year round

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Home : 2002 : February : 6

year round
By Julianne

I haven't ever taught at a year round, but my own (personal) kids all attended year round schools at one time or another. So these impressions are more from the parent perspective. The teachers I've talked to appear to
enjoy teaching in a year round setting. The schools here that are year round do a four track schedule to alleviate overcrowding. There are other models for overcrowded schools, and you can also do a single track year round that is supposed to be beneficial for student learning.
Pros: Breaks every few weeks keep the kids fresh - and the teachers! Classroom planning usually revolves

around units that fit the track schedule making sharing materials easier. Students have less time in the summer to forget material between grade levels, supposedly allowing for less review time (never saw the research on this, though).

Cons: If you're doing this for overcrowding you may have to share your classroom space. Your own family may be on a very different schedule than yours. Older students may be on a totally different schedule from their siblings. (Secondary schools rarely use a year round schedule.) Some students just don't do well with all the transitions a year round schedule necessitates. It's also much more difficult to break up problem groups of students as parents want their children on the same track as siblings and that means a group will usually go through all the grades together.

All in all we survived year round. As a family we made the best of the situation, but I wouldn't go out of my way to find a school with such a schedule. As to student learning - I didn't see ANY improvement in my pretty bright kids when they were on year round compared to when they were on traditional. Perhaps there's some research about the outcome for at risk students. You might look for it.