Resources on the effects on year-round education (Modified Calendar)

RESEARCH RESOURCES ON THE EFFECTS OF YEAR-ROUND EDUCATION

State Board of Education.(Feb. 2000). Year-round Schools and Achievement in North Carolina. EvaluationBrief,Vol.2, No.2. Feb. 2000.

States that year-round schools are most often schools of "choice", raising the possibility that differences in outcomes between year-round and traditional schools may be due to characteristics of the families and students who choose year-round school.
Studies in North Carolina show "there were no significant achievement differences."
Results reported in North Carolina do not imply any clear advantage or disadvantage to year-round education with respect to student achievement although increased achievement is often touted as a benefit of year-round school.

Naylor, Charlie. (May, 1995). Do Year-Round Schools improve student learning? An annotated bibliography and synthesis of the research. BCTF Research Report, Sec.XII, 95-EI-03.

Complete report showing inconsistansies and biased research published by the National Association for Year Round Education. (NAYRE).
Shows dubious reporting methods.
Ask researchers to rely on studies which have been done by persons with "No Vested Interest" in either supporting or opposing year-round-school.
Cites problems on numerous research studies that show significant positive gains for students on a year-round calendar.

Flagg, Alex. (Feb. 1999). More Schools go year-round to boost achievement. Catalyst.
http://www.catalyst.chicago.org

Opinion article that has no fact based research to back up any claims stated by the author.

Kneese, C.C. (1996) Review of Research on student learning in year-round education. Journal of Research and Development in Education. 29, 60-71.

Reviews 15 studies of YRS conducted in previous decade. Only 2 were single-track and these were reported in unpublished doctoral dissertations. Asserts that the older studies are flawed and the studies reviewed here are better.
Author concludes that "practitioners moving toward year-round-education have little basis to expect that in and of itself YRE (year-round-education) will significantly accelerate achievement.

ERS Report # 7113. Evaluation of the changes at Caldwell Elementary (Memphis, Tennessee) 1995-96. 77 Pages, 14 tables, 3 figures.

Page 19 summarizes the effects as rather mixed. "The percentile scores of Caldwell students in grades 3 and 6 improved from 1995 to 1996 on each of the five major subtests. In grade 2, the percentile scores improved in Social Studies but DECLINED in the other four subtests. In grades 4 and 5 the percentile scores ....were LOWER in 1996 than inn 1995 of all major subtests. In 1995 Caldwell's percentiles were below the district's percentiles in 22 of 25 grade levels and subtests and in 1996 Cladwell was below the district in 23 of 25 grade levels and subtests.
Teachers interviewed claimed the shorter breaks contributed to greater retention even though scores dropped. It is important to note that many changes were implemented, including an after school tutoring program.
There was no effect on student attendance rates.

ERS Report # 7111. Evaluation of the Three-Year Year-Round Education Pilot Progam. Irving, Texas Independent School District, 1995. 86 Pages, 12 Tables, 3 figures.

Statistics and lots of data. A simple count of the direction of effects reveals no pattern. differences were small, and divided between improvements and declines.
Year-Round Schools were "marginally more effective for some economically disadvantaged students".
No discernible effect on attendance by either teachers or students.

ERS Report # 7112. Report on single-track year-round education in San Diego unified School District. (1994). 87 Pages, 25 tables, 9 figures.

Detailed analysis of San Diego Elementary and Middle Schools. Some were on a single-track year-round school and others were not. The schools studied had been on the calendar for at least 10 years before the study began, and the study lasted for three years.
Studied only the stable students who had experienced the year round school (or not, in controls), about 45% of the total population. The elementary schools on the year-round calendar did better than the traditional calendar students, but in the Middle School, the traditional outperformed the year-round schools.
There were more student absences in the single-track year-round school, especially in the Summer. This resulted in appreciable loss of State revenue, since state funding is based on the number of student days. This is the case in Georgia also.
Appendix A indicates a considerable revenue loss due to absences: about an $800,000 loss in the year-round school compared with only $428,000 in the traditional school.
There were no consistent differences in teacher absences.
Increased expense were incurred in the single-track year-round school. Other expenses associated with the single-track year-round school were transportation, staffing, and food services.

Naylor, C. (1995). Do year-round schools improve student learning? An annotated bibliography and synthesis of the research. BCTF Research Report. Section XII.

There are a substantial number of studies which are conducted by researchers (with no vested interest in either supporting or opposing year-round schooling) which conclude that there appears to be NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE in achievement between students in a year-round school and those in traditional calendar schools.
Of the studies which conclude that students in year-round schools do achieve at a higher level, the differences in achievement are RARELY SIGNIFICANT. To paraphrase: sometimes the authors provide a far more optimistic summary than the data can support.
"If the goal of education is to maximize the number of students in poor areas who pass standardized tests in a cost-effective manner then SOME year-round sites can contribute to this goal. If the mandate of the education system is wider, and if equity is of any concern, then year-round schools are clearly more limited on the evidence to date."

Pelavin, S.H. (1978). A study of year-round schools: executive summary. Menlo Park, Ca. Stanford Research Institute. (ERIC Document Reproductive Service No. 170925)

Analysis found no "Significant Difference" in achievement between students on a yearround calendar and students attending a traditional calendar.
Scores of students identified as "disadvantaged" did not reflect significant learning loss over the summer while enrolled in a traditional calendar school.

Mussatti, D.J. (1981). Year-Round High School Programs. Paper presented at the 12'' annual meeting of the National Council on Year-Round Education, Anaheim, Ca. April 2-4, 1981.

Between the years of 1976 and 1981 year-round schools decreased from 539 to 287, then back to 336.
The number of states with year-round schools decreased from 28 to 16.
Holding power and drawing power in the High School , especially electives, showed a decline in effectiveness. This mitigates the claim that year-round education programs expand curriculum offerings.
After two years teachers experienced "Burn-Out" and Specialists and Specialty Teachers became tired and less effective.
Administrators also experienced "Burn-Out".
Student activities suffered or required increased spending to maintain the level of quality. Performing art groups were hit the hardest.
There was a perceived decline in school spirit.

Costa, J.S. (1987). Comparative Outcomes of the Clarke County School District Year-Round and Nine-month Schools. (Nevada). Doctoral Dissertation, University of Nevada, LasVegas). Dissertation Abstracts International,48/10A, 2495.

No consistent statistically significant differences were found in favor of either type of school.
Showed significantly reduced summer attendance at year-round schools.

Additional Problems?

PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED BY STATE OF UTAH WHEN IMPLEMENTING A YEAR-ROUND CALENDAR...

Necessary modifications of buildings. Air-conditioning buildings like the gyms for summer use should be a start-up cost of YRS.
Building maintenance was more difficult due to students being in the school most of the year.
Child care problems frequently arose in families.
Family lifestyle changes. YRS programs occasionally interfered with traditional family activities.
Summer-oriented businesses, such as day camps and amusement parks depend on three summer vacation months for a lot of revenue.
Professional development activities are impacted.
Resistance to change!

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