Many secondary schools are beginning to question the impact that a school schedule has on student learning. Some schools are trying innovative schedules designed to provide choice and variety for high school students. Recently, San Luis Obispo High School was asked by our Superintendent to reconsider our current trimester schedule (see Appendices, Figure D) and review other alternative schedules that would benefit the increasingly diverse students of San Luis Obispo. Students, parents, and many teachers have been upset by this request and fail to see the validity of changing the schedule. Teachers were told that the trimester schedule is inequitable as the three trimesters equate to two semesters, thus students at SLOHS are receiving an unfair advantage over students at our sister school, Morro Bay High School. Additionally, the claim was made that those students who are socio-economically …show more content…
The issues that MBHS has faced with the rotating block have to do with the length of classes and the problem of not seeing all students every day. Teachers at MBHS claim that students have a difficult time staying focused in classes that last 110 minutes per day. Additionally, teachers do not see all students every day, and sometimes even for multiple days when students are involved in athletics. As MBHS went through the process of reviewing their daily schedule they focused on reducing minutes based on periods taught and consistently seeing students every single day, or at least four out of the five days of the week. MBHS staff devised a hybrid block semester schedule (see Appendices, Figure G) which will go up against their traditional rotating block on the ballot. Similiar to SLOHS, our Superintendent and Board of Eduaction will make the final decision after the votes are
Everyone has always hated getting up super early to go to school. As children get older they move to different schools, from elementary to middle to high school, and the start times get earlier. In elementary school it was never a problem getting up but getting older, it always got harder to get up and the days were always longer. Schools start so early in the morning that it is hard to focus and students tend to miss more of their earlier classes and attend all of their later classes. Schools everywhere should start later because it would benefit the students and teachers.
Many schools across the America have tried implementing year-round education. However, some school districts that tried YRE go back to the 180- day schedule (Sardo-Brown, Deborah, and Michael Rooney 1). When year-round education is proposed most of the time opposition is met. In 1992, parents of a possible pilot school were surveyed on their thoughts. 59% of the parents responded. There was an overwhelming amount of rejection. Just 10% of those surveyed favored YRE where 83% were against (Sardo-Brown, Deborah, and Michael Rooney 1).
Year-round schools have gained popularity among the United States, being a very communicated topic within middle class communities. These schools are generally argued about by whether they are beneficial or not. While there are many advantages to year-round schools, there are some disadvantages as well. A few of these disadvantages include the expenses of the schools, the schedules the schools provide, the involvement within the schools, and the actual effectiveness of these schools.
Block schedules usually follow an alternating A-B schedule. In other words, students attend 4 classes on A days and 4 different classes on B days. The weakness is this type of schedule becomes apparent in the event of snow days, assemblies, testing, absences, and half-days. Snow days can throw off the alternating schedule. I once taught at a high school with an A-B block schedule. One year, we had two snow storms come through that were a day apart from each other. What resulted was an entire week of school where we only met on A days. The school then had to alter the schedule when we finally returned, in order to get the B day classes caught up. Ultimately, 2 simple snow days ended up disrupting 2 whole weeks of classes. This would not have been an issue on a traditional schedule. One of the benefits of block scheduling is that a 90 minute class can essentially cover the same material as two 45 minute class periods. Covering two days worth of work in one class period sounds efficient, until something happens that causes a student to miss a class. “Any student who is forced to miss school for a day essentially falls two days behind his or her peers due to the extended class time, critics point out” (Block Scheduling in Schools 5). Assemblies and testing schedules can also throw a wrench into a block schedule. Students and teachers have enough to keep
Imagine a school year that never ends. A year without summer, relaxation, and vacations with family. Summer is the time of year that every student cannot wait arrive. But what if the playful time filled with friends, smiles, and laughter did not exist? What if school remained in session year-round? This is happening in 3,181 schools across America and is gradually increasing (edweek.org). The government calls it: Year-Round School. There are both many pros and cons to this controversial issue in today’s education; however, Year-Round School is not a good decision because of the social outcomes, the financial costs, and the academic effects that Year-Round School burdens on the students.
