TraditionalCalendarorYear-Round School?
DO YOU KNOW HOW THIS WILL EFFECT YOUR FAMILY AND THE COMMUNITY?
"In 1993, all but one of the 544 schools in the Los Angeles school district on a single-track calendar voted to abandon the concept. (See Education Week, June 9, 1993.)"
What is Year-Round School? Year-Round School restructures the school calendar, eliminating the traditional summer vacation and scheduling shorter, more frequent breaks. The basic calendar does not increase the number of days in the school year. A typical Single-Track calendar operates on a 45-15 plan, 45 days in class, followed by 15 vacation days. Summer vacation is reduced to 6 to 8 weeks and may occur at a time not convenient for family activities or vacations.
Why Do School Systems Consider Year-Round School?* May be good for all students.
* May lessen review time.
* May improve student and teacher attendance.
* May reduce "burn-out" in students and teachers.
* May improve discipline.
Facts About Year-Round SchoolYear-Round School is not a new concept and has been attempted by various school systems since the turn of the century. While some form of Year-Round School has been tried by many communities, the acceptance of Year-Round School has been less than spectacular. Most have found that this sort of change in the school calendar did not improve the quality of education and most have returned to the traditional calendar.
Link - Research concerned with YRS and its effect on education
Reasons why follow:
Year-Round School does not significantly improve education.* Since 1980, 95% of schools trying Year-Round School have returned to a TRADITIONAL calendar. Thus, they have changed their calendar twice and had to suffer the disruption, frustration, and wasted time that this entails. Why are we in such a hurry to learn the same lesson?
* Research concerned with standardized testing shows that Year-Round School has no statistically significant impact on test scores.
* Studies have also shown that student and teacher "burn-out" often increase with Year-Round School.
Year-Round School does not lessen review time after breaks.* Proponents of Year-Round School state that shorter breaks lessen learning loss and review time.
* However, well documented studies have long shown that the only measurable summer learning loss occurs in the first 2 to 3 weeks.
* The review times that follow the longer more frequent breaks in Year-Round School, are greater than this "forgetting time", increasing the number of times for forgetting during the year.
Year-Round School may not be cost effective.
Link - Cost of YRS in the USA
* Many school districts find that Year-Round School is more expensive.
* Many districts reject the calendar after taking a close look at the potential costs.
* While proponents may suggest potential savings with a Year-Round School calendar, these savings often do not materialize. Costs for Year-Round School from schools across the country show significant increases.
* In Tempe, AZ, a high school experienced an increase of $157,000 per year in operating costs. Similar increases have been reported by other Arizona schools using a Year-Round calendar.
* In San Diego, 27 elementary schools on Year-Round School lost $1.4 million caused by an increase in average daily absenteeism between July and September. This absenteeism occurred during the traditional calendar summer vacation.
* There is little down-time available to make necessary building repairs with a Single-Track calendar. This can cause significant disruption of classes while building and repairs occur during school and can also shorten the life of the school itself by as much as 50%.
* There are increased "start-up" and "shut-down" costs for the increased number of terms during the year.
Academic Improvement Concerns
Link - Academic Impact in the USA
* YRS creates more, longer breaks in the school year, increasing times for student forgetting.
* More "last days of class" and "first days of class" results in less instruction..
* Resources available to expend on major educational improvements are limited by the increased costs of Year-Round School.
* Year-Round School advocacy statements claim improved test scores, improved retention rates, increased graduation rates and lower absenteeism. Numerous research studies do NOT support these claims.
* Investing in Year-Round School will exhaust resources desperately needed for far more beneficial reform efforts.
* Relevant factors such as the current use of instructional time, class size, curriculum, expectations, attitudes, and individual students' needs must be evaluated where problems exist.
* Schools being used as models for Year-Round School are ones whose test scores fell well below state averages before implementing the calendar change.
* Following the paths of highly successful schools (like Vestavia Hills, or Mountain Brook, which are not on YRS) would be imminently more sound. than following Vincent, AL, which the YRS Committee studied).
* Sports, and other school activities, would have to continue through the multiple breaks between terms (which wouldn't be breaks at all for the students involved in those sports and activities).
* Time to wind down during the summer and engage in educational, sporting and family activities would be cut in half.
School Environment Concerns* Increased cost of air conditioning during the summer months; A/C in buses in July?
* Danger of dehydration and overexposure to heat and sun would be an unnecessary risk for students during physical education and recess periods.
* Lack of shaded structures for recess.
Childcare & Custody Concerns* Parents may have a difficult time finding childcare the multiple breaks between terms.
* Difficult to find adequate daycare for only 3 weeks at a time. May increase the number of latch-key kids.
* Divorced parents who have joint custody of children often have to send their children to their non-custodial parent during the summer months.
Family Time Concerns* Year-Round School will disrupt traditional family and community activities.
* Common vacations for all family members are more difficult to schedule.
* Traditional summer programs are not available Year-Round.
* Extra-curricular activities like scouts, camp, swim team, baseball, etc., would diminish or terminate due to reduced participation.
* Community functions are often scheduled in the summer.
* Parks and Recreation Departments concentrate primarily on scheduling their activities only during the summer months.
* Most vacation places and job vacations and families are geared to summer activities
* Economic and personal traditions of a 9-month calendar would be difficult to change.
Teachers' Concerns* Very difficult to work on an advanced degree without summer vacation.
* Loss of extra income provided by summer jobs.
* Sustained free time to develop creativity, resourcefulness, and independence will be fragmented.
Specific Single-Track Concerns* Problems with late enrollments for move-ins may be of particular concern in Auburn which has a highly mobile population.
* May be difficult to transfer in or out of school.
* Regular and yearly maintenance may be more difficult to schedule.
* Continuity of special services may be more difficult in Year-Round School.
* Significantly greater costs to implement a single-track schedule.
Plan of ActionYear-Round School is experimental. It lacks compelling research that would justify accepting the disadvantages that would occur for students, teachers, and their families. In order for our board members and our community to make an informed decision we must be given thoroughly researched and critically analyzed information. As parents and concerned community members we need to:
* Be thorough about getting all the facts, not rushed.
* Contact the school board for dates and times of the YRS Committee and subcommittee meetings that are scheduled to discuss Year-Round School
* Telephone, write and e-mail the principals, superintendent, the School Board and City Council expressing your concerns. (Contact the newspapers and other media)
LINKS:
Internet Resources Concerned with YRS
People to contact about your concerns
Schedule for upcoming meetings of the Stop Year-Round Education Concerned Citizens' Group
GET INVOLVED in the STOP YEAR-ROUND SCHOOL CITIZENS' GROUP
300 N. Dean Rd. P.O. Box 5172Auburn, AL 36830-5045 Tel: (334) 821-2266