Year-round school in the United States

Advocates claim that year-round calendars help students achieve higher and allow teachers to provide more effective education. Reports from the California State Department Of Education show that standardized reading test scores increased 19.3% for year-round grade school students and that a greater number of year-round students met state score objectives than those on traditional schedules. Conversely, opponents insist that year-round education is detrimental to student learning. Some school board officials and studies indicate negative impacts of schedule changes and year-round education. Lawsuits have even been filed against various school districts to block or ban year-round calendars, charging that year-round education is "harmful to student"

Front view of a year-round school in Morrisville. Here is this school's Academic Calendar for 2006–2007. Morrisville has been a year-round school since its construction; it is part of a program that has been running for more than 16 years to implement year-round schools.

Proponents of year-round school cite:

• Educational
  • Surveys in year-round districts indicate that between 60% to 90% of teachers prefer year-round education.
  • Prevention of student and teacher burnout
  • Decrease of teacher and student absences due to shorter instructional cycles

Matthew Dunn