Anaheim High School, a beautiful campus filled with intelligent students all around. You may tell yourself that but do we really have some of the best grades? Anaheim has too many days off for vacation and not enough school time for students to learn. In order to increase student success at Anaheim, we should have longer class periods so that students understand the material without having to be rushed and start class earlier or extend school release time until 3:30 or 4:00 pm. In the article, “Marita’s Bargain" by Malcolm Gladwell, he states, “The day goes from seven twenty-five until five pm” (9). Students at KIPP Academy are starting their classes at seven twenty-five and get out of class at five pm. They are getting longer classes which allows them to focus on their academics without having to be rushed to move onto the next topic. Anaheim High School is struggling with students being rushed and not understanding the
The number of year-round schools in the United States, at the moment, is 3,181. Additionally, only a mere 10% of public school children are enrolled in year-round school. The idea of a year-round school is a really neglected one. Most schools have adopted the ‘Traditional’ idea of a school year that has a summer break. However, a year round school has periodic, shortened breaks, which helps the students, and the teachers alike. Having year-round school is a revolutionary idea, and it should be adopted into the Public School System, nationally.
When asked if the Corvallis school district should change their schedule to a full year schedule with each core class being in each quarter, there is immediate pros and cons that come to mind. Longer breaks, being done faster with a class, all sound intriguing but you have to really think it through and put yourself in all the students and faculty’s shoes and have to make the decision of, if the new schedule works for everyone.
Does year round school truly have a positive impact in the lives of students? Various studies do suggest that year round school is helpful. There are some disadvantages to this type of schooling that are preventing all schools from switching to this type of scheduling. In earlier times schools were only teaching throughout half of the year so that school would be out of session when it was time to work in the fields. This type of scheduling is still common today even though only a small portion of agriculture is tied into education and kids are no longer required to work. “In 1994, the National Education Commission on Time and Learning (1994) urged school districts to develop school calendars that acknowledged (a) differences in student learning and (b) the major changes taking place in American society. The report reflected growing concern about how the school calendar relates to students at risk for academic failure” (Cooper, Nye, Charlton, James, & Greathouse). As a result. many are fighting for year-round school. Year-round school has proven to be beneficial in the lives of students and has lead to greater success in the classroom. Although, there are some downfalls to year-round schooling.
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
All primary and secondary schools in the United States need to change from the traditional schooling system to the newer educational system of a year-round schooling system. A traditional school system is one where students go to school for nine months out of the year and receive a three month summer vacation, whereas students in a year-round school system follow a cycle of forty-five days in classes followed by a fifteen day period of rest, for the entire calendar
Industries such as business and medicine depend on extreme methods and forward thinking ideas. To be a successful enterprise, one must be willing to take risks and try new things. Within the last century, education has attempted to take a leap of faith by completely flipping the traditional school schedule and idea of summer vacation upside down. Just as with any idea, there are advantages and disadvantages as well as supporters and opponents. Each district must look at their own individual needs and evaluate the trials from schools that have gone before them to decide if year-round schooling would benefit their school.
How would the population react if the schedule that structures many peoples’ entire year were to change? This change is a reality for a growing number of families across the country as a method of improving primary and secondary education through year-round school. Although many have come to accept or even embrace year-round school in an effort to help students retain more material, year-round school would actually disrupt the learning environment, be potentially detrimental for students and their family’s financial health, as well as that of the schools, and could take away from family and personal time.
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.
Schools are so much a part of our society, so the accurate length of school days is extremely important. Public opinions on the length of the school days are different. There are a lot of parents and professors concerned that it is hard for children to go to school early in the morning and stay there the whole day. On the other side, some professors try to force students into a nine hour school day. Not so many years ago, school was a main part of my life, and the school days’ structure and length affected my social life and ability to study. From my own experience and some studies that I have seen, students benefit if school days are long.