Year Round Schooling is Growing
Potential Benefits and Drawbacks for Full Year Schooling Models
Though sending students to school for the entire school year is controversial, many schools have decided to implement this system to respond to dire overcrowding issues.
Teachers might be horrified by the initial idea of year round schools: what about family trips, summer camp, and self-rejuvenation? However, year-round schooling does not necessarily constitute more days of school but a restructuring of the usual 180 days.
Considering Year-Round Schooling
Proponents argue that students and teachers would benefit from more frequent, shorter breaks between segments of instruction. The mind bounces between the pros and cons for students, curriculum, teachers, administrators, and family lifestyles. Interestingly, the research on this intriguing trend similarly bounces back and forth from recommending to negating a reorganization of schools in this way.
What is Year-round Schooling?
Several types of year round schools exist. The first, less common type is an extension of the school year, which increases the number of actual school days per year. The second type rearranges the 180 day school calendar. This involves shorter breaks spaced evenly throughout the year and can be done in numerous ways (Opheim 1995). The two most common models below rearrange the calendar in several different designs.
Single-Track Model
This model allows all students and staff to follow the same school calendar (Palmer 1999). The single-track model implements one of three designs, although variations of these designs are sometimes used.
- 45/15. Students have four 45 day quarters divided by 15 day intercessions.
- 60/20. Students have three 60 day trimesters with three 20 day intercessions in between.
- Concept 6. This variation divides the school year “into six terms of approximately 43 days. Students and teachers attend two consecutive sessions and then have one session off for a total of 172 instructional days” (Palmer 1999).
Multi-Track Model
This model can be manipulated into several designs where more than one track of students attends school at one time. Usually, three or four tracks of students have their instructional blocks and vacation sessions staggered throughout the year so that at least one track of students is not present when the others are (Palmer, 1999).
Benefits:
- Schools increase the number of students it services and resolve overcrowding issues.
- Multi-tracking saves considerable funds by diminishing the need for new school construction (Shields 2000).
Drawbacks:
- It is difficult to decide which design is right for a particular school.
- Once decided, it can be complicated to implement and maintain.
Though it may be confusing and complicated, many schools participate in year-round schooling. In fact, studies show that year-round schooling is growing each year. The National Education Commission on Time and Learning reported in 1994 that “more than 2,200 schools, enrolling more than 1,600,000 students, have broken free of the bonds of the non-educational calendar by creating year-round school.”
According to more recent statistics reported by the National Association of Year-Round Education, this number has continued to expand, with the U.S. total of year round public, private, and charter schools rising to 3,382 in the 2002-03 school year. The majority of these schools are public, totaling 3,181 throughout America (NAYRE 2003). Obviously, if the number of year-round schools is increasing each year, there must evidence that adopting an elaborate new schedule is worth the effort. For more information, visit NAYRE.
Growth of public year-round education in the United States over a 15-year period. NAYRE, 2003.
Opheim, Cynthia, Evaluating year-round schools in Texas education, 1995;116, 1, 115-121.
Palmer, E.A., and Bemis, A.E., Alternative calendars: Extended learning and year-round programs year-round education. University of Minnesota, Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement, 1999.
Shields, Carolyn M. & Steven, Lynn Oberg, Year-round schooling: promises and pitfalls. Ontario: Scarecrow Press, 2000.
