Education Is An Essential Element Of Early Life

The American educational system is based on the traditional, nine-month school calendar, which has been in place for over a century. Originally, the United States was an agrarian society. The majority of Americans lived on farms. People made most of the items that they needed, and with little trade necessary, there was no need for schooling (McLain, 1973). However, as people branched out into neighboring areas, they needed to learn new skills, such as basic arithmetic to price items, measure land, and more (McLain, 1973). As a result, it became the responsibility of those who were less needed on the farm or in the factory to acquire knowledge for the family (McLain, 1973).

When a person first mentions the idea of year-round schooling, their comment is usually met with a look of dread. The image of year-round schooling is that students must go to school every day throughout the entire year with no breaks. This is an untrue image. Students are given frequent breaks throughout the school year to make up for the shorter summer break. It was first used in the 1800s, which goes against many people’s thoughts that it is a new alternative schooling proposal (Research). At that time year-round schooling was used in industrial cities to teach English to children of immigrants. By the early 1900s, year-round schooling was used as a method to reduce overcrowding, underfunding,

“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”

The extended year schooling, or also known as year-round schooling, is what contributes to the other nations having a higher IQ. China’s students go to school for 223 days and have an average IQ of 107. France shares our amount of days and shares our average IQ of 98. Also, the year-round schooling will stop the summer “Brain Drain.” The “Brain Drain” is the loss of academic skills that happens over the summer. The year-round schooling is the best path towards having an outstanding nation.

The educational system in the United States was originally developed using concepts from around the world, created using ingenuitive ideas from countries such as China, Japan, and Korea. However, as the United States quickly moved into position as the leading country for state-directed educational standards, America looked less and less to the systems of other nations and more into how we could improve what was locally and currently being applied in education. Consequently, an improved type of education instruction was officially launched in 2010. These new state standards, practically titled Common Core, were declared to focus on developing a child’s skills in reasoning, problem solving, communication, and competition (Conrad, et al. 52). While the standards are professed to be an extremely practical and beneficial method of teaching today, there are issues which have recently surfaced and raised some concerns. The Common Core State Standards are emerging as the subjects of a provocative controversy in society today as they prompt discussion on global economic efficiency, nationwide academic standards, and the ultimate well-being of school-age children.

"They do not view YRE as a calendar configuration for space, achievement, or enrichment, but rather as a part of the transformation toward a philosophy of long continuous learning." (Guthrie). One of the main purposes of Year-Round Schooling is to lower the break time between school sessions. This causes children to have a better chance of retaining the knowledge that they learned from the previous year (Wyoming Tribune Eagle). Year-round schools consist of the same amount of school days, 180 days, the difference is that it is spread out over 12 months instead of the original 10. When the original school schedule was made, it was made for families who farmed in the summer. Modern day Americans do not have to focus on the economic issue

Many people, including President Barack Obama believe that year round schooling is the best option for American students, because the year round system gives students equal amount of time in school, while increasing the efficiency of a single school building (Ave 1B). “More than two million students in some three thousand U.S. schools attend year round programs in 41 states” (Lawson 48). This astonishing number seems large, but really is only 2% of students in the United States. Many of the perceived advantages of year round schooling revolve around cost and learning efficiency, but in reality the traditional system gives essentially equal

From the early 1900’s through today, America society as a whole has embraced the nine month general education school year. As we progress into the future, we need to look for more efficient ways to educate the general populous. When we initially went to a nine month school year, there were a multitude of reasons. As we look at the reasons why we began to utilize a nine month school schedule, we need to consider both the advantages and disadvantages of transitioning to a year round school model. While we continue to grow and expand as a nation, we need to reevaluate our current school model. From this, we will look at why schools should transition to year round schools, and abandon the

Have you ever really pondered the way schooling is done today? Have you ever wondered if it is really the best fit? Some experts say that a all year round schooling calendar would be more beneficial to students. Paul Von Hippel, a researcher and sociologist of ohio state University, says “Students have a better tendency to remember material because of short breaks.” While other people believe that summer vacation is an american tradition and shouldn’t be changed. If I could plan my ideal school, I would create an all year round calendar, teach specified subjects, and begin the school day later. Summer break dates back to the 1800s(Pearson, 2010). Now is the time for a change, or is it?

America is 17th in education, but year-round schools would fixed that. Year-round schools are schools with around 3 week breaks, but a shorter summer with five weeks. Year-round schools also have it that students have differ break times, it also have 175-180 days like a normal school have.

Since the early days of the American one-room schoolhouse in the 1800’s and early 1900’s, students stayed out of school during the critical farming months, but contrary to popular belief, the months which students missed school were not the summer months. In an agrarian community, crucial months on a farm are in the spring and fall, during planting and harvest. In fact, students spent more time in school during the summer months (PBS NewsHour, Sept 7, 2014). according to historian Kenneth Gold (2014) the school calendar as we know it has more to do with nineteenth century school reform which worked to provide a nationwide standardized calendar than the needs of farming families. The choice of a long summer break was driven more by the sweltering heat in urban environments before the days of air conditioning when the wealthy could leave the city for cooler county air. The results of this school calendar reform look much the same today as they did then. Students are in

Throughout the last two centuries the United States has led the world as a premier industrialized nation. Citizens enjoy premier transportation, cutting edge technology, a reliable government, and access to ample employment opportunities. Even though the U.S. enjoys privileges envied all around the world, the kindergarten - twelfth grade (k-12) education calendar is stuck in the stone ages. Composed in a time when children were relied on to work on their families’ farms during the long months of summer, the traditional school calendar did serve a purpose. However, lifestyles have radically changed from the times of the countries’ early development, and it is only rational to adopt a school schedule fitting for the times.

This paper reviews four important trends in our educational system today across America and discusses the impact of these trends on our future educational system. We live in an ever evolving world with constant changes that are affecting every aspect of our lives daily. Our educational system has not been immune to these changes and shouldn’t be since these changes and our ability to adapt to these changes will determine our future academic success and our place in a global society.

It is October 15th. Normally, students would be at school, working for hours on end at math, communication arts, and science. But this year is different. This year your school has now entered into the year-round calendar system. At home, you can enjoy the season of fall with pumpkins, Halloween, and beautiful weather. The idea of year round school has most commonly been pushed aside because of the misconception that it is too much school, or an on-going cycle of learning. However, those who declare this, do not understand the year-round school concept. Year-round school provides the same number of days as the traditional calendar. The difference, which will change our society and the achievement rate of our students in the future, is that the days are reordered into intersessions. The mechanisms of year round school include students attending school for a nine week period, then following this is a three week break. This rotation occurs year-round with a slightly longer summer break. Consequently, Though many people agree with keeping tradition with the popular school calendar, new evidence and testimony proves that year-round school provides the better avenue because the world is evolving, it benefits low income students, and intersessions are more effective than summer break.

The United States imposes a unique school year that is unlike any other nation. Terms are either divided into semesters or quarters with final grades at the end of each term. There are typically 180 school days spanning over nine months with winter and spring breaks as well as day off from school for national holidays such as Labor Day or Memorial Day. At the end of each school year, there is a three month summer with no school in session. It is commonly believed that summer vacation in the United States began as a result of farm children having to work during the summer months. However, early school systems instituted summer because the hot weather caused wealthy people to pull their children from school and vacation in the countryside. Since air conditioning is widely used today, there is little need for a long summer break. The United States’ education system needs to switch to a school year with a one month summer and several short breaks in order to maximize the success of students.