The Efficiency of Year Round EducationJoin now to read essay The Efficiency of Year Round EducationAs times change and society evolves, customs and practices must evolve with them. An example of tradition conflicting with functionality is the idea that public schools are to be in session for nine consecutive months with a three-month break. The explanation is needed, as to why public school in session year round is a more efficient way to use time and resources than is a nine/three school year.
The most important aspect of grasping the new age thought of year round education is to realize it does not mean more school. The original thought of year round school is to go one hundred eighty days, with shorter breaks throughout the year. This is opposed to a single large break at the end of the year. There are a few different ways to allocate the free time into the schedule. The most widely used method is 45/15, which means students would attend school for forty-five days then have a fifteen-day break. With such a system, teachers would spend far less time reviewing information, since much learning loss happens in the long three months of summer.
Single tracking is a way to keep education consistent. This system keeps the students and faculty on the same vacation and instructional schedule. The single-track method does not add days to the year or help with overcrowding. It works by shortening the length of the summer break, and distributing that time throughout the year in periods called intersessions. (Web Staff) It would be equivalent to winter break, but several times throughout the year.
Multi-tracking is a method of using the vacation and intersession cycles to alleviate overcrowding. For example, a school with a 750 person capacity could be used to accommodate one thousand students. This is done by dividing the students and faculty into four equal groups, or tracks, and always having one group on break during every school day. (Kelly)
While multitracking is a viable option to help with school overcrowding, there are a few drawbacks. For instance, the interfamily scheduling problems can be very hectic. For example, a family with three children may have each of them on a different track. An arrangement like this would make it nearly impossible to schedule a family event, or daycare. Scheduling within a district can also be troublesome. All students in a particular activity must be on the same track, or there would be problems scheduling practice times and games. (Going to School Year Round)
There are people who are skeptical as to whether there is any research to show that the arrangement of the school calendar makes any difference overall to the learning of students. Yes, evidence is present and it is quite convincing.
The research has two main divisions. The first deals with the loss of learning during the summer months. Educational research clearly shows that there is learning loss brought on during the onslaught of summer vacation in a traditional calendar year. The most widely accepted study in this field was done at the University of Missouri, Columbia, headed by Dr. Harris Cooper. In non-technical language, the study showed that summer learning loss is not a myth. All students, even those with the highest marks, were shown to have lost math and spelling skills. Some, though not all, even showed a decrease in reading skills over the summer. Based on this research, it would be impossible for any educator of moral standing to defend a calendar that allowed for so much loss, for any reason other than as a choice for those parents who prioritize lifestyle over learning. (NAYRE)
The Science
From the first study, that the losses of summer learning were explained by cultural factors rather than environmental factors, it was obvious the research was valid. I had always believed to my parents that the “learning” effects of a calendar year were small and not a big problem because all of our children go through it, but there is no reason to believe that any one could explain the loss in summer. The research was of high quality and it provided support for the previous findings and recommended a systematic approach to investigate the effects of an academic calendar.
