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| School calendar
fundamentals |
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space for the latest
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| Bulletins - important calendar developments
(August 26, 2004) Multitrack Calendar Gets
the Ax in California Lawsuit Multitrack schools will be
phased out by 2012, as part of the settlement of the Williams v.
California lawsuit in which the year-round school calendar is
cited among the education detriments disproportionately imposed on
minority students. For a summary of the landmark lawsuit, see:
Editorial Sacramento Bee 2004-08-23 http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/10480840p-11400181c.html (July 23, 2004) Study: Lower Scores in Nevada YR Schools) see: http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-ed/2004/jul/23/517223063.html (July 13, 2004 - Trend turns toward traditional calendar) see: http://www.recordnet.com/daily/news/articles/071304-gn-7.php (July 7, 2004 - Goal: All L.A. schools on traditional calendar) (Sept. 21, 2001- LA Grand Jury Report) | |
| Media Watch - a review of recent news with calendar implications (New: July 8, 2001 - Testing Policy and YRS) | |
| Latest Posting - Alabama YRS test scores drop across the
board (New, Feb. 2002 - See Bulletin item this page) --Another study: No academic advantage in YRS (New, Feb.21, 2002 - See Bulletin item this page) (New, Sept. 2002 - Economic Impact of Early School Start) (New, Nov. 2005 - Link to "The Year-Round Mess") |
SummerMatters!!
website updates
New:
Nov. 2005
-Chicago schools and "The Year-Round Mess"
New:
July 23, 2004
-Study Finds Lower Test Scores in Nevada YR
Schools
New:
July 13, 2004
-Trend Turns Toward Traditional Schedule
New:
July 7, 2004:
Los Angeles Goal: Traditional
Calendar
New: Sept. 3, 2003 - Heat Is On
Early School Start & Year-Round School
New: June 21, 2002 - See our New
TEST SCORES page
Anniversary for
SummerMatters!!
June 21, 2001, the first day of summer, was the launch date
of our website, which is dedicated to providing
information on the wide-reaching
consequences of school calendar reform.
If you have items you believe should be included in this section, please
forward the information by e-mail to: bussardre@aol.com
Last updated Dec. 27, 2005
**Bulletins**
November
2005:
Chicago & 'The Year-Round School Mess'
Damning evidence against the year-round calendar is
being ignored by Chicago Mayor Daley, chief policy-maker for Chicago
schools, who is prosing some 140 schools serving children of color be
placed on a multitrack calendar. See the story at:
http://www.substancenews.com/Mambo/content/view/294/83/
August
23, 2004:
YR Schools Get the Ax in Williams v. California Lawsuit
The year-round calendar will be phased out in all
schools by 2012 as part of the state's agreement and settlement of
the Williams v. California lawsuit, which named the year-round calendar
among the education detriments disproportionately imposed on minority
children. For a summary of the settlement see:
Editorial, Sacramento Bee 2004-08-23
http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/10480840p-11400181c.html
July
23, 2004:
Study Finds Lower Test Scores in Nevada YR Schools
The following story illustrates the problem a year-round calendar creates in the new environment of high-stakes tests required by the federal government. The stop-and-start year-round calendar not only breaks learning continuity, it actually robs children of instructional days, according to a Nevada Department of Education study.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-ed/2004/jul/23/517223063.html
Year-round schools had fewer days for
studying before tests
By Emily Richmond
LAS VEGAS SUN
Schools operating on year-round schedules were at a distinct disadvantage
when it came to proving they had made the "adequate yearly
progress" the federal No Child Left Behind Act requires.
Last year the progress lists were released in October. By moving the
testing schedule up to early spring, the district was able to get results
back sooner and compile the progress lists before the start of the new
school year Aug. 30.
The accelerated testing schedule gives parents of children at "needs
improvement" Title I schools more time to consider their transfer
option.
