Families in the United States once heavily relied on farming as the main source of income. With farming as a primary focus, school system calendars were designed to ensure would be students could help with the harvesting and planting of crops. In 1995 farmers saw a radical decline in the number of people that continued to choose farming as a main source of income, rendering the agricultural schooling calendar obsolete. Although the country had pivoted away from farming as a way of life, the design of the education system’s calendar did not change. Counties continued to structure school systems based on the needs of agriculture, primarily ensuring the summer months of June, July, and August were utilized as traditional vacation time for …show more content…
Distinguished by his vision and work for public school systems, William Wirt is credited with establishing the first year-round school system in Bluffton, Indiana. There were several other chief contributors to the year-round school movement including Superintendents Adddison Poland of New Jersey and Harold Weber of Tennessee. Mr. Weber’s mission was to improve the quality of public school education. He implemented a no grade system that included a summer program providing continuous learning for any student interested in the learning. Mr. Weber’s program was based on student volunteers, and did not necessarily set the academic foundation for future year-round school systems. By the 1980, there were only a few innovative year-round schools in …show more content…
Taking a closer look at dropout rates; discipline worries; low test scores; excessive grades of C, D and F; and a lack of interest among the majority of exceptional students confirms that the status quo of nine month school systems are not the answer. Experience teachers seemed to reach consensus that these negative trends were reduced when schools had more frequent breaks. Social fact deals with traditional family vacation time. The majority of working parents were permitted approximately two weeks of vacation time per year. Researchers varied their definition of year-round education school systems. The majority of the school plans maintained the usual 180 school days (Bradford) with short one or two week breaks throughout the year. Employment of a multitrack or single-track program was based on school needs. If excessive population or reducing the budget was the primary concern, multitrack was chosen for increased school size by assigning students and teaches to targeted groups. Each time these tracks or groups went on break, the classrooms were just simply used by other groups and teachers. Highlighting a few of the plans, the most popular one according to (Weaver), was the 45-15 method. Fourth-five days of formal instruction followed with 15 days of vacation, repeated four times during the school year. (Glines) defined school calendars consisted of the same principle but
One of the most talked about issues of schooling today, would be year round schooling. The program started as a new way to learn. The old way and still the way most schools calendar is set up was designed the way it is due to harvest times, when the United States was a farming country. There have been many studies done, and some schools have already implemented this program. The studies and the schools that have gone ahead and implemented the program have seen both good things and bad things in their findings. There will be both pros and cons for every issue, and some may see pros and cons differently. Year round schooling is the idea of attending school for an entire year, not all 365 days, but continuously throughout the year. Year round schooling operates on a different schedule to incorporate the same amount of classroom time as a typical school schedule has. The only difference is that the breaks are shorter, but there are more of them in year round schooling. This is the basis of most of the arguments for and against year round schooling.
... Year-Round Schools. Ed. Adriane Ruggiero. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 19 May 2014.
The change of the system to include summer breaks was due to issues not quite under their
The United States has a long and proud history of providing public education to its citizen’s children. The fundamental idea behind the creation of this educational system was that it be available to all, regardless of geographical location or family status. In the era that this initiative was generated many of America’s families lived and worked on farms, and children were a vital part of this lifestyle. The founders of the United States’ public schools had to create a plan that included all children, even those who were expected to perform agricultural work in the harvest season. Thus, the nine-month school calendar was brought into use, allowing farming children a three month break from school in the summer to aid their families in the crop yield. In time, youth participation in farming became outdated and obsolete, and this arrangement slipped from necessity to simply being a tradition held on to through the years. In our modern era, a year-round school calendar would benefit the teachers, students, and finances of America’s public schools.
The BC Ministry of Education recently allowed for flexibility in how school districts choose to organize their school calendars. BC School Districts currently follow a traditional school year calendar with students attending school approximately 190 days, most with a two week break in winter and spring and two months off during the summer months. “This model was very practical when the school calendar was designed to accommodate children with the needs of an agricultural economy” (qtd in Webb 5), and can be “described by some as outdated and irrelevant in today’s society” (Winter 401). A balanced school year calendar, also referred to as a modified school year and year round school, would maintain the same number of instructional days, but would evenly distribute breaks throughout the year. The literature and research available on the balanced school year is mostly American, with a few Canadian sources. This research indicates that those in support of this type of calendar see many benefits, but the most strongly supported with evidence is the reduction of summer learning loss experienced by students, especially for English as a second language (ESL) and low income students. For those who oppose the balanced school year, some believe summer learning loss does not exist and some strongly argue that changing the school calendar is only warranted with proof of increased academic achievement for students.
The traditional school calendar has been in effect for more than a century. By the middle of the nineteenth century rural areas the school year lasted for five to six months, based on the harvest schedule. In contrast, many schools in urban areas were open for eleven or twelve months. A uniform calendar was established in 1847 that is the traditional calendar of today. (Shields, 2000) There was resistance to this calendar from the beginning; people in urban areas had to go to school from much longer to receive the same education. YRE began in a premature form in 1904 in Bluffton, Indiana with a four-quarter schedule. (Speck, n.d.) YRE began to be popular in states like Texas, New Jersey, North Dakota, Nebraska, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. It ceased during WWII because national uniformity was felt to be essential to the war effort. Hayward, CA implemented at official YRE programs at Park Elementary School in 1968 to become the first YRE school after WWII. (Speck, n.d.) YRE schools began to sprout up all over the country after that. In 1969 the first multiple tract school was established in Missouri. Since the late 70’s YRE has picked up in popularity and is a continuing trend. According to the National Association for Year-Round Education, more than 2 million students attend close to 3,000 year-round schools in 41 states and 610 school districts, which is a dramatic increase compared to the early 1990’s. There have been a variety of YRE schedules and currently there is the choice of single or multi-track, options within both of those, and an extended school year.
