Research Paper on Year Round Schooling

Most schools in the United States are set up for sessions to begin in the middle of August or first part of September and then run until late May into mid-June. Then there is a twelve-week break during the summer. The school year was initially set up that way because the majority of parents were farmers and needed their children home to help with the growing and harvesting the crops during the summer months. That is no longer a consideration, yet the same school schedule exists. During the summer break now, children go on vacation with their parents, attend summer camps or just enjoy carefree days swimming, riding bikes, and playing without the constraints of homework, early bed times and bus schedules. Of course, many of them also spend their summers planted in front of the television and/or video game without ever going outside also. When students return to school though, some of what they learned the year before has usually been forgotten, and teachers must spend the first few weeks of the school year refreshing their students’ With memories. a general lack of time to teach what must be taught as it is, this catching up period seems like a waste of precious time. That is the main reason that many education experts have called for schools to be year-round with extended holidays interspersed throughout the year. Combined with the other reasons that are discussed, and the arguments against retaining the current 40 week school year, there is a strong case for restructuring school years to a year-round track.

Some schools have tried year-round schooling and found it to be beneficial in many ways including the decrease in knowledge loss. The typical year-round schedule is about 45 days of classes (9 weeks) and then a three-week vacation. Students can enjoy three weeks of freedom from the constraints of the school schedule without losing much of the knowledge they gained during the weeks they were attending classes. Many parents and students who have tried the year-round schedule really like it. Students who need help with their school work find that they have the help available year-round. When school is already difficult, it is made even moreso when students have to spend time trying to catch up on the knowledge they forgot over a twelve week break, and they do not have to spend that break in summer school. Jennifer Graves, Steven McMullen and Kathryn Rouse of Education Finance and Policy say, “It is estimated that all students lose roughly a month of math skills and that low-income students are estimated to lose as much as three months of learning in reading skills. By the end of ninth grade almost two-thirds of the socioeconomic achievement gap can be explained by differential summer learning loss” (Graves, McMullen and Rouse 302). The “summer learning loss” or “summer slide” no longer exists with year-round school. The socioeconomic equity gap is reduced and better opportunities are available for everyone. This is the best argument for changing from the conventional model of school attendance to the year-round model, but there are plenty of other good reasons too.

Having more frequent breaks is another attraction of the year-round school track. Teachers and students agree that it is nice to look forward to a break every two months rather than having to slog through three or more months until the winter break or until the summer break. When the summer break does roll around, it seems long. Parents are happy to get their kids back in school in the fall and free up time during the day to do other things that they cannot do when their children are on school break. Teachers and administrators love having a rejuvenating break every couple of months too, unless they work for one of the schools in the United States is overcrowded, then the year-round schooling may be on a multiple track schedule. Still, for just about every stakeholder, the year-round school schedule is preferred.

The multiple track schedule helps to stop the overcrowding of schools. This is another advantage of year-round school: it eases the overcrowding that is endemic in some schools. Schools can provide three different tracks when school is in session year round. In any given three week period, one third of the students would be on their break. Having the overcrowding reduced by a third of the students would help conditions a great deal. Not only does it help to reduce class sizes and overcrowding in other ways, it also makes the best use of school buildings. When they are shut down for an extended period over the summer, they must still be maintained, air conditioned and cleaned. If schools are in operation year-round, then the overhead expenses of upkeep on the building is better utilized.

Despite these advantages, not everyone thinks that there should be year-round school. One of the reasons is that s