There are a number of benefits to implementing a year-round school calendar, particularly through high school. For younger children, the importance of having a year-round calendar comes in their retention of knowledge. A three-month summer break is devastating for most children in terms of recall; teachers must spend most of the beginning of the next year reviewing the information that students were supposed to have learned previously. This wastes time, and puts students whose families did not review any academic concepts with them over the summer at a distinct disadvantage (Scholastic.com). The more this gap widens between children who have reviewed material and children who have not, the greater the achievement gap becomes in classrooms without year-round school (Scholastic.com).
As children get older and progress into secondary schools, there are even more benefits to be had from year-round schooling. Having school year-round means that children can progress at different rates, and even graduate at different times. Scholastic.com suggests that year-round school gives kids a break right when they need it: “Mary Brown, a middle-school teacher in Wake County (where three-week breaks occur every nine weeks), says she doesn't see that as a problem at her school. ‘Our schedule offers the kids a break from school right when they need it,’ she says. Earlier this year, after their first three-week break, she says, the kids seemed refreshed. ‘They didn't have the bored, glazed-over look of kids who had been in school for weeks on end with no break in sight’” (Scholastic.com). For high school students who graduate at different times, there is also a higher likelihood of finding a job, as the job market is no longer inundated with new graduates all at once.
Schools that utilize year-round schooling are often those schools that are experiencing a population boom in students and are unequipped to handle the population change, either by hiring more staff or by upgrading the current facilities to be conducive to a larger group of students (McMullen and Rouse). McMullen and Rouse compare the effect of crowded schools on achievement to schools that implement year-round schooling, writing: “Results [of the study] suggest that severely crowded schools have a negative impact on reading achievement but have no discernable impact on math achievement. Both mobile classrooms and year-round calendars are found to have a small negative impact on achievement in the absence of crowding, but a positive impact in crowded schools, though these policies are only able to partially offset the negative impact of crowding” (McMullen and Rouse). Essentially, the results of the study are mixed, showing that the most important negative effect on students is the overcrowding of schools, but that year-round schooling can certainly offset the negative impact of overcrowding in schools (McMullen and Rouse). While McMullen and Rouse do note that there can be a slight negative impact on achievement because of the implementation of year-round school, overcrowding in classrooms is a much more significant problem for achievement, particularly with younger children.
Many teachers find year-round schooling to be an excellent solution to the problem of students forgetting much of what they learned over the school year, and some schools have even set goals to implement policies where ten percent of students must be on year-round plans within the next decade. Teachers note that summer vacations seem to favor children who are well-off, often detrimentally affecting children who were already at risk for low achievement. Johnson writes, “But in the summer months, kids in the top third economically kept gaining, picking up on average 46.6 points on the reading test. It was a dramatically different story for the less-privileged two-thirds: Kids the middle group gained about 4.5 points on average, while those in the bottom third lost 1.9 points well-off children — those with access to tutoring and academic camps and travel — keep learning when school's out for the summer, while those without such advantages tread water or even sink” (Johnson). Year round schooling is, therefore, an excellent option in school districts that are disadvantaged; it gives the students in these districts a way to catch up to their peers in other school districts, and maintain grade-level or better achievement.
However, despite all the benefits to year-round school, there are many detractors for the policy. Most commonly, students are detractors; students may be used to traditional schooling schedules, and unwilling to give up their long breaks over the summer for shorter breaks over the course of the year. In a similar vein, many parents are unwilling to give up the long break over the summer, as students who have a non-traditional schooling schedule are often harder to find appropriate child care options for (Ferguson 82). When children are in non-traditional schooling situations, parents often have to find more creative and more expensive solutions for childcare; these schooling schedules can also take a serious toll on the family’s ability to schedule vacations, as families with multiple children may have children on different schedules or tracks (Peercy and McCleary).