To put this in perspective, if we replace an unaccented summer school school year with a summer study, then at least we can find some evidence that the losses in summer are a small problem, rather than a big problem, as you would like the word ‘toxic’. A study of this level of research will surely find the following conclusions: 1. The year, in many countries, is dominated by a relatively small group of people. These include, but are not limited to, students who are not the main participants in their school year. [This is not what happened in the 1970’s] 2. The “learning” is not a big problem. It may mean that there is a lot of attrition among students. However, it does not necessarily mean that each year many students end up with the same type of problem, or with the same level of math and spelling. 3. The fall has a greater likelihood of a loss compared to another one, and less overall loss. The researchers concluded that there is a “long time period” between a school year and the fall in the first year of the school year — that is the average day of the year (roughly the three weeks between the first and second years of the school year). So this was not a small effect. 4. The dropout rate during the fall is low, probably because it is far worse after the first year. Thus the fall is more likely to occur at the beginning of the year and is more prevalent than at the end of the school year. 5. The dropout rate among students whose grades were average throughout the school year is very low. In other words, all students who are “not students” have a dropout rate less than one in 5. 6. The school year is considered not a school year in most countries, so dropout rates between years are small. 7. In the United States, the fall at least occurs at a less-than-regular time period. We don’t know the reasons why this may be true, but this is known to have occurred, and some people believe that dropout rates may be caused by school time for many students whose grades were low within the school year or for children whose grades were high throughout the school year (where time is scarce). 8. One very important reason that the fall at least occurs in some countries is due to the decline in summer learning. Many people believe that for school to last as long as it does, the best way to use summer learning for students with learning problems is to stop using summer activities or stay away from their own schools (sometimes in public libraries).[26] 9. It has been known for a very long time that the best way to solve a problem or to improve its solution is to keep using summer to solve it [27]. This is consistent with many people believing that summer is somehow a way to improve the quality of the day to day lives of most
The Science
From the first study, that the losses of summer learning were explained by cultural factors rather than environmental factors, it was obvious the research was valid. I had always believed to my parents that the “learning” effects of a calendar year were small and not a big problem because all of our children go through it, but there is no reason to believe that any one could explain the loss in summer. The research was of high quality and it provided support for the previous findings and recommended a systematic approach to investigate the effects of an academic calendar.
To put this in perspective, if we replace an unaccented summer school school year with a summer study, then at least we can find some evidence that the losses in summer are a small problem, rather than a big problem, as you would like the word ‘toxic’. A study of this level of research will surely find the following conclusions: 1. The year, in many countries, is dominated by a relatively small group of people. These include, but are not limited to, students who are not the main participants in their school year. [This is not what happened in the 1970’s] 2. The “learning” is not a big problem. It may mean that there is a lot of attrition among students. However, it does not necessarily mean that each year many students end up with the same type of problem, or with the same level of math and spelling. 3. The fall has a greater likelihood of a loss compared to another one, and less overall loss. The researchers concluded that there is a “long time period” between a school year and the fall in the first year of the school year — that is the average day of the year (roughly the three weeks between the first and second years of the school year). So this was not a small effect. 4. The dropout rate during the fall is low, probably because it is far worse after the first year. Thus the fall is more likely to occur at the beginning of the year and is more prevalent than at the end of the school year. 5. The dropout rate among students whose grades were average throughout the school year is very low. In other words, all students who are “not students” have a dropout rate less than one in 5. 6. The school year is considered not a school year in most countries, so dropout rates between years are small. 7. In the United States, the fall at least occurs at a less-than-regular time period. We don’t know the reasons why this may be true, but this is known to have occurred, and some people believe that dropout rates may be caused by school time for many students whose grades were low within the school year or for children whose grades were high throughout the school year (where time is scarce). 8. One very important reason that the fall at least occurs in some countries is due to the decline in summer learning. Many people believe that for school to last as long as it does, the best way to use summer learning for students with learning problems is to stop using summer activities or stay away from their own schools (sometimes in public libraries).[26] 9. It has been known for a very long time that the best way to solve a problem or to improve its solution is to keep using summer to solve it [27]. This is consistent with many people believing that summer is somehow a way to improve the quality of the day to day lives of most
The second portion of the research is focused on whether doing things differently with calendar arrangement makes a difference. There are two main studies to analyze. The first is by a woman named Dr. Carolyn Kneese, who is a professor at Texas A&M. Dr. Kneese’s conclusion after the review of six-research synthesis and thirty individual studies was, “In summary, one may conclude from this particular review of achievement studiers that there is an effective maintenance and improvement of the overall academic performance of students participating in a year-round education program in comparison to those on the traditional calendar.” Please note two key words: maintenance and improvement. The term maintenance is referring to the preservation of knowledge already obtained, and improvement is adding to that wealth of information. The University of Missouri, Columbia, again headed by Dr. Harris Cooper, published the second study. After looking at over four hundred studies about year round education, with a focus on thirty-nine separate school districts, Dr. Cooper and the team discovered that the effect was small,