Year-Round SchoolingThe Cure to the Summer SlideMarkita McCarrollSOE 115 Psychology of Teaching and LearningKendall College

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Overview of the StrategyYear-round schooling isn’t a new concept, it has been around for a long time. It dates all

the way back to the 1800s and was originally developed to teach English to children of immigrants in northern industrial cities. It was later used in the 1900s to battle issues of underfunding and overcrowding. Students currently attend school between 175 to 180 days a year, with year-round schooling students would still attend for the same amount of days but the days will be spread throughout the year and take shorter breaks instead of longer ones.

I chose this topic because I have seen my own child struggle with school after a summer break. I recently began looking into different ways to help him overcome what they call the “Summer Slide”. Students tend to forget one to two months worth of information over the course of the summer break. Year-round schooling has been said to be one of the ways to help students not submit to this loss.

Credible Source #1My first source is a report about a study that was completed by Massachusetts 2020 on a number of year-round schools, the issues they faced, and how they overcame them. Throughout the report, it states the many benefits that students receive from attending a year-round school. Many of the benefits were more time in class to fully understand the concepts that they were learning. The teachers in these schools believed that the 50 minute class periods were not enough for students to discuss and ask teachers questions about concepts, and to fully grasp the concepts. “Another critical benefit of additional learning time is that teachers can use the time to cover material in greater depth and thus provide more context for what students are learning” (Farbman and Kaplan, 2005).

Credible Source #2My second source is an article that describes year-round school, as well as the benefits and difficulties associated with it. This article states how long year-round schools have been around and the fact that they have ebbed and flowed over the years. Year-round schools can lead to better attendance in students and teachers but can also lead to burnout in teachers. One of the major reasons for year-round schools is to improve student achievement, especially students who have special needs or don’t have access to certain resources during the summer. “Proponents of year-round education state that it makes the most of learning time for all students: those students achieving at the norm as well as at-risk students, gifted and talented students, and students with disabilities” (Mutchler, 1993).

Credible Source #3My last source explains how year-round schools is the solution of loss of knowledge over the summer. “The use of year-round schools can prevent the loss of learning over the summer, which may be a particular problem for children with special educational needs (e.g. English learners) and addresses the uneven effects of the summer break on students based on socioeconomic status” (Skinner, 2014). There are various state policies that apply to year-round schools. During the research for the article, they found that 17 of the states that have year-round schools have policies that the schools must follow. Schools in Arkansas are not allowed to have a vacation that last more than six weeks. This prevents students from losing a great amount of knowledge because they don’t have the typical 3 month break from school that normal schools have.

ConclusionsThere are various methods to help prevent the “summer-slide” and year-round schools is

one of them. With year-round schooling students are able to spend more time learning because the time is not so rushed. It allows students who need special services to receive this services without having to worry about paying for them or having to go somewhere else to receive them. As a parent, my biggest concern is my child being prepared for the next year of school. Normally, students use the first couple of weeks of school to review what they learned in the previous grade. This isn’t always enough for some students and they tend to fall behind. Year-round schooling can prevent this from happening and those students who need extra help will be able to receive it.

ReferencesFarbman, D. and Kaplan, C. (2005). Time for a change: The promise of extended-time schools for promoting student achievement. Research report. Retrieved February 17, 2017 from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED534912.pdf

Mutchler, S.E. (1993). Year-round education. Retrieved February 16, 2017 from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED363966.pdf

Skinner, R.R. (2014). Year-round schools: In brief. Retreived February 17, 2017 from https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43588.pdf

https://www.ireadprogram.org/store?category=8/prevent-summer-slide