Gone are the days of children getting off of school to help their family farms during the summer. Now, children as well as the teachers get out for some much needed relaxation. So why do we still follow the same schedule? It seems every school year the discussion of year-round education captures the attention of the general public. Is it time for year-round education (YRE) to be the new norm? Ultimately, there are not that many pros for year-round schooling to be the new thing and the traditional 180-day schedule should be kept.
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).
So why is there such opposition for year-round school? The concerns seem to arise with the idea of taking away summer vacation. Most cite that both the students and the teachers need a break from school. This also the time where many families have vacation. Summer is the time where family spend time together without homework and project due dates looming over the students. This looming inevitably happens during the
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.
"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
Also, “without public support, year-round will fail because the parent’s reluctance to send their children” (Gee, 795). Parent reluctance comes from the lack of synchronized time off for vacation. Work schedules do not typically run on a 45/15 plan and without three months break, families lose time for a vacation. If a school decides to go year-round, communication between the community and school would have must be very clear as to when students are supposed to be in school (Wildman et al. 465).
Why is a year-round school a bad idea? Having a summer vacation gives students motivation throughout the school year. It is a bad idea to make our winter break longer than summer break because some students work over the summer, students are not getting the best education they could, and they will not have much time to spend with their family.
Many people feel that no school should have a year-round schedule because it is not right for children be in school year round. Despite this feeling, many schools have changed their schedule to a year-round one to benefit their students as well as their teachers. Year-round schooling (YRS), also know as year-round education (YRE), is a good way to better students’ education. It betters students’ education by provided more frequent breaks, and giving student opportunites to participate in inter-sessions.
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
The idea of having a year round school schedule has been thought about at the state level throughout the country for many years, especially in the past two decades. The driving idea behind the argument is that if year round school is put into place, there would be an increase in academic performance because students will not forget what they learned so easily. This change of schedule will obviously have a lasting effect on society, with child care, vacations, regular living, and social life would have a major change on every family. Other operations would have a dramatic change if summer vacation would be taken away. Federal and state government, churches, businesses, the school’s community, and public
The opposers of year round schooling have little argument to work with, but stress it strongly. The summer is a prime time for high school students to pick up short-term jobs to help pay for looming college fees, jobs like being a lifeguard at the pool is not available all year round throughout the United States. College students also have the opportunity to enroll in summer classes in order to meet pre-requisites for other classes. Summer classes could be a deciding factor on how early a student graduates. Also, a three-month summer break creates an easier, less stressful timeframe to plan a vacation. Instead of working a vacation into the shorter, known breaks of year round schooling, parents have three months to figure their week long vacation into. The most powerful argument is the effect on extracurricular activities. The frequent, short breaks in year round schooling would have an effect on extracurriculars like band because it would be required that they take the vacation off and could miss potential time to prepare before a performance. The traditional schooling system is still the majority in the United States even with very few benefits and no advantage over year round
The topic of year around school has been brought up many times throughout my time in school. Though it has been brought up, it has not actually been considered by my fellow students and I. We have all taken surveys regarding it and most of the people I know have been against it. With our school being in a small town in Iowa I do not think having year round schooling would benefit us or the community.
Year round education (YRE) is implemented in 436 U.S. school districts with very few complaints. In fact, school districts that have been participating in YRE and extended school days (ESD) are raving about the benefits in pupil's achievement level, their new found enthusiasm in learning, as well as the many programs that exist in the extended day promoting the decline in latch key children.
Over the years we have gained aspect to all the new technologies and advancements that have improved the educational system. Each innovation has helped in some way or another to develop better academic programs in schools around the United States. Recently, a proposal has been made to change the traditional school year of nine-months to a year-round program that has sparked controversy all over. Despite controversy though, there are still many strong supporters of the idea. According to the National Association for Year-Round Education (NAYRE), “the pervasive and unique impact of extended-year schooling on children's cognitive development suggested that it may be a key
Schools across the country are switching to a year-round schedule. Little do they know many others are switching back to the traditional school calendar. Whether it's the parents, kids, or the teacher, change isn't easy on anyone. Many simply think of it as more school and no breaks but it's kind of the exact opposite. Year-round school is simply the same number of days off just in between and throughout the year. Ultimately switching to a year-round schedule would cause a rise in costs, and greatly affect kids who have summer jobs/vacations, thus creating a scheduling nightmare for kids, parents, and teachers alike.
Year round education (YRE) is implemented in 436 U.S. school districts with very few complaints. In fact, school districts that have been participating in YRE and extended school days (ESD) are raving about the benefits in pupil's achievement level, their new found enthusiasm in learning, as well as the many programs that exist in the extended day promoting the decline in latch key children.
A number of arguments for and against YRS are brought up in the article. One proposed positive to having elementary students attend schools year round include potentially improving retention of course information without the long stretch of academic inactivity during summer break. Other positives include “reducing discipline problems, improving attendance, providing more opportunity for intersession remedial classes, and reducing stress.” Criticisms against the year round school system include the difficulty to acclimate a student into the YRS schedule, as they could be transferring from non-YRS, or they could be the first member of their family