Basically
all countries around the world view education as important, but some value it
more than others and use it to their advantages. Many countries around the
world have been enforcing a school system that is year- round and these
countries have been improving tremendously in education. There are two common
types of year- round schooling: multi-track and extended (Greenfield, 2008).
The multi-track system is when schools still have the traditional 180 days of
school, but are rearranged different to provide shorter, more frequent breaks
throughout the year. The extended system is when days are added to a school
year calendar. Most people are turned off the by the idea of the extended
system, but only around 50 more days are added and not very many more. Recent
research shows that education is greatly improved when there is not a loss of
information during the summer, so as other countries are quickly progressing,
the United States should adopt a year- round schooling system in order to
better educate its students.
Schooling in the United States started
well into the 1600s, with the first school created in Boston during the year
1635, called the Boston Latin School (Cooper, 2003). From then until the late
nineteenth century, agriculture was a main source of income for many farming families.
There were not many other jobs available for most people, so without enough
planting and harvesting of the crops, families would not have been able to make
as much money or possibly survive at all. During this time period, the
schooling system in the United States was designed to fit the needs of the
people. This school system dismissed students in April, allowing them to use as
many of the warmer months as possible for farming. Families needed as many
children as possible to help harvest crops and plant for the new seasons, which
is why there was such a long summer vacation in America. As new technology in
farming improved (the plow, the tractor, etc), it took less time and people to
do the same tasks as before. Cities were being built, so everything started to
become more urbanized because of industrialization, technology, and progress in
the country. According to Cooper, around 2-3 percent of the population still
lives an agricultural lifestyle, which means that only a very small amount of
people are actually in need of a longer summer vacation as a means of income
(2003). Since there is currently little need for a three or four month break,
educational researchers have brought to question if the schooling system in
America is hindering students’ education, as well as examining and suggesting
different ways this can be improved.
Researchers at the John Hopkins
University School of Education studied the drop-off rate in students’ math
skills. They found that there is a loss of around 2.6 months of grade- level
equivalency, which means that in the fall, students performed as if they had
missed a quarter of the previous school year (Davey, 2008). With the extremely
long summer gap, students lose much of the information they were supposed to
retain the previous year. Because of this, teachers are forced to take weeks
when school resides in the fall to reteach this information again. This wastes time
and, ultimately, students have less time to learn the maximum amount of
information they could be able to without such a long break in the summer. It
is possible that different social classes play an important role in the loss of
information too. Families in lower economic classes have a more difficult time
purchasing books for summer reading and other learning tools in order to help
their students continue in an educated environment (von Hippel, 2006). Wealthier
families have access to summer tutors or classes to help their children, while
many families do not. Other researchers, including Downey and Broh, believe
that this loss from information is closely related to the students and their parents.
It is said to be that parents hold the responsibility to aid in children’s
learning, and not just the teachers. Downey and Broh partially blame parents
around the country for this learning gap because they do not always devote the
necessary time needed to teach children important learning and studying skills.
They also advise parents to enroll children in summer school programs if
possible because it is proven that these students will have better study skills
and probably a better grade point average overall (2004).
Many other countries are currently using
a year- round schooling system and have virtually no serious problems. In New
Zealand, for instance, the year has four 10-week terms divided by three
two-week vacations and a shorter summer break (Davey, 2008). This is almost the
same amount of days as the traditional system in the United States, but just
rearranged differently to provide shorter and more frequent breaks. Japan is
another country that follows this system and has proven to be a very successful
nation in regards to education. Schooling in Japan usually starts on April 1st,
and ends the following March, with a much shorter summer break. Students
also return to their same teacher, until they graduate each school level, so every
specific teacher is familiar with his or her students’ work habits and strengths
and weaknesses. Teachers are also required to give out summer reading and
assignments that must be completed when school is back in session (Fiske,
1992). The current Japanese school system was adopted and reformed after World
War II and operates on a 6-3-3-4 system. This means that there are six years of
elementary school, three years of junior high school, three years of senior
high school, and four year of a university (Abe, 2010). According to Abe, a
Japanese researcher, Japan has one of the world’s best- educated populations
with 100% enrollment in compulsory grades and zero illiteracy in those grades
(2010). That is much better than the current situation in the United States,
but with the help of year- round schooling, education in this country can catch
up to countries like Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and Japan that currently
enforce this type of schooling.
