For many years, the issue of producing globally competitive students has been debated. In America, an average of thirteen weeks vacation time is afforded to students while some countries just provide a little over seven weeks of time off from school.
The argument for lengthening time in the classroom is that it produces much more well-educated children. Even US President Barack Obama once said that “The challenges of the new century demand more time in the classroom.” However, other have argued against this even releasing studies showing that spending longer time in the classroom isn’t exactly better.
Works published in the Economics of Education Review in 2008 and Phi Delta Kappan in 2007, as well as research conducted by Education Sector policy analyst Elena Silva show that there is no correlation between the length of time spent in school and academic achievement. The studies did find that how time was spent in the classroom mattered. That said, what are the arguments for and against year round schooling?
Pros of Year Round Schooling
1. It reduces summer learning loss
K-12 educators have long bemoaned the “summer slide” which is the theory that knowledge gained by students would be lost when they spend so much time off from academic pursuits. Evidence has been shown by the National Summer Learning Association that students do have a tendency to unlearn things when they are outside of a classroom setting for a long time.
While studies have shown that there is no difference in learning whether students stay in school longer or shorter, it’s been found that at-risk students tend to do well in year-round setups. According to research, disadvantaged students lose around 27% of their learning during the summer months than their peers. If they get to stay in school for the same number of days but with lesser time off, their minds are kept on a learning track.
2. It allows remediation needs to be assessed during the school year
With a lengthier school year, there is time to address remediation needs rather than during summer programs. As a result, it would lessen retention rates and decrease the need for local budgets to include summer school.
3. It encourages more distributed vacation time
A year round school program allows for a more evenly distributed vacation time. As a result, scheduling family time will be a whole lot easier. Plus, it gives students the chance to regenerate on a more frequent basis. It also benefits teachers who don’t have to re-emphasize lessons from the past and instead, can focus on the actual lessons planned for the year – which is a much better use of classroom time.
Cons of Year Round Schooling
1. It increases school maintenance costs
A lengthened school year ups the cost of maintenance which include day-to-day upkeep and utilities.
2. It is disadvantageous to working students
Some students need to find work in order to support themselves and pay for school or even make money to go to college. When school time is lengthened, they might find it difficult to find a job that offers a certain amount of flexibility.
3. It creates issues with budget and staff
A lot of schools are struggling with paying teachers a competitive wage which leads to a certain difficulty in keeping good teachers. So having a year round schooling program will just raise more concerns rather than academic solutions.