But the change in the schedule also meant year-round schools had even
fewer days of instruction before their students were tested, said Karlene
McCormick-Lee, assistant superintendent of researchand accountability for
the district.
In the past the criterion-referenced test, which is based on a combination
of state and national standards, was given at the end of May after 165
days of instruction for nine-month schools. The new schedule pushed the
test dates up to the middle of March, after about 129 days of instruction.
Many students at year-round schools were tested this spring after as few
as 96 days of instruction, McCormick-Lee said.
After hearing complaints from parents and educators about the disparity,
the Nevada Department of Education began investigating whether year-round
schools had significantly different test results than campuses on
nine-month calendars.
As part of the appeals process a school that fails to show the required
progress may claim "safe harbor" by demonstrating that the
school reduced the number of non-proficient students by at least 10
percent. The state's study determined that based on the fewer number of
instructional days it would be "nearly impossible" to meet the
10-percent threshold, Lee said.
All of the district's year-round schools that failed to show adequate
progress appealed on the basis on the state's findings, Lee said.
"The number of instructional days isn't a free pass -- and it
shouldn't be," Superintendent Carlos Garcia said. "What we're
looking for is a little more equity." State education officials are
meeting with representatives of Nevada's 17 school districts to devise a
new testing schedule. One proposal calls for testing all students at the
125th day of instruction. "The actual day doesn't matter, provided
everyone is treated the same," Garcia said.
July
13, 2004:
Trend Turns Toward Traditional Schedule
California - California,
a barometer state on school trends since the 1970s and which has housed
the lion's share of year-round schools during that time, is retreating
from the year-round school calendar and returning school districts to a
traditional school schedule as rapidly as possible, according to a July
13, 2004 story "Trend Turns Toward Traditional Schedule," by Joe
Tone.
See: http://www.recordnet.com/daily/news/articles/071304-gn-7.php
The following are excerpts from that story:
Many
school districts here and across California slowly are returning their
schools to traditional calendars, moving away from the year-round
schedules that helped the growing districts squeeze more students onto
crowded campuses.
The latest trend indicates once overcrowding
is under control, schools quickly return to the traditional calendar.
Since
1998, the number of year-round public schools statewide has fallen from
1,517 to 1,486, according to the California Department of Education.
"School Districts in Lodi, San Jose and
elsewhere recently started the move back to regular schedules."
California public schoolchildren attending school on a year-round calendar
represented more than half the total enrollment of 2.2 million public
schoolchildren nationwide going to school year-round in the 2002-03 school
year. At times, California has housed more than 80 percent of the nation's
year-round students.
July
10, 2004:
All Los Angeles Schools To Return to Traditional Calendar
All 129 Los Angeles schools using the Concept 6
year-round calendar will be returning to a traditional calendar,
according to the draft of an agreement to settle the Williams v.
California lawsuit that has cited the year-round calendar as an education
detriment in its education inequity court case, according to a July 10,
2004 Los Angeles Times story:
The agreement bars crowded campuses from converting to
the Concept 6 year-round calendar, which shaves 17 school days from
the 180-day school year.
Los Angeles school district, which in the 2002-03 school year had 240
schools using a year-round calendar, "already is in the midst of a
massive school construction program intended to return all of its student
to a traditional, 180-day school year by 2012," the story says. Los
Angeles has led the nation in the number of year-round schools for
decades.
See:
ACLU Suit on California Schools Near Resolution, by Duke Helfand and Cara
Mia DiMassa, Los Angeles Times, 2004-07-10 at
http://www.latimes.com/news/education/
la-me-williams10jul10,1,3881810.story?coll=la-news-learning
September,
3, 2003:
The HEAT IS ON Early School Start and Year-Round School
School districts around the country are having to
re-evaluate early school start dates because of budget cuts and high costs
of using them--especially the extra energy costs incurred of operating
schools in the hottest part of the year.
