In recent years, lean economic conditions have led to state and local agency budget cuts, including reductions to elementary and secondary education. To compensate for less state funding and decreasing local revenues, many state legislatures have passed policy and funding bills that give school systems more latitude in making finance and program…

Despite the numerous advantages of a year-round schedule, there are significant political hurdles to its implementation. The most successful year-round schools are those where leaders worked closely with staff and families to maximize the benefits, minimize the costs, and build support for modifying the traditional school calendar. The research on…

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were a significant difference in math and reading academic achievement scores between eighth-grade students attending year-round calendar schools and eighth-grade students attending traditional calendar schools based on the TCAP. In addition, this study investigated math and reading achievement…

Presidential commissions, parents, academics, and employers have proposed the same solutions, again and again, for fixing the time students spend in school: (1) Add more days to the annual school calendar; (2) Change to year-round schools; (3) Add instructional time to the daily schedule; and (4) Extend the school day. Three reasons--cost,…

The purpose of this study was to investigate teacher retention and teachers' perceptions of cultural leadership in select North Carolina elementary year round and traditional elementary schools. The participants in this study were North Carolina elementary teachers that participated in the 2008 North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey…

Summer usually has been the time for kids to get nearly three months off for the purpose of enjoying family vacation, attending camp, and just being lazy. However, the 75 or so lazy days of summer have now reached the point where they have dwindled down to about 50, as more and more schools have been finding themselves in the process of adopting…

This study examined the impact that a year-round school calendar and a traditional school calendar may have on student achievement at selected elementary schools in North Central South Carolina. Specifically it investigated mean differences in academic achievement between elementary students at two year-round schools versus two traditional…

This dissertation reports a study of a year-round school in comparison to a traditional calendar school and whether the year-round school calendar was related to higher student achievement in a large, school district in the southeastern United States. The data represented the results of third through fifth grade student state test scores in the…

After 14 years of success with year-round scheduling, a Colorado school district returned to a single-track calendar. Among the reasons cited are community members' desire for neighborhood schools and administrator burnout. Lists six suggestions for making year-round education work. (MLF)

Describes the variations of year-round education (YRE) plans being used across the country including the 45-15 plan, and the 60-20 plan used by the Oxnard School District (CA). Discusses the school design needs of YRE programming and the structural planning involved in Oxnard's Christa McAuliffe Elementary School. (MD)

Describes the Wilson Campus School at Mankato State College, Minnesota, a year-round school allowing flexible scheduling, free choice, voluntary attendance, and easy access to educational resources. (LR)

With decreasing enrollment, decreasing funding for public school education, changes in family and societal needs, and the mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act, policymakers and school leaders are wrestling with reforms to the school calendar and instructional time spent in the classroom, with the goal of increasing student achievement.…

The author surveys the status of and issues surrounding year-round programs in secondary schools in order to provide background for deciding which school calendar is the most effective educationally, financially, and socially. The best programs and those discontinued are listed, as are the dates of the most important developments in year-round…