Year Round Education

School districts throughout our nation are researching the possibility of switching from a traditional school year to a year-round educational calendar. “This year, more than two million students in close to 3,000 public schools in 41 states and 610 school districts attend year-round schools” (Chaika, 2009). Superintendent Eugene White of the Indianapolis Public Schools is considering such a reform for the middle schools within his district citing the need to increase more teaching time for his students. His proposal is intended to rectify the declining test scores on a state mandated exam. Only “27 percent of the district’s eighth-graders and 34 percent of its seventh-graders passed” the English portion of the exam (Gammill, 2007).

The year round calendar was instituted in contrast to the outdated traditional school calendar operating on a ten month schedule. This conventional 180 day school calendar was organized around a largely agrarian society when children were often needed to work during the summer months on their families’ farms to support their economic needs. Yet, educators propose this calendar is now outdated as our society has moved away from agriculture (Kelly, 2010).

What is Year Round Education?

The term ‘year round education’ is often misunderstood to mean students attend school five days a week all year long. When in…