Lightdemon

It seems that many teachers are complaining that they do not have enough time to cover the material/curriculum that they are required to cover. This will obviously depend on each state and each of thier own state standards. But No-Child Left Behind requires another month of standardized testing on top of the state standardized testings.

Of the traditional 9 month school year, some schools give 2-3 months of standardize testing to thier students depending on grade levels. Some schools also set time apart from curriculum to practice PSAT and SAT tests for juniors and seniors in high school, that is about 1-2 weeks worth of classroom instruction. So approximately, 1/3 of the school year is dedicated to non-curriculum (state) standards.

A transition to Year-Round Education models would probably be a good solution to those time leeching programs and standardized testing. Although, I'm going to guess that students would not be very happy nor enthusiastic to give up thier summer vacation for more schooling.

There are of course other benefits too. Teachers would then be employed year-round and since they are working more, that means thier annual income to increase, giving a somewhat relief to thier plight of getting paid too less. As well as not having to find part-time or other types of work for the summer.



Here is an article that I've run across. The site isn't all that fancy, but it does give quite a few references to some of the studies done on YRE models.

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Khayembii Communique

I would fully support a transition to Year Round Education, with an increase in the length of holiday breaks as well as an increase in amount and difficulty of the material taught. I would also support a change in how things are taught, although I'm on the ropes as to the best form education should take.

Jerry

I'm open to the idea that year-round education would be an improvement. I would love to see some data compairing acidemic acheivement between year-round and what we have now (what ever it's called).

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CaptainCourtesy

Hmmm...mixed feelings. I think that all the points that Lightdemon made are good ones, and, adding to them, I think we would find that student informational retention rates go up. Without the 2-3 month summer break, students will need less review upon returning to school, and we'd probably find less 'forgetting' of information. Also, this could allow for a bit more diversity in education. More class time, more ability to take more interesting and/or more advanced classes.

My one concern is the emotional well-being of our children. With 6-7 hours per day of school, plus another 2-3 hours per day of homework, kids are overloaded as it is...and this doesn't include extra-curricular activities. The summer break is often a well needed 'break' from this. Something to remember is that children's and adolescent brains are not as developed as adult brains, and physically don't handle this kind of stress as well.

I think it's a mixed bag, though some changes could be helpful. One thing I would like to see, however, is an alteration in the start time for school. Research has shown that kids, especially adolescents, not only need more sleep than previously thought, but need to be sleeping later, regardless of when they get to sleep. School should begin no earlier than 8:30 AM (many schools start before 8:00 AM). This has many benefits, including:

• less likelihood of experiencing depressed moods;
• reduced likelihood for tardiness;
• reduced absenteeism;
• better grades;
• reduced risk of fall asleep car crashes; and
• reduced risk of metabolic and nutritional deficits associated with insufficient sleep, including obesity.

Some of this could even offset some of the difficulties that would occur from a YRE program

Information in this post provided by:

http://www.sleepfoundation.org/site/...mes_Debate.htm

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RightinNYC

In addition to all the points made by CC, I'd just add that summer breaks do serve important purposes.

First, they give educators time to engage in continuing education for themselves. I know several teachers who take advantage of the summer break to work on masters or PhD's while also teaching summer school for students, which leads me into my second point...

Second, it allows for a period where lagging students can be brought back up to speed. Numerous studies have shown that failing students results in lowered self-esteem and a higher drop-out rate, but simply promoting them without the necessary skills has equally detrimental effects. Summer school is a time where students who are not yet ready to progress to the next level but don't necessarily need to be held back can catch up to the rest of their classmates.

Third, it allows for students to have a chance to gain the other important life skills that they need to survive. As important as education is, it's not the be-all and end-all of a child's development. A good work ethic, job experience, and a stream of income are all quite desirable things for kids to have. Allowing them to have summers off provides a time where they can develop these things. As a side benefit, it helps those who intend to stop their education after the high school level transition into the labor force.

Finally, it's expensive as hell. It would basically add 25% to the cost of education nationwide, jacking it up from $378 billion/year to $472 billion/year. I can think of much better ways to spend $100 billion/year on education.

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independent_thinker2002

Good points! Although I do think that it may be possible to work out an effective YRE. Perhaps cut the school day short by an hour and go all year. Teachers could still go to nite classes. Kids could have an extra hour of sleep/recreation. Although, if we don't let kids do agricultural work in the summer, I know people who will do it. You are right about the expense. I think that it would be actually more expensive than you project. Gas costs more in the summer. Airdonditioning a full school is also expensive.

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jallman

I think that extending education to year round would be folly. The education system is failing now and adding 3 more months of failure is not the route to go.

We should begin by repairing the education system. First of all, NCLB is the most idiotic plan ever injected into the education system. Scrap it altogether.

Discipline is the issue in the education system. Public school is for education purposes, not a free state funded baby-sitter. Students who do not apply themselves or disrupt the education process should be removed.

A diploma is not a right; it is something that is earned. As such, standards of acheivement should be set at reasonable levels and either the student accomplishes those goals or they do not. All this passing a student on just to make them feel better is a detriment to the system.

Education should focus on the arts, sciences, mathematics, and language. There is no need to introduce moral education and indoctrination through the public school system.

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ARealConservative

completely seperate issues.

Year round schooling is an improvement over the current system - at least for young kids. It doesn't solve other problems that are causing public schools to fail but that isn't reason to dismiss this better system.

1069

I always heard that "summers off' from school are merely an anachronistic holdover from the days when most families were rural and agricultural, and children were needed to help their parents on farms for part of the year.
Yes, I would support a transition to year-round school.
I've seen statistics that suggest that delinquency spikes in the summer months, because kids are aimless and bored without the externally imposed structure of school. i don't think such a long period of idleness is healthy for them
If you're going to give them summers off, then let them work during the summer, from the age of- say- eleven or twelve.
As long as they don't operate heavy machinery, I don't see why they can't do most other unskilled jobs.

I vote that school should definitely be year-round, though; give them the same amount of time off from school, but space it out throughout the year. Two weeks here, two weeks there.
Families don't go on vacation for more than two weeks at a time, anyway.

plus, there are a significant minority of school-aged children in this country who lack adequate food and medical treatment.
Three months is a long time to be without these things.
As long as they are in school, there is presumably some sort of oversight by responsible adults, who will make sure these kids get breakfast and lunch, and that if they become seriously ill they get medical attention.

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jallman

What's better about year round school that can't be accomplished with 9 months of school if school were actually being used as an education system rather than a state funded baby-sitter?

I suppose 12 months of feel good programs and moral indoctrination is supposed to be better than 9?