There are various models of YRS that can be implemented, all of which are reconfigurations of the traditional, nine-month calendar. In some areas these models are known as alternative or modified calendars (Shields & Oberg, 2000) and they all have unique characteristics. Because of theses differences, school systems should spend some time analyzing which model will be best for their particular school; educators may find that some models work better than others depending on the school. Estimates on the exact number of year round schedules vary, although it has been estimated that at least 50 different scheduling patterns exist (Palmer & Bemis, 1999). The most common alternatives include the single track calendar and the multi-track calendar.
Back in the olden days, schools were originally put on a schedule in which students would spend the majority of the year in school, and 2-3 months off for summer break. The purpose of this was so that children could be home for the summer to help their parents run family farms. Today, due to progressive industrialization of farming, modernized farming equipment, and decrease in family farms, the need for children to be home during the summer to help run family farms is minute if not obsolete; because of this many schools across the United States have transitioned to year-round schooling (“Summer”). Contrary to belief, year round schooling does not usually mean more school days. Currently most year-round schools adhere to the 180 day school year. Instead of the traditional lengthy summer vacation, year-round schools distribute the 180 days throughout the entire year while allowing for shorter breaks. Common scheduling for year-round schools includes cycles of 2-3 months in school followed by 2-3 week breaks (“Research Spotlight...
There are many advantages to year round schooling. The two major advantages for year round schooling is the elimination or reduction in learning loss during summer breaks and improvement of student achievement. Winter, also stated other advantages such as attendance in school, reduction in drop out rate, student attitudes, and teacher attitudes. Less absenteeism by both teachers and students.The students attitudes were more positive to school and learni...
Throughout time education has been considered a process that every so often must be improved. The education quality in the U.S. has declined over the years and people have been looking for a way to make improvements. A more recent proposal has been to go from a traditional nine-month schedule to an all year program. Supporters of year round school claim it gives the student a better education. However, the prospect of year round school is not beneficial to the taxpayers pocket, to the education a student receives, or to the people involved with the district.
Students who are enrolled in a year-round school attend school for 180 days, the same number of days as students on a traditional calendar schedule. A year-round school calendar is formulated into nine-week quarters. Each quarter is separated by a three-week break called an intersession. There is still a summer vacation , but at four or five weeks, it is less than half that of a traditional school summer break, and does not provide enough time for students to completely forget what they learned all year. This solution actually reduces the problem. This school system has been proven to have positive effects on student achievement, especially for students with learning disabilities. The goal of year-round schooling is to create continuous or extended learning by adding hours to the days and days to the year. According to the benefits of year round education article, “Fifty years ago, most American households were supported by a working father, while mothers were expected to stay at home. However, the women’s movement of the 1970’s combined with the rise in divorce rate and the high cost of living, lead to a decline of stay at home mothers.”First, The shorter vacations implemented by year-round education and intersession are helpful to today’s working parents because it is a less expensive alternative to daycare or summer camps. Also, parents and teachers can schedule vacations
Family vacations, pool memberships, and corn de-tasseling; these have been the experiences of traditional Midwestern summers. For centuries young American children have attended school during the winter months, during farming off seasons when their families could afford to be without them. Families have grown accustomed to a traditional school calendar that provides time for bonding throughout the year. Students have grown accustomed to an eight week break during the summer months where they are allowed to refresh their minds before returning for a new school year. Unfortunately, these traditional experiences and practices are now in jeopardy. In today’s race to improve student achievement, traditional school calendars have become a point of contention. Today more and more school districts and parents alike have begun to debate the pros and cons of an alternative school calendar.
Imagine students becoming stressed with the abundant amount of homework they have to accomplish, complaining about the lack of time and fun enjoyable tasks they have to leave out. Currently, District 211 has a five day school week but having a four day school week eradicates these problems, which could have a positive mental and physical effect. Currently, the four day school week is being used in more than 120 school districts across the country, in states including including New Hampshire, Colorado, and New Mexico. Use of the four day school week also extends to several provinces in Canada, France, and Britain. Considering the amount of districts that are executing a four day school week it is most reasonable to assume that they have significant
Palmer, E. A., and A. E. Bemis. "Research Spotlight on Year-Round Education." Rss. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
The American educational system is based on the traditional, nine-month school calendar, which has been in place for over a century. Originally, the United States was an agrarian society. The majority of Americans lived on farms. People made most of the items that they needed, and with little trade necessary, there was no need for schooling (McLain, 1973). However, as people branched out into neighboring areas, they needed to learn new skills, such as basic arithmetic to price items, measure land, and more (McLain, 1973). As a result, it became the responsibility of those who were less needed on the farm or in the factory to acquire knowledge for the family (McLain, 1973).