Making a Case for Year-Round Schooling

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Recommended: Should schools implement year round schooling

“…Thus, at the beginning of formalized education in our country, communities created

schooling schedules that were cohesive with the lifestyles and responsibilities of the

student populations. In rural areas, schooling was structured around agricultural

harvesting. Local school boards and superintendents gave students months off so that

students could help their parents with harvesting crops and caring for the farm. Unlike

their rural counterparts, in the mid-18oos, children in urban areas were subject to year-

round schooling. Yet because education was not compulsory at the time, students were

able to take time off when they pleased, and thus, attendance became inconsistent and

problematic. To encourage maximum school attendance, urban districts adopted the

summers-off approach” (396).

The change of the system to include summer breaks was due to issues not quite under their

control at the time. Attendance is no longer as prevalent of an issue and yet this system is still in

use. The educational program of the United States has stuck with this outdated decision for

hundreds of years and the change for a solid education must be made. There are tools available

for what is needed to carry out what could not be done in the 1800s, and therefore urban

adaptations need to be made back to the year-round school. If society has continuously adapted

to so many things to survive (i.e. technology, fashion trends, laws, etc.), then why has it taken

this long for education to still remain outmoded? This lack of progress made within the

education system has hindered students on many fronts. The United States’ global position

regarding education has fallen short.

“In 1983, the National Commission on Excellence in Education publ...

... middle of paper ...

...ts of View Reference Center. Web. 21

Mar. 2014.

Opheim, Cynthia and Kristine Hopkin Mohajer. "Evaluating Year-Round Schools In Texas."

Education 116.1 (1995): 115. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

O'Sullivan, Mary Therese. "The Ten-Month School Year: Are We Ignoring Educational

Research In Order To Preserve Summer Vacation? Finding A Compromise Between

Educational Advancement And Over-Schooling." Brigham Young University Education

& Law Journal 2 (2013): 395. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

Pearson, John and Denise B. Geier. "Counterpoint: Year Round School Causes More Problems

Than It Resolves." Points Of View: Year-Round School (2013): 3. Points of View

Reference Center. Web. 21 Mar. 2014.

Buhre 12

St. Gerard, Vanessa. "Year-Round Schools Look Better All The Time." Education Digest 72.8

(2007): 56. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 25 Mar. 2014.

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