Most studies conducted have demonstrated no notable difference for achievement when it comes to comparing traditional schooling to year-round schooling. McMullen and Rouse, however, note that for younger, elementary-aged students, there can be a problem with reading achievement insofar as year-round schooling is concerned. Although many teachers will report anecdotal evidence to the contrary, it seems that most research does not support the idea that year-round schooling improves retention (Graves). However, it does seem to reduce student burnout, which is another reason why year-round school should be provided for an option for more students, particularly students that demonstrate a high level of burnout in traditional schooling systems (Graves).
McMullen and Rouse do note, however, that achievement in year round school can be affected when students first switch to year-round school. McMullen and Rouse note that children who switch school systems are often thrown off by the experience, and sometimes find themselves underachieving for the first year or two. This is most prominent in elementary-school aged children, although it can be an issue for older children as well, depending on their situation (McMullen and Rouse). It seems as though transitioning from a traditional calendar to a year-round calendar can be difficult for children, and this transition is part of what causes the achievement gap, particularly for younger children. No studies were done on children who began in year-round school versus those who started later; perhaps the achievement gap would not be present if students were to begin year-round schooling as soon as they began their education.
Perhaps one of the most compelling reasons to implement year-round school is to reduce overcrowding in the classroom. Currently, classrooms are extremely full, and students are having difficulty learning what they need to learn (Scholastic.com). However, with year-round school, classes can be staggered so that space is used much more effectively. In addition, with year-round school, school buildings do not sit vacant for three months of the year; instead, they are utilized all year round, and the stress on the system is reduced significantly.
There are pros and cons to the idea of year-round schooling, but it should be an option that more school districts consider. Implementing a year-round schooling program does not mean that a district must abolish its traditional scheduling; however, allowing for students and teachers to choose their own schedule will certainly reduce the stress on the educational system, as well as on parents who may have scheduling difficulties. Year-round school is not a solution for all families, but it can be a fantastic option for some families. Allowing families to choose this option could reduce stress on an already-stretched educational system.
References
Ferguson, Janet M. 'The Effect Of Year-Round School On Student Achievement In Mathematics'. The Educational Forum 64.1 (2000): 82-87. Web.
Graves, Jennifer. 'Effects Of Year-Round Schooling On Disadvantaged Students And The Distribution Of Standardized Test Performance'. Economics of Education Review 30.6 (2011): 1281-1305. Web.
Graves, Jennifer. 'The Academic Impact Of Multi-Track Year-Round School Calendars: A Response To School Overcrowding'. Journal of Urban Economics 67.3 (2010): 378-391. Web.
Johnson, M. Alex. 'Year-Round School Gains Ground Around U.S.'. msnbc.com. N.p., 2010. Web. 12 Dec. 2014.
Kurt, Hakan, Fatih Güngör, and Gülay Ekici. 'The Relationship Among Teacher Efficacy, Efficacy Regarding Teaching, And Responsibility For Student Achievement'. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 116 (2014): 802-807. Web.
McMullen, Steven C, and Kathryn E Rouse. 'The Impact Of Year-Round Schooling On Academic Achievement: Evidence From Mandatory School Calendar Conversions'. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 4.4 (2012): 230-252. Web.
McMullen, Steven C., and Kathryn E. Rouse. 'School Crowding, Year-Round Schooling, And Mobile Classroom Use: Evidence From North Carolina'. Economics of Education Review 31.5 (2012): 812-823. Web.
NEA. 'Research Spotlight On Year-Round Education'. N.p., 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
Pankratz, Melinda M., and Denise D. Hallfors. 'Implementing Evidence-Based Substance Use Prevention Curricula In North Carolina Public School Districts'. Journal of School Health 74.9 (2004): 353-358. Web.
PBS NewsHour. 'Could Students Benefit From Year-Round School? | PBS Newshour'. N.p., 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
Peercy, M. A., and K. W. McCleary. 'The Impact Of The Year-Round School Calendar On The Family Vacation: An Exploratory Case Study'. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research 35.2 (2010): 147-170. Web.
Scholastic.com. 'The Pros And Cons Of Year-Round Schools'. N.p., 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