Details of the heavy financial burdens and health hazards caused by
forcing children into school buildings during the sweltering weeks of
summer are found in the August 12, 2003 minutes of the Resources For
Student Achievement Committee Meeting of the Tempe, Arizona, school
district. The committee cites the reconfigured school calendar as a large
waste of school funds.
Excerpts from this enlightening meeting follow. The discussion of
the financial and maintenance nightmares that face a school district that
operates in the dog days of summer ought to give school districts pause
about switching calendars and convince others to return to a traditional
school calendar with a starting date closer to Labor Day.
Billee Bussard
editor, www.SummerMatters.com
The excerpts from the Arizona meeting are below. for
the full text see:
http://www.tempehighschools.com/tuhsd_main/district_office/obj2/2003-08-12Resources.pdf.
Resources for Student Achievement
Committee Meeting
August 12, 2003
Attending:
Diane Meulemans Business Services Department
Dan Perkins Governing Board Member
Mike Ruppel Director, Information Services
Robin Arredondo-Savage Governing Board Member
Bob Anderson Director, Plant Operations
Debra Hunter Community Member
Jeff Simmons,Director, Budget & Finance
Livvy McKeown Teacher,
Marcos de Niza
Pam Kellogg Support, Mountain Pointe
Nicole Reynolds Teacher,
McClintock Oscar Ramirez Support, Corona del Sol
The committee was directed to the responses we've received from Bob
Anderson regarding energy consumption and facilities. The first suggestion
was to use exterior facilities for athletic events during the daytime
whenever possible, and home football games should be played on Saturday
morning instead of Friday night. Bob feels that this suggestion is about
the cost of the lighting; but the cost of the a/c in the gyms and swamp
coolers in the locker room areas on the weekend will probably cost even
more than the lights on a Friday night.
He suggested that the Freshman and Junior Varsity games could be played
right after school, instead of at night with full concessions, etc. being
powered. The cost to run the concession stands is estimated at about
$250, but the booster groups count on these for fund raising. We would
need to ask Don Wilkinson if the scheduling of these games (Freshman and
JV) is an AIA thing, or if it's something we can change at the district
level. The committee agrees with Bob that the changing of the Friday night
varsity games is not practical or cost-effective.
Next suggestion was permanent implementation of the current energy saving
measures. Bob stated that everyone seems to agree that it's a good thing;
although right now with the record-setting heat we are experiencing in the
Valley, it's been difficult to keep the buildings cool.
Livvy is concerned that there should be different plans for cooling on
those kinds of days, as the extreme heat is affecting the health of the
students.
Nicole suggested that perhaps the fall break in October should be
looked at again. It creates the need to start school earlier, when the
heat is at its peak, and utility costs are
considerably greater.
The fall break has only just been incorporated by all three districts, but
maybe it's something that needs to be looked at from the perspective of
energy-consumption. Bob stated that
it's extremely hard on our a/c equipment to try
to cool buildings full of students at this time of year; the failure rates
are higher now, and it saps the life expectancy of the equipment to have
to operate under these conditions.
Nicole suggested that this needs to be looked at for the year round
calendar at Tempe High; does the student achievement level because of
that calendar offset the obviously higher utility costs during the summer?
Mike asked if we are going to adjust the calendar to correspond with
energy utilization requirements or if we need to stay with a calendar that
is consistent with our feeder districts at any cost. He
believes that starting school after September 1 and ending in June would
bemore cost efficient.
Pam stated that the Calendar Committee is always hearing pleas from
faculty members for the semester break to coincide with the winter break;
pushing the calendar ahead would create in inequity in the number of days
preceding and following the longest break of the regular calendar.
Bob stated that we need to realize that Excess Utilities is out as of
2008; and the increased M&O cost for
utilities is going to directly impact paychecks. Pam said that our
mandate as a committee is to look at our energy use and the wisest use of
our dollars, even if that might be a departure from the philosophy for why
the calendar is the way it is currently.
