Close your eyes and picture a bright, sunny, 75-degree day in July. Now imagine that you’re in school, sitting at a desk, on that very same day. How would you like to be in school during the typical summer months? Many students experience this situation when they attend year-round schools. The all-year school calendar is trending around the country, and many schools are transitioning to it. First, I will discuss the growing popularity of year round schools and the causes. Second, I will talk about the difference in test scores between the year-round schools versus the traditional nine-month schools. And finally, I will discuss another option instead of year-round schooling, which is the option of a four-day school week with longer school days.
First of all, the year-round calendar is becoming more and more popular around the United States. According to Emily Johns of the Star Tribune Twin Cities, there are at least 26 year-round schools in Minnesota alone. The growing popularity of year-round schools is because of less regression at the end of the summer. Students enjoy the alternate calendar’s breaks. As you can see in the pie charts, the breaks for all-year schools are more spread out compared to the nine-month calendar’s breaks. Teachers like the year-round calendar because they don’t have to re-teach as much information as other schools. Also, some year-round schools use the short breaks for enrichment remediation, which helps the struggling students stay on track throughout the year, instead of going to summer school.
Secondly, the test scores of the nine-month schools versus the year-round schools had varying results. Test results from a four-year pilot study, conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, show that children who have only a one-month summer break do better in math, retain more of their lessons, and also need less time for review the following year. According to ‘The Globe and Mail’, 90% of students met or exceeded provincial standards in Canada compared to the 70% in the traditional nine-month schools. Keep in mind the year-round schools have the same curriculum and equal instruction time as students in the traditional calendar. On the other hand, over a twelve-month period, average test score gains were less than 1% larger in year-round compared to nine-month schools.
And finally, another option instead of year-round schooling would be to transition to a four-day school week, with longer school days. Don Kordosky, the superintendent for Oakridge School District in Oregon, went to a four-day plan in 2009. According to Kordosky, this plan improved test scores, helps lower the amount of days absent, and even improved school building maintenance. The Register Guard newspaper averaged the amount of districts that applied the four-day week was around 120. Of the 120, Oregon alone supplies 64 districts with the alternative. The National Conference of State Legislatures, or NCSL, says that 21 states currently have districts operating with a four-day week. With longer class periods, teachers can be more productive and effective during class. Kordosky believes that the hours of learning are important, not the amount of days in class. This means an average school day would be about 7 ½ hours. Along with that, saving money has been just another sweet addition to the four-day week. One of the districts in Oregon estimated a saving of $141,000 in the first year alone. Students have also shown improvement in test scores and overall grades. With the Monday through Thursday school week, Friday has been open as a “catch-up day” for students struggling with classes, or who have lower grades in those specific classes. This calendar change has mostly been applied to smaller districts, while larger districts hold off. Many believe it is because of more people having to be persuaded, with more disagreement from the community. This is caused by fewer people understanding what the alternate schedule can do, and focusing on the negatives. Year-round schools are inclining in popularity throughout the United States, and people need to look into the options for the alternate calendar to seek the benefits and negatives of it. Consider the opportunities these alternate calendars present, and focus on the positives for learning, not the negatives.
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