Year Round Education: A Worthwhile Transformation

During the past two centuries the United States has always regarded the world as the best developed country. Citizens enjoy access to top-notch transportation, state-of-the-art technology, reliable government, and adequate employment opportunities. Even though the United States enjoyed the privileges of other countries of the world, the kindergarten to the 12th grade (k - 12) educational calendar also fell into the stone age. Traditional school calendars are really helpful during the long summer months when children rely on family farms.

Perhaps the main reason why educational supporters shifted from traditional calendars throughout the year is that they believe school education can provide better education for students throughout the year. Educator Susan Morse (1992) argues that the longer the student takes a vacation, the less the materials they hold. She added that year-round education can improve the academic performance of students who do not rely on home care. This seems logical, but Morse did not provide backing evidence that education throughout the year actually improved student academic performance. Indeed, Teresa Greenfield (1994) discovered that teachers and parents may have observed some improvement, but the results of standardized tests did not show such improvements. Furthermore, Dr. Gary Peltier (1991) pointed out that there is no big difference when comparing the student's score throughout the year with the student's score of a conventional calendar year.

A full year calendar is not a new idea. The national annual education association promoting the annual calendar was founded in 1972. Since the 1990's thousands of schools have been experimenting with the calendar year round. These promises are not fulfilled. In California, the calendar was changed in about 1000 schools between 1998 and 2005, the score of the test did not increase in the school changed to a full-year calendar, and the score did not decrease even in the school that switched to the conventional calendar It was. In the most populous state in the United States, in the late 1990's, one of five schools uses the annual calendar and now only uses one of the calendars for 20 years.