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Should schools implement year round schooling
Benefits of year-round education
Benefits of year-round education
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HOW YEAR ROUND SCHOOLS WORK/SCHEDULING
There are various models of YRS that can be implemented, all of which are reconfigurations of the traditional, nine-month calendar. In some areas these models are known as alternative or modified calendars (Shields & Oberg, 2000) and they all have unique characteristics. Because of theses differences, school systems should spend some time analyzing which model will be best for their particular school; educators may find that some models work better than others depending on the school. Estimates on the exact number of year round schedules vary, although it has been estimated that at least 50 different scheduling patterns exist (Palmer & Bemis, 1999). The most common alternatives include the single track calendar and the multi-track calendar.
The Single Track Calendar
In the single track model, which is the most popular of the two, all students and teachers in a particular school attend classes and have breaks/vacations on the same schedule. According to Shields and Oberg, “it is introduced almost exclusively for educational reasons” (2000, 11). A more common single track model is the 45-15 schedule which consists of four nine-week terms (45 days) separated by four three-week vacations (15 days each).
The Multi-track Calendar
The multi-track calendar divides the entire student body and staff into different tracks or groups so that when one group is on vacation the other tracks are attending school.
When that particular group returns from vacation, another track will go on vacation leaving the other tracks in school and so on. A calendar such as this is implemented in response to overcrowded schools, and allows for more students to attend one school. It has also been suggested that single-track YRS serves well as a transition to multi-track YRS (Shields & Oberg, 2000; Stenvall, 2003; Thomas, 1973). Either way both schedules offer more efficient use of school facilities, which is definitely a positive.
WHAT IS THE INTERSESSION
Both single-track calendars and multi-track calendars make use of intersessions. As previously stated, these are the actual 3 week breaks occurring throughout the year that were rescheduled from the traditional summer vacation. Year-round education offers students the chance for instructional time during these vacation periods for the purposes of enrichment, pre-teaching, and remediation. Because intersessions occur more frequently remediation can occur in sequence, thus offering a student help in a timely manner.
One of the most talked about issues of schooling today, would be year round schooling. The program started as a new way to learn. The old way and still the way most schools calendar is set up was designed the way it is due to harvest times, when the United States was a farming country. There have been many studies done, and some schools have already implemented this program. The studies and the schools that have gone ahead and implemented the program have seen both good things and bad things in their findings. There will be both pros and cons for every issue, and some may see pros and cons differently. Year round schooling is the idea of attending school for an entire year, not all 365 days, but continuously throughout the year. Year round schooling operates on a different schedule to incorporate the same amount of classroom time as a typical school schedule has. The only difference is that the breaks are shorter, but there are more of them in year round schooling. This is the basis of most of the arguments for and against year round schooling.
A student at Ste. Genevieve High School even expressed how she needs the summer break to unwind and not have to care about studying for a class when school would return to session. Another reason students may oppose this change is due to the fact High School students may hold summer jobs to earn some spending money. In certain instances, the year-round calendar may prevent students from holding these jobs or holding them for extended periods of time. One more reason students may disapprove of year-round education is because of extracurricular activities, and how they will be changed or shifted. New teachers can be affected in many ways. Unlike teachers who work in traditional school districts, they do not have the long summer to prepare and acquaint themselves for the forthcoming school year. Along with preparing lessons and assignments, teachers would not be able to take their own vacations and prepare for school
The summer vacation students on a traditional schedule receive could be very beneficial since summer gives time for the students to attend camps or other activities that would allow them to learn. The camp may not be like the learning in school, but students would be able to get a different style of education while having fun. Lynn-nore Chittom and Jeff Klassen, two authors who wrote about year-round vs. traditional schooling say, “Critics also cite year-round school as an obstacle to summer enrichment programs such as youth camps, and note that the balanced calendar model can hurt students and industries dependent on short-term summer employment” (Chittom). If students are going to school all year with only some short breaks, when would they have time to go to camp? Even if their camp is during one of their breaks, the students would have homework to complete, thus eliminating the educational effects of the camp on the student. Also, teen...
The change of the system to include summer breaks was due to issues not quite under their
This research indicates that those in support of this type of calendar see many benefits, but the most strongly supported evidence is the reduction of summer learning loss experienced by students, especially for English as a second language (ESL) and low income students. For those who oppose the balanced school year, some believe summer learning loss does not exist and some strongly argue that changing the school calendar is only warranted with proof of increased academic achievement for students. The Vancouver School Board is considering implementing a calendar change; in a June 2010 memorandum sent for review, “Balanced School Calendars: Pros and Cons” by Superintendent of Schools Steve Cardwell, the report summary states “the ever changing composition and needs of the students in this district make it reasonable to question whether a traditional school calendar remains the most beneficial option for our students” (1).... ... middle of paper ...
