Provide an Annotation: Year-Round Schooling Research

YEAR-ROUND SCHOOLING
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Alcorn, R.D. (1992). Test Scores: Can Year-Round Schools Raise Them? Thrust For Educational Leadership, 21(6).
The author, R. D. Alcorn, carries out a detailed comparison in a study of San Diego schools. Year-round students’ tests scores are analyzed and compared in two major California tests namely the California Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) and the California Assessment Program (CAP). The author carries out the study in 105 different sites (88 for traditional calendar sites and 17 for year-round sites). In 27 comparisons, year-round schools appeared to exceed traditional calendar schools’ results in 17 schools. In the entire study, only one traditional calendar school exceeded year-round schools’ scores; in nine other school sites, there were no significant differences between both sets of results.
The author made comparisons between 17 year-round sites and 88 traditional calendar sites. These comparisons were carried out at grades 3 and 5. The reason for carrying out only 17 year-round sites in year-round schools was because of limited existence of the year-round programs. Only 17 schools had been operational for more than 10 years in the year-round program. This source highlights a major point outlined in the topic on the role of year-round schooling in improving academic performance. It is possible to note this since the number of year-round schools having exceeded traditional calendar school results are more (17 versus 1).
Allinder, R.M., Fuchs, L.S. Fuchs, D. & Hamlett, C.L. (1992). Effects of Summer Break on Math and Spelling Performance as a Function of Grade Level. The Elementary School Journal, 92(4).
The authors put forward an explanation to support the argument that summer breaks have negative impacts on students in grades 2, 3, 4, and 5. They put forward the explanation that summer breaks tend to have significant effects on Mathematics and spelling performance in different grade levels.
However, the authors’ study thereafter confirms mixed results. Based on the results from the study, the students in grades 2 and 3 had significant regressions in spelling but not in Mathematics. The reverse occurred for students in grades 4 and 5; for them, significant regressions occurred in Mathematics but not in spelling. These inconclusive results show no support for the theory of significant regression as a result of long summer breaks hypothesized earlier on by the authors.
Although the authors’ study does not offer conclusive results and support for the theory of significant regression, the study partly supports the topic of year-round schooling as a positive program for students. However, this study confirms the need for more conclusive research.
Ballinger, C.E., Kirschenbaum, N., & Poimbeauf, R. P. (1987). The Year Round School: Where Learning Never Stops, Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation.
The authors claim that every school that has implemented a year-round program in Los Angeles has never experienced any drop in student performance. They further suggest that more continuous flow of learning usually raises students’ performance, and that year-round schools are particularly helpful to English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students.
In their arguments, the authors quote a 1978 study in New York by Thomas which highlights students’ "summer learning loss" as the main reason for establishing year-round schooling programs. The authors also claim that year-round schools tend to minimize "summer learning loss" as well as sense of failure that the authors claim is inherent in traditional school calendars. The authors finally promote the use of intersessions for both enrichment and remediation. They suggest that regular intersession activities serve to combat "summer learning loss" and sense of failure.
The authors’ work is in line with the topic of year-round schooling and its benefits in improving students’ performance. Although the authors’ claim on Los Angeles’ year-round school scores contradicts those of the relevant LA authorities, their work is still important to the overall year-round schooling topic since it can provide a good foundation for further research.
Ferguson, J. M. (2008). The Effect of Year-Round School on Student Achievement in Mathematics. The Educational Forum, 64(1), 82-87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00131729908984729
Janet M. Ferguson, the author of this article, is the Assistant Chair of Teacher Education at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. Her research involves benefits of year-round school program, especially for students with special needs. In this article, Janet supposes that students on the year-round schedule would show significantly higher retention as well as achievement in Mathematics than their traditional school calendar students. She therefore decides to study and compare students in the two systems.
Janet’s research is of utmost importance to the topic of year-round education because she is an active researcher of the benefits of a year-round education program. Her work illuminates a lot about the topic and will therefore be of great help.
Gerard, Vanessa St. (2007). "Year-Round Schools Lo...