schedules: year- round schooling improves achievement because it prevents students from falling behind during the summer and because it does not waste precious time reviewing past years’ lessons”

Have you ever wondered what the difference between traditional schooling and year-round education is? Maybe you didn’t know that there are more than one type of year-round education. A year-round school schedule can benefit educators, students, and even families. Year-round schooling is where the breaks in school are on a balanced schedule. Instead of having a three month summer break, there would be 60 days off and then the students would be back to school. If on a multi track schedule, teachers could use their off time to substitute at their school on a different track or at another school to get paid more. For students, the shorter breaks away from school increase retention rates, therefore reducing the amount of review necessary at

Schools. Students in year round schools dont learn more than their peers in traditional nine month schools, new research was found.

Some advantages of year-round schooling include improved achievement, improved attendance by both teachers and students, reduced discipline problems, lower teacher stress, increased motivation due to frequent breaks, and increased opportunities for enrichment (Palmer and Bemis). During the two week breaks in between school sessions, students have the opportunity to take classes on karate, ballet, photography, cooking, and swimming. This intersession provides time for hands-on, big project classes that get kids involved in topics that interest them. Intersession can also be used as an intervention for students who are falling behind. “Karl Alexander, sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University, studied 800 students for more than 20 years in Baltimore’s elementary schools. He found that by ninth grade, low-income students had fallen 3 ½ grade levels behind their middle-class peers. And most of that gap was attributable to learning lost over the long traditional summer” (Schulte, 2009). The biggest driving force and proponent of year-round schooling is the effect of the “summer slide.” Students lose two months of achievement in math skills and students from low-income families lose more than two months in reading achievement according to the national Summer Learning

Year-round school improves students’ academic achievement. Because students have multiple breaks throughout the year, they experience less academic burnout. They have frequent opportunities to refresh and restart their learning experience. Year-round schools have lower drop-out rates (2%) than traditional schools (5%) (StatisticBrain.com). In addition, one study of six elementary schools, three on traditional calendars and three on year-round schedules, found positive effects of year-round education. The sample of students in the year-round schools posted overall test-scores that were higher than students at the schools with traditional calendars (Education Week). Not only do students at year-round schools do better throughout the year, but

One of the most documented reasons for switching to a year round school is what’s known as the “summer slide.” Students leave spring semester after taking their exams and don’t think about school for almost 12 weeks. These students then come back in the fall not only failing at subjects they knew three months prior, but in dire need of having the foundations re taught to them. This forces teachers to spend valuable class time re-teaching lessons, which dips into class time that should be used for grade appropriate lessons. In her article, O’Sulivan theorizes, “the less times students are away from school, the less time teachers will have to spend reviewing material from the previous year and acclimating students to classroom rules and procedures”.

Year round school eliminates regression of learning due to extended time off. Having a year round school can reduce what people known as summer learning loss ("The Pros"). Almost every child will experience a decrease in their math over the time of summer break each summer break ("SUMMER LEARNING"). “On an average students lose two months of reading skills over summer” ("SUMMER LEARNING"). After

“Students in “year-round” schools don't learn more than their peers in traditional nine-month schools”- Paul Von Hippel

This shows that year-round school is at least as good as the traditional schedule in helping students learn. Year-round school also allows more time for remedial classes during the breaks, which can help students who are falling behind during the school year catch back up. This is in contrast with summer school, which only occurs after school is over and students are finished with the curriculum, making students have to start a totally new class just to catch up. Remedial classes reinforce material that is fresh in students’ minds instead of forcing them to recall something they may have learned half a year ago and probably forgotten. This once again cuts down on the time it takes to bring students up to speed with their classes.

The level of American scholastic achievement has been outpaced by other nations, even with increased spending by state and federal agencies (Ryan). This is by no means a reflection on any particular group or to insinuate that parents are not doing the best for their children. There are many challenges that students and families face each and every day that have effects on a student’s achievement. A re-structuring of schools should be considered to better utilize the assets that are provided and to assist in establishing a more effective structure for students. Year-round schools can provide both of these benefits and should be implemented nationwide.