Single-track YRE is simply the reorganization of vacation time; summer break is broken up and distributed to make a more continuous period of instruction. All students and teachers follow the same schedule, and the rescheduled vacation is integrated throughout the school year into periods called intersessions. Intersessions are “usually utilized as instructional time for remediation and enrichment with both single and multi-track calendars. Intersessions typically involve school staff and community resources to provide a safety net and an academic boost to avoid failure or enhance achievement.”(Speck, n.d) Instead of students waiting for summer school to catch up, intesessions stop them from getting that far behind.
In Walter’s dream, he has become the master of his ideal realm with all the injustice that has often come with that role. He imagines he is addressed by his gardener as “Mr. Younger”, while Walter addresses him as “Jefferson,” emphasizing their difference in position. It is also notable that, though Walter asks Jefferson how he is doing, he does not wait to hear the answer. This moment suggests that Jefferson is ju...
Back in the olden days, schools were originally put on a schedule in which students would spend the majority of the year in school, and 2-3 months off for summer break. The purpose of this was so that children could be home for the summer to help their parents run family farms. Today, due to progressive industrialization of farming, modernized farming equipment, and decrease in family farms, the need for children to be home during the summer to help run family farms is minute if not obsolete; because of this many schools across the United States have transitioned to year-round schooling (“Summer”). Contrary to belief, year round schooling does not usually mean more school days. Currently most year-round schools adhere to the 180 day school year. Instead of the traditional lengthy summer vacation, year-round schools distribute the 180 days throughout the entire year while allowing for shorter breaks. Common scheduling for year-round schools includes cycles of 2-3 months in school followed by 2-3 week breaks (“Research Spotlight...
Throughout time education has been considered a process that every so often must be improved. The education quality in the U.S. has declined over the years and people have been looking for a way to make improvements. A more recent proposal has been to go from a traditional nine-month schedule to an all year program. Supporters of year round school claim it gives the student a better education. However, the prospect of year round school is not beneficial to the taxpayers pocket, to the education a student receives, or to the people involved with the district.
Levitt, Jacob. Responses of plants to environmental stresses. 2d ed. New York: Academic Press, 1980. Print.
According to writer Vanessa St Gerard from The Education Digest, a traditional school year is defined as “large blocks of instruction with inter-spread week-long breaks, all culminating with a long summer break” (2007). This structure is most familiar to Americans today, however the new alternative schedule presents a variance in the time allocated for breaks throughout the school year. “During a modified school year, instruction periods typically are broken up into 45-or-60-day sessions with each of these being divided by breaks lasting three to four weeks” (St Gerard, 2007). In the alternative calendar, schools would still break for a summer session, but in most cases the break would consist of about five weeks rather than eight. While the calendars might differ in session times, they would both meet the federally mandated 180 days of ins...
Today however, the role of the modern public school is beginning to change. The United States is no longer an agrarian society. As a result, people feel that the traditional school calendar is too old-fashioned a...
Teachers in Ohio, claim that when they switched to a year round schedule, students can pick up right where they left off after break. I think this will help a lot because that way you can get right to their lessons once again. These teacher have also notice that the kids are willing to come back to school after a month off. This must help a lot, because if the students are willing to get to work, the teachers won’t have to push their students. California, Illinois, Texas, and Florida have a schedule that works great for them. This schedule includes forty-five days of school, which is followed by a fifteen day break, with a thirty day summer vacation. They claim that this type of schedule minimizes the amount of time students have to lose ground. However in Montana, they have a holiday every three months. Which includes three weeks in December, all of April, and August. Some schools just eliminate fifteen minutes of the student passing time and they think that has helped rather than switching all of their schools schedule. Then there are three basic models of year round schools. One is stretching the one hundred and eighty day school year, by lengthening spring and winter breaks but then shortening the summers. Another idea is adding twenty to thirty days of instruction to the one hundred and eighty day calendar. The last basic model is having
Day or School Year: A Systematic Review of Research." Sage 80.3 (2010): 401- 36. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
On the other hand, there are some pros to the other plan, the "Traditional Calendar" Plan. Students would get a longer Summer break. Due to the longer break, there would be more time for family and relaxation. Students would also start school later, which most students would enjoy. Even though there are pros to the other proposal, I believe the "Balanced Calendar" plan would be more beneficial to the students and the school.