Wednesday, March 20, 2002
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Wednesday, March 20, 2002 |
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Schools moving toward untested year-round idea Do you know how [the balanced calendar] will affect your family and the community? It's also known as year-round education, year-round school, modified school calendar, extended school year, alternative calendar, and education for all seasons. Year-round education restructures the school calendar, eliminating the traditional summer vacation and scheduling shorter, more frequent breaks. The basic calendar does not increase the number of days in the school year. (Coweta County recently balanced the calendar by providing three-week vacations between each semester. This system failed and Coweta has now returned to the traditional calendar.) Why consider a balanced calendar? · May be good for all students. · May lessen review time. · May improve student and teacher attendance. · May reduce "burn-out" in students and teachers. · May improve discipline. Facts about a balanced calendar: Many communities find that just changing the school calendar does not improve the quality of education. Reasons why follow: A balanced calendar does not significantly improve education. It's not a new concept. Year-round education has operated since the turn of the century. The modern era of year-round education began in 1968. The acceptance of year-round education has been less than spectacular. Since 1980, 95 percent of schools trying year-round education have returned to a traditional calendar. Standardized testing shows that year-round education has insignificant statistical impact on test scores, even with "at-risk" children. Studies also have shown that student and teacher "burn-out" often increase with year-round education. A balanced calendar does not lessen review time after breaks. Proponents of year-round education state that shorter breaks lessen learning loss and review time. Studies have shown that memory-loss occurs within about four days. Review times that follow the longer, more frequent breaks in year-round education are more frequently required than in a traditional calendar. A balanced calendar is not cost effective. Many school districts find that year-round education is more expensive. Other districts reject the calendar after taking a close look at the potential costs. Often, the promised savings never materialize. Costs for year-round education from schools across the country show significant increases. In San Diego, Calif., 27 elementary schools on year-round education lost $1.4 million in average daily attendance allocations between July and September. This was due to absenteeism during the traditional calendar summer vacation. In Tempe, Ariz., a high school experienced an increase of $157,000 per year in operating costs. Similar increases have been reported by other arizona schools. There is little down-time available to make necessary repairs with a balanced calendar. This can shorten the life of the school itself by as much as 50 percent. Academic improvement concerns: Resources available to expend on major educational improvements are limited. Investing in year-round education will exhaust resources desperately needed for far more beneficial reform efforts. Year-round education advocacy statements claim improved test scores, improved dropout rates, increased graduation rates and lower absenteeism. Neither empirical data nor research studies support these claims. Relevant factors such as the current use of instructional time, class size, curriculum, expectations, attitudes, and individual students' needs must be evaluated where problems exist. Schools being used as models for year-round education are ones whose test scores fell well below state averages before implementing the calendar change. Following the path of highly successful schools is imminently more sound. The momentum that exists in the traditional calendar would be lost. Time to wind down during the summer would be lost completely. Heat concerns: Danger of dehydration and overexposure to heat and sun are unnecessary risk for students, their families, and school employees. [Also,] lack of shaded structures for recess; lack of air conditioning on buses. Childcare and custody concerns: Parents who rely on secondary students for childcare may have a difficult time finding childcare. Difficult to find adequate daycare for only three weeks at a time. May increase the number of latch-key kids. Divorced parents who have joint custody of children often have to send their children to their non-custodial parent during the summer months. Family time concerns: Year-round education will disrupt traditional family and community activities. Common vacations for all family members are more difficult to schedule. Traditional and developing summer programs are not available such as college preparation courses. Extra-curricular activities like scouts, camp, swim team, baseball, etc., would diminish or terminate due to reduced participation. Community functions are often scheduled in the summer. Parks and recreation departments concentrate primarily on scheduling their activities only during the summer months. Families are geared to a concentration of summer activities. Traditions of a 9-month calendar would be difficult to change. Teachers concerns: Difficult to work on an advanced degree without traditional summer vacation; loss of extra income provided by summer jobs; sustained free time to develop creativity, resourcefulness, and independence will be fragmented. Plan of action: Year-round education is experimental. It lacks any compelling research to justify apparent disadvantages that would occur to students, teachers, and their families. In order for our board members and our community to make an informed decision we must be given thoroughly researched and critically analyzed information. As parents and concerned community members we need to: Get all the facts. Contact the school and governing board for dates and times of meetings that are scheduled to discuss year-round education. Telephone and write the principal, superintendent, and the school board expressing your concerns. Contact local newspapers and other media. For Internet research on year-round education (yre) and the balanced calendar refer to: Www.bctf.bc.ca/education/yrs Www.inet.ed.gov/databases/eric_digests/ Www.capitolresource.org/b_yre.htm/ Www.decaturdaily.com/news/yrschool/ Www.geocities.com/weswalker99/ Names and email addresses of fcboe governing board members: Littlefield.mickey@fcboe.org Powers.greg@fcboe.org Key.marion@fcboe.org Smith.terri@fcboe.org Smola.janet@fcboe.org Citizens who oppose the balanced calendar will be returning to gather signatures on a petition soon. Kathie Prado Peachtree City
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