The Pros And Cons Of Year-Round Schools

Research shows that there is a better retention rate from year-round schooling, along with better academic performance, and lower dropout rates (there is a 2% dropout rate for year-round schools, while the traditional has a 5% dropout rate). In year-round educational plans, the school is set on a school plan and track. The plan determines the number of consecutive days students attend school and also dictates the break schedule. The track determines which students are present in the school at a given time. As of 2011–12, an estimated 3,700 schools across the United States, accounting for about 4 percent of all public schools, held classes on a year-round school calendar, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics. Year-round
Many people believe that it should not happen because it causes issues with scheduling sports and other extracurricular activities. Now, it is already hard enough to schedule activities and vacations for students, parents, and teachers alike, and year-round schooling just makes these problems worse. “It sites, ‘excessive absences’ by students and reports by principals and teachers that ‘proficient students felt stigmatized by the mandatory additional time, which was viewed as punishment rather than enforcement’” (6). Along with scheduling problems, year-round schooling actually does not improve academic achievement. Teachers and parents may say that it works, but, in reality, there is no data proving that year-round schooling makes a difference in academic achievement. “‘We are not seeing our year-round schools outperforming those on traditional calendars,’ declares Michael Evans, chief communications officer in the Wake County (N.C.) Public School System (WCPSS).” (6). If people say that the only reason year-round schools exist is because of the summer slide they are wrong. Most students come back to school in September at about the same academic ability as when they left in June. The results about year-round schools and academic achievement are inconclusive. This makes it an invalid reason to switch to a year-round
These classes are not required, but students who take advantage of this have greater academic achievement and an improved retention rate. “We [Holsclaw and the Bardstown school district] figured it would make more sense to set up intersessions in the schools at the end of each quarter, on scheduled breaks, and catch students who were falling behind before they moved on.” (6?) It does actually make sense to do this because it can keep the kids learning even when they are off school. Also, the best part is that they are completely optional. These intersession classes help with academic studies along with studies in music, sports, and hobbies. “Throughout the day, other enrichment activities are available, including arts and crafts, music lessons, woodworking, and karate.” (8). It may not seem like a big deal to include such classes in an intersession class, but in reality they are some of the most vital lessons to be