Livvy suggested that the three districts need to get together and talk
about this, since energy is an issue for them as well. Diane suggested
that we also need to look at having the calendar respond to when the
students will actually show up. With school starting well before Labor
Day, we are finding that the high point for attendance is around the 20th
day; wouldn't it be better if the high point were on the 10th or 5th
day?
Dan asked if the committee is in agreement with keeping the current energy
savings measures in place, and if they wanted to address the calendar as a
separate issue. We are seeing significant savings from the current
measures; however, students and staff are
suffering because the buildings are not designed to operate optimally at
this time of year. Dan asked if we couldn't look at changing
the temperature settings somewhat.
Bob said that it's difficult for the equipment to
cool to the 76° level when there are 35 bodies in a room designed for 22;
also the problem is complicated at the high school level because of the
class changes at the end of every period. When the period is almost over
and the temperature is close to what it's supposed to be, the doors open
and all the cool air goes out and the hot comes in and the process starts
all over again.
Oscar stated that the high humidity at this time
of the year is a complicating factor as well. Dan asked if we
couldn't try to tweak the plan a bit and try to make people more
comfortable, even if it means we save a little less money.
Bob stated that rates are going up, and our budget isn't going up; we
really should try to save more money next year than we did this year.
Diane stated that in 2008-09 the Excess Utility budget goes away
completely, and we will have $1.3 million that we
need to get back into the budget for utilities. For the current
suggestion of permanently implementing the energy saving measures, the
committee agrees and will make this recommendation to the Board, since we
know that additional savings will need to be realized in order to offset
additional utility budget reductions.
Our calendar recommendation will be addressed in the suggestion
to alter
the school calendar, which is also included in this list.
The next suggestion is to have one site for summer school. Bob stated that
this is clearly a better idea to have only one site cooled, and leave it
cooled for an afternoon session.
Mike indicated that there are additional M&O implications in terms of
moving computer labs from one building to another. The committee agrees
with this suggestion and will recommend to the Board.
Next suggestion is to raise summer school fees in
order to help offset energy costs. Bob indicated that this is
already being looked at. The major concern is that if you took all of the
costs of summer school, including utilities, and made it a completely
self-sufficient program, it would become very unaffordable for many
students. Right now the summer school fees only cover the teacher and
support staff salaries and supplies.
You would need to raise the fees for approximately 2,500 students by
enough to cover the $60,000 to $70,000 in utility
costs for one site, which equates to about $30 additional per student.
The next suggestion on Bob's list was to alter the school calendar, and
this discussion was held previously in conjunction with permanent
implementation of current energy-saving measures. In order to minimize the
number of high-energy days that school is in session, the committee agrees
with the suggestion and will recommend that the energy-savings issues be
included in the next tri-district calendar committee discussion.
The last suggestion is a new submittal, and deals
with closing Tempe High School.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Tempe High School is a year-round
school, which has been embroiled in controversy over several years about
the merits of the calendar, which was well documented in local media
accounts. Last year the new principal suggested abandoning the
year-round calendar, unconvinced of its educational benefits and concerned
about its higher costs.
September,
16, 2002:
Study: Early School Start Dates Hurt Economy
Columbia, S.C. - Reconfiguring
the school year with a shorter summer vacation can have a devastating
impact on the economy of communities and states that rely on revenues from
summer tourism business, according to a new study by Dr. Stephen C. Morse
of the University of South Carolina.
The 23-page report (see: Noteworthy)
shows the economic impact of early start dates on South Carolina
communities as well as the state, which rely on revenues from tourism in
part to fund schools.
There are also many hidden costs of school calendar change, Morse
warns: "Starting schools in August means schools must cool
facilities for children during the hottest month of the year - August,
costing unnecessary utility expenses by starting early, as opposed to
starting after Labor Day in September.
