Is Year-Round Schooling an Effective Measure Against Summer Learning Loss?
Early in my career, I worked in a school district with one school that offered year-round schooling. In a brief conversation with the Principal, she explained the benefits of the approach to students and parents. For her students, it minimized summer learning loss, and for her parents, it allowed them to plan more effectively for their families.
According to the California Department of Education (2023), year-round education may positively affect student achievement, especially for disadvantaged students. Why? Shorter, more frequent breaks minimize the loss of information retention during the summer months, and there are more enrichment opportunities for students during the breaks.
Traditional school calendars with long summer breaks can contribute to significant learning loss, particularly in core subjects like math and reading. This phenomenon, often called the “summer slide,” disproportionately affects students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
To combat this, some school districts are shifting towards a year-round schooling model, which aims to provide consistent learning opportunities throughout the year without the extended breaks contributing to educational backslide.
So, let’s discuss the benefits of Year-Round Schooling, which offers several advantages:
The transition to a year-round model requires careful planning and community engagement. School districts must consider potential impacts on family life, teacher contracts, and extracurricular activities.
Effective communication with all stakeholders—parents, educators, and community members—is crucial for a smooth transition. Moreover, districts can look at existing models in other regions for best practices and potential pitfalls to avoid.
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“Learning loss is prompting educators to rethink the traditional school calendar, suggesting starting earlier, ending later, and extending breaks for remediation.” -The 74
Year-round schooling represents a proactive approach to addressing summer learning loss. Maintaining a steady educational rhythm throughout the year allows students to enjoy a more continuous learning experience, mitigating the traditional losses seen during long summer breaks.
Do you believe that year-round schooling is an effective measure against summer learning loss?
#EducationalLeader,
Kim
"When students are led well, they learn well."
The views shared in the Educational Leadership Moment are solely mine and do not reflect the positions of my employer or any entity within the local, state, or federal government sectors.
Curriculum Developer, Educational Systems Evaluator, Academic Coach, Graduate School Adjunct
4 个月I worked in an elementary school in North Carolina that had both calendars. My first year employed as a fourth grade teacher, I worked as a traditional calendar teacher. My second year employed at the school, I worked as a year round teacher. To my surprise, I enjoyed the year round calendar. As a year round teacher, we had a break after every quarter. We still had Thanksgiving & our Winter December break just like traditional. We also had Spring break. The biggest difference was our summer break was only 4 weeks. Again, to my surprise I didn't realize how much difference a break between quarters would make. Every quarter was a fresh start not only for teachers but especially for students. I'm not sure if parents had a problem with the schedule but since our school had both calendars there was choice. We had 6 teachers on my grade level. I believe three of us were year round. I also believe the need dictated how many year round & how many traditional. As noted by my data, I believe student learning was competitive with the "norm". My class was filled with students that needed breaks or their parents felt like breaks would benefit their child. Again, we were a school of choice programs.
Recruiting, Career Counseling and Non-Profit Experience.
4 个月I think year-round school is a terrible idea for students. I worked as an elementary school counselor in the past and students need time off from learning to be children. My mom used to take us to the library for summer reading programs. I think kids need time to relax, play, go on vacation and spend time with their family. It is healthy to have a summer vacation for young people and teachers to have time off to recharge as teaching is a very stressful and demanding job.
Concierge at Apple Computer
4 个月In Orange County, Florida, we experienced year-round schools on a track program. It was not good for students or families. There was more disruption of learning, not less. Family life was disrupted when children were scheduled on different tracks. Families could not coordinate activities with relatives in other states or on other tracks. Using the facilities constantly left no time for regularly scheduled maintenance and improvements. Money was not saved. Teacher pay had to be increased for additional planning and teaching time. It was sold to families with all of the benefits you listed, which did not prove to be advantages for students and families after all. It was abandoned after parents rebelled. The only benefit we saw was the financial benefit to the people who were selling the program to the districts throughout the country. Follow, the money with any scheme such as year-round-school is being sold to districts as a solution to multiple problems. A good summer school program for both students who need to catch up to their cohort or have advanced learning programs available to all students, would be more successful in preventing learning loss and, in fact, would encourage year-round learning as a habit.
I am a firm believer in year round school for these exact reasons! The use of intercessions are built in dedicated support time to reinforce skills for low performing student. It can also be a time for enrichment to explore arts integration and cultural experiences for other students and their families. Most importantly, by utilizing partnerships, some fun activities combined with curriculum can take place! For example, a local news station can support writing and visual arts by creating an intercession news project! #frommetoyouconsulting #yearroundschoolrocks #partnerships #summerlearningslide