On the other hand, there is a belief that
the school system in place in the United States right now is perfectly fine. Kelly
suggests that students are going to forget information whether they are out of
school for three weeks or ten (2012). Also, student summer employment will be
almost impossible with such short breaks (Kelly, 2012). Academic researcher,
Husén, explains how it is almost impossible to compare different schooling in
other countries because they each have specific curriculum and motives based on
national goals (1983). Societies in each country put a different amount of
pressure on students and their ability to succeed. Countries like the United
States, Scotland, and Germany have lower math scores than countries like Japan,
Israel, and Sweden. He believes this is because these countries each put
different pressure on what it means to succeed and be educated (Husén, 1983). Others
believe that there is no correlation between the length of the school day or
year with academic achievement. In fact, what is most important is how the time
in the classroom is spent and how engaged the students are (Morin, 2012). If
teachers are letting their students slack off and not perform to their fullest
potential, then it is obvious that students will develop bad learning and
studying habits and they will learn to live their whole lives without trying
their absolute best.
That is very reasonable, but there
has been research to prove that current learning in the classroom may not be
completely helpful like many people expect. Research done by LZ Granderson
shows how American 15- year olds ranked 14th in reading, 17th
in science, and 25th in math in a study of students in 34 different
nations (2011). This is not necessarily terrible, but it is not superb either,
especially because America has the technology and resources available to improve
education greatly. The United States tries to pride itself on intelligent
political figures and developers, but in this generation test scores are much
lower than other countries. It is a scary reality to know that America could
possibly be “falling behind” other nations in the educational sense. No one can
accurately predict what will happen in generations to come, but at this rate,
the education level is decreasing and it could be due to the system that is in
place.
Recently, many school districts in
America have been changing their outdated systems. Based off information
provided by the National Associated for Year- Round Schooling, over 3,000
schools had year- round education programs in place the last few years. This is
only less than four percent of all schooling, but it is still an incredible
amount more than the year- round schooling programs less than ten years ago.
Some school districts have been testing out this new system in many different
states, including: Nevada, Illinois (particularly Chicago), California, and
Missouri (Fiske, 1992 & Johnson, 2010). A specific example is the state of
Nevada and the exchanging of the traditional school system to the year- round
system in many different districts. Certain schools were sampled, or tested, in
order to see if there would be any benefits in changing the systems. It was
found that there were many, some benefits included a high average attendance
and higher overall test scores. Also, the cost of the school is less than the
output results from making schooling all year around (Daneshvary, 2001). It is
important to have this type of progress so more people will realize how helpful
it is and how much improvement in education can be made by adopting a year-
round system.
Another aspect to carefully
investigate is the affect on teachers and faculty members of the school. Most of
the focus is put on the student and his or her ability to adapt, but the
workers are affected as well. A normal school would have around 180 school
days, but plenty of schools have been changing to the extended year, which
increases the school year to around 223 days (this could be slightly more or
slightly less). This provides longer, more stable jobs for faculty and teachers
who are in need of work (Gándara & Fish, 1994). The multi- track system is
cost effective in the fact that schooling does not cost more than it already
does now. This system is still 180 days, but the breaks are rearranged
differently, which means that teachers in this setting will work the same
amount of days and the public will still pay the same amount to send their
children to school.
Although there are a few negatives,
the United States should enforce a year- round schooling system because there
are many more benefits. Some parents are afraid that their children will lack a
“proper” childhood by not experiencing summer camp or by not spending time with
other children during summer vacation, but in reality, students still get a
summer break that is just slightly shorter (Morin, 2012). In the public eye,
there are probably many mixed feelings about changing the school system, but it
is very important that education in the United States is taken more seriously, especially
with other counties developing so rapidly. Tests have proven that students in
the United States right now are doing just a mediocre job in school, and slowly
falling behind. Year- round schooling would help stop this increasing gap
between the United States and other countries, and could eventually even put
America on top. It is crucial that the school system in place now is
reevaluated because it is outdated and lacking in its fullest potential by not
allowing students to learn and retain the maximum amount of information needed to
succeed.
References
Davey, M. (2008, July 14). The case
for year- round schooling. Retrieved from
http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/459031
Downey, D., & Broh, B. (2004). Are schools
the great equalizer? Cognitive Inequality During the Summer Months and the
School Year. American Sociological Review, 69(5), 613-635.
Retrieved from http://asr.sagepub.com/content/69/5/613.short
Fiske, E. (1992). Smart schools, smart
kids: Why do some schools work?. (1 ed., p. 97). New York, NY: Touchstone
Retrieved from
http://books.google.com/books?id=XoisTt-_qIwC&pg=PA97&dq=year round
schooling in japan&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tplyT6Z2g4eDB6Hu2Vw&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAA