Kindergarten-Full Day Versus Half Day

Year round education (YRE) is implemented in 436 U.S. school districts with very few complaints. In fact, school districts that have been participating in YRE and extended school days (ESD) are raving about the benefits in pupil's achievement level, their new found enthusiasm in learning, as well as the many programs that exist in the extended day promoting the decline in latch key children.

Year round schooling is better than regular school because, it allows the kids to retain more information and not lose what they learned, they also allow them to graduate earlier with higher retention levels. In discussion of Year Round Schooling, one controversial issue has been whether year round schooling is a good idea or not. People believe that year round schooling is a good thing and that it will increase academic achievement levels and benefit the students more than anything else. Students will also be able to advance more quickly since the schooling is year round, they have less to forget since the breaks are shorter. On the other hand people seem to believe that year round schooling takes away from the students and gives them less family time and less of an “Outside of school life” (NEA). In the research of year round schooling it shows that absences are most likely to be higher since it is year round. Their view is that we think that many students can benefit from year round schooling, and that is has more benefits than anything else.

Year round education (YRE) is implemented in 436 U.S. school districts with very few complaints. In fact, school districts that have been participating in YRE and extended school days (ESD) are raving about the benefits in pupil's achievement level, their new found enthusiasm in learning, as well as the many programs that exist in the extended day promoting the decline in latch key children.

Heather Quick one of the authors and the principal investigator of the study said, “This study finds that transitional kindergarten does appear to provide students with an advantage in terms of their kindergarten readiness” (Tully, 2015). When they started kindergarten, children who attended transitional kindergarten were academically as much as five months ahead of their peers, who were a similar age, the report shows (Tully, 2015).

Some advantages of year-round schooling include improved achievement, improved attendance by both teachers and students, reduced discipline problems, lower teacher stress, increased motivation due to frequent breaks, and increased opportunities for enrichment (Palmer and Bemis). During the two week breaks in between school sessions, students have the opportunity to take classes on karate, ballet, photography, cooking, and swimming. This intersession provides time for hands-on, big project classes that get kids involved in topics that interest them. Intersession can also be used as an intervention for students who are falling behind. “Karl Alexander, sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University, studied 800 students for more than 20 years in Baltimore’s elementary schools. He found that by ninth grade, low-income students had fallen 3 ½ grade levels behind their middle-class peers. And most of that gap was attributable to learning lost over the long traditional summer” (Schulte, 2009). The biggest driving force and proponent of year-round schooling is the effect of the “summer slide.” Students lose two months of achievement in math skills and students from low-income families lose more than two months in reading achievement according to the national Summer Learning

Lawrence J. Schweinhart, Ph.D. ( 2014), states that results support full-day programs contribute more to children’s development than half-day programs because of the longer duration and if they are of higher quality.

School? All year? Although a large quantity are against the fact, many scientists are proving that a full time student attending school throughout a rolling 12 months receives higher grades and retains more information than those who receive a summer break with zero academic activity. While year-round schooling would negatively affect student’s personal lives, it would still ameliorate the students learning process throughout the year.

On February 12th, 2012, in his State of the Union address, President Obama discussed the long-term benefits a universal preschool would have on today’s society. “In states that make it a priority to educate our youngest children…studies show students grow up more likely to read and do math at grade level, graduate high school, hold a job, form more stable families of their own. We know this works. So let’s do what works and make sure none of our children start the race of life already behind.” (Obama) Unfortunately, an overwhelming number of children, from low-poverty areas, are unable to access high-quality early childhood programs for their preschool aged children. Consequently,

The overall logistics run much smoother in schools that have four day weeks compared to the five day week. “Some districts had experienced a decline in dropout rates, decreased disciplinary referrals, improved attendance, fewer class interruptions, more positive attitudes about school, and better staff development” (Yarbrough and Gilman 81). Another logistical benefit to having four day school week is that students have more time to get involved in extracurricular activities due to more availability

How will we accommodate an influx of kindergarten students and therefore an increase in middle

When individuals think of year-round education, many think that it is an extension of the traditional school year with no breaks and more class time. However, this is not the case. Year-round school systems have the same number of days as any other school system, but the breaks are spread throughout the year differently than the traditional school year. This unchanging view and failure to realize the facts about the system from many people is what makes year-round education a hot topic to debate in terms of whether or not to expand the number of schools who use the system or not. Year-round education can be one of the most beneficial choices for children, as shown in Brigid Schulte’s article, when she describes the benefits her children have

If an adolescent's parents don’t speak English, or have no books at home, starting earlier improves them cognitively (“Early school start benefits disadvantage kids” 2). However, single or unemployed parent homes can suffer negative effects, and no positive change because of earlier starts. This means that this does not provide educational opportunity equality due to an earlier start time. In addition, students suffer socially, which can lead to more psychological problems. (“Early school start benefits disadvantage kids” 2). The monotony of starting school earlier has more cons than pros for disadvantaged students and may have negative effects in their mental, physical, and academic

Year-round school improves students’ academic achievement. Because students have multiple breaks throughout the year, they experience less academic burnout. They have frequent opportunities to refresh and restart their learning experience. Year-round schools have lower drop-out rates (2%) than traditional schools (5%) (StatisticBrain.com). In addition, one study of six elementary schools, three on traditional calendars and three on year-round schedules, found positive effects of year-round education. The sample of students in the year-round schools posted overall test-scores that were higher than students at the schools with traditional calendars (Education Week). Not only do students at year-round schools do better throughout the year, but

According to a report from the New York City district, a school that received funds for longer days fared better on standardized tests. This school had seven percent more students scoring at or above grade level in reading, when two other schools had increases of five and six percent. In math, three percent of students scored at or above grade level in a school with a longer day, compared with one percent for a low performing school and an average of one percent for other schools (Brett 1). This information is one example of many studies that illustrate that long school days have a great positive impact on school performance. The main school goals are improving students’ knowledge and building different skills that will help them in the future. Therefore, if longer school days support these educational goals, people should be concerned about improving schools by lengthening the day.

Students would take advantage of the available days in the classroom and result in better attendance (). Student’s academic performance would improve much with a four day school