How does year round school affect students? The Advantages and Disadvantages  new for 2022

Year-round school is an idea that has been gaining traction in recent years but it’s not without its critics.

Proponents argue year-round schooling allows more time for instruction, while opponents say it can be detrimental to student learning and performance on standardized tests.

The truth about year-round school depends on your perspective as a parent or teacher. Read this article to learn the pros and cons of year-round schools so you can decide if they are right for your child’s education or classroom environment.

Overview

When you mention year-round school, its calendars provide the same 180 days of education as the traditional nine-month school calendars.

A school calendar is divided into nine-week quarters all year. Furthermore, year-round schools are divided into tracks that correspond to specific schedules and courses.

People, however, continue to debate the year-round school debate because they care deeply about improving education.  The year-round school has both advantages and disadvantages.

Year-round schools have proponents who believe they can boost academic achievement, but opponents have identified potential drawbacks. The debate over year-round schools has revealed pros and cons that have parents wondering if it is the best option for their children.

The Advantages of Year Round School

 Overall, year-round schools have many beneficial aspects that can create a positive learning environment for students.

1. It helps alleviate summer learning loss by allowing more time for learning.
2. It allows for more breaks throughout the year so students can have time to retain information.
3. Creates less boredom due to students not having over long breaks.
4. It increases the flow of information because they are in school more often throughout the year.
5. Students may experience less anxiety due to having more breaks throughout the year.
6. It is a great opportunity for students to be challenged with new courses during their summer break or other school terms.
7. Teachers have an increased amount of opportunities for professional development and can collaborate more often as they are in sessions together more often.
8. Creates more time for enrichment activities such as art, music, and physical education (P.E.)
9. It reduces teacher and school staff burnout due to having less stress with the extended breaks during the year.
10. The students might be able to retain information better because their is a shorter break in between terms and students will have to return to school after a short amount of time.
11. An increase in student achievement has been found for schools who participate in year round schooling.

The Disadvantages of Year Round School

However, it also has some cons such as:

1. It can create more stress for parents because they may struggle with finding child care during the summer or other months that the school is open.
2. Students often dread ending one term and beginning another because it can be an unpleasant transition for some students.
3. Teachers may take away the necessary breaks needed to stay refreshed if they are working year round.
4. It increases the flow of information, but does not allow for much down time which can leave students stressed and overwhelmed.
5. It can cause more conflicts with family vacations and traditions such as camping and fishing trips due to the year round school schedule.
6. Students do not experience a full summer break which can be unsettling for some parents and teachers who value this space in time to recharge.
7. The workload is increased as teachers have to work with students year round and there is little time for breaks.
8. Students often feel as though they are behind if they do not get a full summer break to forget any of the material from the previous year.The Disadvantages of Year Round School
9. There is less time for summer employment for students and this can be unsettling for some families.
10. It is difficult to plan family vacations or trips because the school schedule is often different every term.
11. Teachers may not appreciate the year round school schedule because they do not have enough time to recharge between terms.
12. It is often more expensive to run a school year round as opposed to running for the traditional 9 months of the year, with 3-month breaks.

Challenges in Year-Round Schooling

Year-round schooling is one of the hot topics in education reform today.

Proponents argue that year-round schooling will reduce summer learning loss, reduce overcrowding in schools, and create a more even distribution of students throughout the school year.

However, opponents argue that year-round schooling decreases the value of summer vacation, interferes with family vacations, daycare schedules, and employment, and causes problems for teachers.

According to Dr. Daryl Greenfield, year-round schooling has many potential benefits and absolutely no downsides.

“All of the research shows that students perform equally as well, or better when learning is constantly being fed to them,” Dr. Greenfield said. “In fact, the research shows a 12.4% increase in I.Q. when learning is spread across multiple days.”

Dr. Greenfield also believes that the change would be good for schools overall.

“I think that year-round schooling is the best thing for schools,” Dr. Greenfield said. 

F.A.Q

How does year-round school affect students’ grades?

The majority of students are accustomed to the traditional calendar school year. However, because of the limited extended vacation periods, an all-year school can be advantageous. A sociologist discovered that over the course of a year, math and reading test scores improved about the same amount for children in year-round schools than traditional schools.

How does year-round school affect students’ mental health?

Other studies have found that year-round students have fewer inhibitions and are more satisfied with their educational experience. When students are given too much time off between classroom sessions, they forget or unlearn what they have learned.

Meanwhile, both teachers and students have frequent breaks that allow them to recharge throughout the year. As a result, they have fewer levels of work stress

After a short break, they can back to the rhythm of learning as soon as possible.

Various research studies show that students who attend year-round schools often outperform students who attend traditional, shorter-school-year schools.

Why do students need breaks in year-round school?

The system is becoming more and more popular, but some have questioned the need for breaks in a year-round system. In order to study if students really do get enough breaks, a survey was conducted at different schools in different parts of the US.

The results show that students need breaks and that we should reconsider the US model of year-round school.

In a standard school year throughout the world, students have summer vacation, two semesters during the year, and a shorter spring break. In contrast, year-round school divides the year into four quarters, and each quarter has three weeks of vacation. The division of the school year into short semesters with breaks in between has benefited students, teachers, and parents alike.

Conclusion

The article discusses the effect of year-round school on students’ mental health. As students, we all have to go through years of school and one thing that has become more common is a year-round school. In fact, that some academic advantages of year-round, the benefits of learning for students have led to an increase in enrollment in many states. In their role as parents, they should discuss with their children the best option for both of them, as well as provide the best education possible.