Morse estimates that early school start dates are costing South
Carolina $180 million in total
economic impact, $6.03 million is State tax revenues, $2.34 million in
local tax revenues, and $8.37 million in total State and local tax
revenues.
This report is a must-read for parents, school
officials, state legislators, and other government leaders,
especially those in charge of budgets, as well as anyone concerned about
loss of revenues that can lead to higher personal taxes.
February,
21, 2002:
Study: No better scores for alternative calendar students
York City, Penn. - Yet
another academic study finds no academic advantage in using a year-round
calendar.
A comparison study by the Boyer Center, a not-for-profit group
based at Messiah College, found no better test scores or school attendance
for the York City year-round students than for traditional calendar
students.
"An analysis of the effects of a year-round calendar on the city's
elementary schoolchildren revealed little difference between the
year-round schedule and the traditional school year," according to a
Feb. 21 York City Dispatch story: "Study calls it a
draw; No better performance for alternative schedule." (See: http://www.yorkdispatch.com/searchit/index.html)
The elementary students who attend York City Academy, which became a
year-round calendar four years ago, have tutoring and other educational
activities available to them during the alternative calendar school
breaks: four two-week breaks and a five-week summer break. The sessions
were not popular, with a participation rate of only 8.6 percent, the
study said.
York City year-round school students scored no better than traditional
calendar students even though their classes tended to be smaller, the
report noted. Studies show a relationship between small class size
and improved student performance.
The Boyer Groups also told the school board that placing all
York City district schools on a year-round calendar would cost about
20 percent more.
February
2002:
Scores drop substantially in Alabama YRS district
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - New
figures on the Stanford Achievement Test show scores dropped
substantially across the board, and across all grades since
Alexander City, Ala., schools switched to a single-track year-round calendar district
wide in 1998. Alexander City, which has been touted as a model year-round
school district, is the very first school listed in an annual directory of
year-round schools produced by the National Association For Year-Round
Education.
--Alexander
City, Ala., Schools--
Before
and After Year-Round School
Comparison
of Stanford Achievement Test Scores
1999-2001
Grade |
Reading |
Mathematics |
Language |
Science |
SAT
Total |
||||||||||
|
Year |
99 |
00 |
01 |
99 |
00 |
01 |
99 |
00 |
01 |
99 |
00 |
01 |
99 |
00 |
01 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 |
45 |
43 |
44 |
51 |
49 |
49 |
57 |
54 |
53 |
51 |
47 |
53 |
52 |
49 |
50 |
|
4 |
54 |
56 |
51 |
60 |
57 |
52 |
62 |
63 |
57 |
60 |
57 |
52 |
59 |
58 |
53 |
|
5 |
56 |
52 |
55 |
64 |
65 |
60 |
67 |
63 |
61 |
64 |
62 |
59 |
62 |
59 |
58 |
|
6 |
63 |
61 |
57 |
75 |
72 |
66 |
77 |
73 |
69 |
70 |
71 |
66 |
71 |
68 |
63 |
|
7 |
55 |
53 |
54 |
68 |
66 |
58 |
68 |
67 |
63 |
68 |
68 |
67 |
63 |
62 |
59 |
|
8 |
57 |
61 |
55 |
61 |
68 |
59 |
61 |
68 |
61 |
65 |
72 |
66 |
60 |
66 |
60 |
|
9 |
45 |
46 |
43 |
60 |
63 |
60 |
67 |
62 |
63 |
57 |
56 |
53 |
55 |
55 |
55 |
|
10 |
44 |
43 |
48 |
56 |
52 |
51 |
62 |
59 |
62 |
60 |
56 |
54 |
55 |
52 |
57 |
|
11 |
52 |
43 |
45 |
56 |
53 |
49 |
70 |
67 |
66 |
57 |
56 |
47 |
60 |
55 |
53 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 year |
All reading scores drop except for 10th grade |
All math scores drop or show no improvement |
All language | ||||||||||||