Why we no longer need the traditional calendar
For over a century North American students have been following a traditional calendar, nine months in school, followed by three months out of school. In more recent times, many schools have been converting to a year-round calendar. Reasons for this include a wide variety of things, ranging from helping the overcrowding in schools, to increasing learning, as well as for the simple reason that we no longer need the traditional calendar. In the article, Effects of school calendars on student achievement and retention, Woodward states how early on, “farming was the primary source of income for families, and everyone in the family was obligated to help…school calendars were scheduled to revolve around the harvesting and planting of crops.”(1). These days, farming is no longer the main occupation in North America, and therefore there is no need to continue to use the traditional calendar if this is not the best way to increase education. The question asked here is, is it the best way? If so, why are so many schools turning to year-round education? In Vital Speeches of the Day, Charles Ballinger suggests, “The growth continues because parents and educators question the wisdom of using a school calendar that interrupts formal education for three months at a time, is not educationally-sound, and was designed for yesterday's society.” In this paper, traditional calendars and year-round calendars will be looked at, and discussed, with quotes, by people who have been directly affected by both. The purpose of this research paper is to compare the effectiveness of year-round education and traditional schooling with respect to student learning, knowledge retention and development.
What exactly does year-round education entail?
Advocates for year-round schooling are convinced that, yes, this is the way to better education in this country, but typically people do not understand what year-round education is. People are quick to assume that this means spending more days in school, but the actual term in the thesaurus notes that year-round schools are, “schools that operate year-round but have no increased the number of days students must attend” (ERIC database). “Year-round calendars often begin the academic year in early August…45 days in school, followed by 15 days of vacation time (Shields and Oberg 4). Notice, the authors said often, because there are many slight variations of the year-round calendar.
First, the pros of year round schooling can include; effects on absence and burnout rates, effects on budget, more frequent breaks, and also a big effect on academic achievement. The way that year round schooling works to reduce burnout and also reduce absences is that by having more frequent breaks; students are less likely to want to skip class. This is definitely noticeable after spring break where most schools don’t have any days off until the end of the year that is usually more than 2 months straight. In other words the “April, May, June stretch”. Year round schooling will also help students with their academics as well because with the way the schedule is set up, students do not ha...
The United States has a long and proud history of providing public education to its citizen’s children. The fundamental idea behind the creation of this educational system was that it be available to all, regardless of geographical location or family status. In the era that this initiative was generated many of America’s families lived and worked on farms, and children were a vital part of this lifestyle. The founders of the United States’ public schools had to create a plan that included all children, even those who were expected to perform agricultural work in the harvest season. Thus, the nine-month school calendar was brought into use, allowing farming children a three month break from school in the summer to aid their families in the crop yield. In time, youth participation in farming became outdated and obsolete, and this arrangement slipped from necessity to simply being a tradition held on to through the years. In our modern era, a year-round school calendar would benefit the teachers, students, and finances of America’s public schools.
Year round school or the modified school year is a rearrangement of the traditional school year to provide the students with continuous learning throughout the school year. Students receive the same amount of instructional time as a traditional school. In year round schools, the instructional time is balanced without of school time more evenly. (Winter, 2005) The National Association for Year Round Schooling defines it as “a schedule which contains no break lasting longer than eight weeks-schools are able to keep their students in constant learning mode, and are able to use the intersessions between periods of schooling to address the problems of students who are falling behind.” (St. Gerard, 2007, pg. 57) There are three common tracks of year round schooling. They are the single track, multitrack, and extended year. The single track is scheduled throughput the year into intersessions which allow time for enrichment or red-mediation. The multitrack is used to help schools reduce overcrowding. The school divides the teachers and students into groups of an equal size. Each group has its own schedule. One group is on intercession while the other is in school. The extended year increases the amount of time spent in schools from 180 days to as many as 240 days a year. (McGlynn, 2002)
Students who are enrolled in a year-round school attend school for 180 days, the same number of days as students on a traditional calendar schedule. A year-round school calendar is formulated into nine-week quarters. Each quarter is separated by a three-week break called an intersession. There is still a summer vacation , but at four or five weeks, it is less than half that of a traditional school summer break, and does not provide enough time for students to completely forget what they learned all year. This solution actually reduces the problem. This school system has been proven to have positive effects on student achievement, especially for students with learning disabilities. The goal of year-round schooling is to create continuous or extended learning by adding hours to the days and days to the year. According to the benefits of year round education article, “Fifty years ago, most American households were supported by a working father, while mothers were expected to stay at home. However, the women’s movement of the 1970’s combined with the rise in divorce rate and the high cost of living, lead to a decline of stay at home mothers.”First, The shorter vacations implemented by year-round education and intersession are helpful to today’s working parents because it is a less expensive alternative to daycare or summer camps. Also, parents and teachers can schedule vacations
2.) Fully define & describe Functionalism. How did the thinking at the time move away from structuralism to functionalism? Why did people “give up” on structuralism? What role did early studies of the central nervous system play in changing psychology’s focus from structuralism to functionalism? What role did each of the following thinkers have on the development of functionalism:
Attending a year round school will help students retain the information they are taught with greater ease due to the shortness in breaks between times they attend school. An Indianapolis fourth-grade school teacher says, “In this calendar, my goodness, (it takes) two weeks at most.”, referring to the six weeks it normally takes to review the previous year’s lesson to get the students up to speed from the summer break (Johnson). If you are to add twenty days to t...
