We're choosing convenience over success and it's destroying us.
by Kelley Rosario, M.S.Ed.
Year-round school is an educational system that spreads out the traditional ten-month school year over the course of the entire calendar year, with shorter breaks interspersed throughout. There are several potential advantages to this approach, including less time spent on review at the beginning of each school year and more evenly distributed learning opportunities. Additionally, year-round school can help students avoid the "summer slide" and retain more information over time. However, there are also potential drawbacks, such as increased costs for schools to operate year-round and the potential for scheduling conflicts with extracurricular activities. Ultimately, whether year-round school is the right choice for a particular school district or student depends on a variety of factors, including local needs and preferences.
The Problem
If your district hasn't adopted year-round schooling, the reason may be more superficial than you think. The top reasons many school districts have opposed year-round school include summer jobs, family vacations, child care, and extracurricular activities. While all of these things are important, they aren't nearly as important as student learning. It's long been known that students experience a decline in learning aptly called "summer slide". The phrase is used to describe gaps that develop during the summer months when students aren't engaged in learning or practicing the skills they learned during the school year. In the weeks between the last day of the previous school and the first of the next, studies show that students lose one to two months of reading skills and up to two and a half months of math skills. If only the first few weeks of school are spent in review, that would mean the average student has significant learning deficits that grow worse over time.
The Solution
A Duke University study showed that students who attend year-round school are at an advantage. The slide those students experienced was half that of traditional school students. The difference can be even greater for students who are already struggling or come from low-income families. Additionally, they don't waste precious learning time reviewing content from the previous year. With shorter breaks, students are more likely to retain what they learned and time in the classroom can be used to learn new concepts. In countries like China, Japan, Nigeria, Australia, South Korea and North Korea where year-round school is widespread, student academic performance far exceeds that of the United States. Ultimately, year-round schooling has proven to be an effective solution to the ongoing crisis we face in the American education system. Family vacations can be rescheduled, jobs can be done after school, and child care services and extracurricular activities can be adjusted according to the district calendar. However, the learning gaps we see nationwide are sustained by our preference for convenience in these areas that can be changed to accommodate a year-round calendar.
How Can Greater Writing Help?
If your district doesn't offer year-round school, Greater Writing offers year-round support. Our summer lineup includes Summer BOOSTCamp, Upward Bound (our next grade-level prep), and College Bound Bootcamp (for those needing help drafting college admission essays, applying for scholarships, and preparing for college admission interviews). When it comes to writing challenges, we can help. Visit us at https://linktr.ee/greaterenterprises to book your free consultation for private sessions or join our waitlist for summer programs.
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