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Year-round school:
Students who are enrolled in a year-round school attend school the same number of days as students on a traditional calendar schedule. A year-round school calendar is organized into nine-week quarters. In addition, year-round schools are organized by tracks, which align with specific schedules and courses.
The most typical instructional/vacation year-round pattern is called the 60/20 calendar (60 days of instruction followed by 20 days of vacation and the second most popular is the 45/15. There are numerous other possible patterns, but they are not common.
The only difference? A year-round school calendar is spread out more evenly over the year. Students get more frequent breaks, but their breaks are shorter and they don’t get a traditional 10- to 12-week summer break. Here are some of the pros and cons of year-round school.
Year-round schools are better than schools with a long summer break. … Students in year-round schools are less likely to have to miss school for a trip that isn’t in the summer. Frequent breaks are good for students. They have less stress when they go back to school after a short break.
Studies show that students experience dramatic learning loss in all academic areas over the course of summer break, some losing up to two months of math skills. … Having more frequent extended breaks may help to reduce teacher and student burnout.
Jul 12, 2016The Congressional Research Service found that the average year-round school is open 189 days per year—nine days longer than the standard 180-day year. Schools in which the entire student body is on a single year-round calendar are called single-track schools.
Teachers and students experience a closer relationship in year-round schools than they do in traditional, shorter-calendar-year schools. In the absence of any long-term break from school, students do not feel detached from the school environment. … They also develop better relationships with other students.
A sociologist at Ohio State University found that, over a full year, math and reading test scores improved about the same amount for children in year-round schools as they did for students whose schools followed a traditional nine-month calendar. …
Some of the most common arguments against year-round schools include: … Many older school buildings do not have air conditioning, making a year-round schedule impractical. Band and other extracurricular programs can run into problems scheduling practices and competitions, which often take place during the summer months.
Year-round schools offer a variety of specific advantages in addition to increased learning. Some of the significant advantages include better student performance, reduced absenteeism among students and teachers, better discipline, diminished stress on teachers, and better learning opportunities for students.
As a result, many teachers in year-round schools actually feel less work stress. Teachers feel less of a need to take “mental health” days at year-round schools because they enjoy frequent breaks that gives them a chance to recharge regularly throughout the year.
“When a school system adopts year-round school, children do not have 10-13 weeks during the summer from which parents can choose when planning a vacation. Instead, they have three-week breaks that occur every nine weeks.” … More families are taking two or more family vacations per year since year-round school.
allows time for children to have authentic experiences outside of the classroom. more summer camps and summer activities available to students. more family time away from demands of school.
Obviously, on a multi-track schedule, school maintenance costs rise because the building is in full use year round. … There is also the added cost of transportation on more days of school, as well as the salaries of custodial staff and additional administrative staff.
Somewhere in the world, right now, students are hard at work in school. With over 190 nations spanning the globe’s 24 time zones, students and their academic years come in a variety of forms.
Obviously on a multi-track schedule, school maintenance costs rise because the building is in full use year-round. … Beyond the capital cost of a building, money can be saved through a higher amount of students using the same resources, like library books or physical education equipment.
What is the opposite of year-round school?
Selected school characteristic | Total number of schools | Percent of schools with a year-round cycle1 |
---|---|---|
All public schools | 90,760 | 4.4 |
Combined | 6,670 | 8.6 |
Student enrollment | ||
Less than 100 | 7,600 | 7.6 |
In 1972, California seemed to lead the way in the resurgence of year-round calendars creating the first multi-track school in La Mesa, Spring Valley and Chula Vista to address large increases in student enrollment (Ballinger & Kneese, 2006).
A major disadvantage of extending the school year is the increased cost to the school district. According to the California Department of Education’s Year-Round Education Program Guide, both transition costs and operational costs can inhibit schools from implementing year-round calendars.
More than 3,700 schools operate year-round nationwide, accounting for about 4 percent of all public schools.
Although the majority of teachers report less stress and burnout in year-round schools, a few teachers report stress as a drawback to the year-round calendar. These teachers are generally extended contract teachers who do not take the same break periods as their students.
Academic strides
While the overall student numbers show no significant differences in learning for better or worse, at-risk students tend to do better in year-round setups. Studies have found that disadvantaged students lose about 27 percent more of their learning gains in the summer months than their peers.
Year round school stresses most students and teachers out by having to deal with a lot of work. The claim that students really do forget or unlearn things they have learned when too much time off is given between classroom sessions. According to Year round school- how it affects students.
The frequent breaks offered by year round schooling give kids more opportunities to relax and let some of that stress slide away. Not only that, it reduces teacher stress and increases the quality of their instruction as a result.