Although year-round school is not something that most Americans are used to, it is much more beneficial than the original nine-month schooling. Nine-month schooling has been around for a very long time, but it is also out dated. Nine-month schooling was a way to help farmers keep their children at home for extra help during the summer months. Now, more and more people are living in town, and farmers have advanced equipment. Year-round school is a great way to give students and teachers more frequent breaks throughout the school year so they do not get burnt out. It will also shorten the review time each year, and allow teachers to teach more throughout the school year. The multi-tracking system allows
One-third of college students admit to using tobacco products in the past month (ACHA). ...
In 2008, 21% of adults in America aged 18 and older were current cigarette smokers while another 21% had been former smokers and 58% had smoked less than 100 cigarettes in their life, according to a CDC survey (Pleis 10). These statistics result in almost half of the United States population being smokers at one point in their life. The tobacco industry is huge in order to provide cigarettes to the quarter of Americans that currently smoke. The statistics that resulted from the survey did not even include other types of tobacco products, which are just as harmful. However, even realizing the harm that tobacco products can cause, tobacco companies use a variety of devious methods to draw people in to buy their product, especially younger people. With all of the money flowing in from their consumers, tobacco companies lobby very heavily in Congress and the House to prevent laws and regulations that will cut into their profits. According to tobaccofreekids.org, the tobacco industry spent $10.6 million to lobby Congress in the first half of 2003 (Tobacco-Free Kids). Organizations such as the American Legacy Foundation are annoyed by the lies that big tobacco companies tell; they decided to bring the truth out into the open. The aptly named “truth” campaign opposes the tactics that tobacco businesses use to advertise their product, and the campaign has decided to fight against the lies to provide the truth about cigarettes and tobacco. The truth campaign’s anti-smoking ads present a stunning portrayal of smoking that reflects the influence tobacco companies have on youth while also illustrating the consequences of addiction and use.
The movie starts off with the rising sun in the African Sahara jungle. You hear a loud yell followed by feedback from back up singers as a choir began to sing what would now be a memorable opening theme in cinema history. As a kid I didn’t know what I was watching as all different types of African animals began to ascend across the land to a huge rock. On this rock we see a Lion couple smile as a weird monkey appears and halts up a young lion cub and all the animals cheer in the presence of the young cub. Watching this as I child I was very confused and didn’t really understand what I was watching. Now that I’m older I realized that the gathering of the animals and the cheering for the new lion cub was a celebration of royalty and celebrating the future lions rein. This scene is very similar in history like we see when royal couples, like Prince Harry’s marriage. We get a huge celebration for what would be the next couple in power in England; the entire world was watching the wedding as t...
I agree with Aristotle in the thought that man’s telos is to acquire knowledge and that our inherent human nature is to be “happy.” However, I believe that human nature is driven by a desire to find the answer to one question: what is the meaning of life? I believe that through everything we do, whether it seems like we are learning or not, we are being taught more and more about the world and our purpose in it. Striving to put everything together and creating a sense of understanding of the question “why” leads us to behave and act the way that we do. Although finding an answer is an unattainable goal in a human’s lifetime, the act of living out their lives in a way that was constantly questioning and searching for the meaning of our existence is enough to achieve total happiness.
Using common sense, why wouldn’t it be a good decision? Statistically, premarital cohabitation will increase the risk of divorce in the future one main reason being the “cohabitation effect”. Instead of the two people in a relationship being able to grow closer to one another, the cohabitation effect can easily interfere. The cohabitation effect, also referred to as “relationship inertia”, is the idea that couples that cohabitate before marriage are more likely to stay together and slide into a marriage when in reality, the two should break up (Gordon). Moving in together does mean more time together, lower rent, and a step closer to saying “I do”. However, it is also putting oneself in a more difficult situation to end the relationship when it needs to be done. Instead of ending the relationship and being able to walk away, many questions surface. Who will stay and who will go? Does she get the couch and he get the television? Did he pay for that or did she? Who gets the dog? Money, possessions, and quite simply, the time and effort that are put into relationships are all chains shackled around one’s ankles when a break up is needed after they’ve moved in together. Relationship inertia is one of the biggest reasons that moving in together mainly for financial reasons is highly advised against (Ben-Zeev). There is no way to reverse the shared cost of rent, food, and possessions over the period of time that was spent sharing a place. Instead of having to face all the dilemmas that come in the deluxe “premarital cohabitation breakup time bundle”, some find it easier to just stay together, therefore leading unsatisfied couples to take the big next step towards a marriage because it is what they feel they have to do or it’s what follows dating and living with someone. In conclusion,
Cigarette advertisements on television always seemed so appealing. One is painted such a glamorous and fashionable picture of, say a beautiful woman asking a handsome man to light her cigarette. It is made to look like something that makes one hip or cool, to even look romantic. James Hodge from the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics states: “Ads depicted smokers as carefree, independent, and rebellious.” (370). People were
They move in together to learn each others way to compromise and to see if living with each other becomes a successful process to a healthy lifestyle. When moving in together there’s a big question of commitment that takes place. I think that when you move in with someone you know your committed to one another, but are you so committed as to getting married with each other? I understand that a person can be scared that living together will be completely different than expected. When this happens a person already has a negative mindset that thing won’t work out and that’s exactly what happens. Negativity has a great impact on our daily lives, because if you don’t believe than you don’t
Advertising and marketing of cigarettes are a big factor as to why teenagers smoke. There are promotions for different brands like Joe Camal and Marlboro Man. They’re some of the biggest marketing campaigns on T.V. Both companies have giveaways like T-shirts in return for coupons accumulated by buying their brand of cigarettes. Different cigarette companies make the...