Post by wvhsparent on Jun 20, 2008 7:34:16 GMT -5
720 News Series: Time to Learn
WGN's Judy Pielach Looks at Pros and Cons of Year Round Schools
(WGN-AM) - The sounds of summer for some kids are chalk on the board, books being opened and attendance being taken. There are thousands of year round schools in the United States, including in Illinois. In this three part 720 News Series, Time to Learn, WGN's Judy Pielach takes a look at teaching throughout the year.
Most schools are closed for the summer. No more homework. Kids having fun at the pool. Playing in the park.
The traditional school calendar means a nearly three month summer break. It dates to a time when kids were needed on the farm. But times have changed and there are schools, and whole districts, which are now turning to the year round calendar.
"I like having vacations when it's, like, cold. That's, like, my favorite part of year round," exclaimed a student at Edwards Elementary School on Chicago's South Side, which is a year round school.
There are about 3,000 year round schools in the country, 73 in Illinois. They are both public and private. Some kids like it. "The plus side is that you have a break during school. Sometimes school can be really hard, so, sometimes you need a rest," said one student at Edwards. Some kids don't: "I would hate going to year round school; 'cause it might be a really, really nice day out, in summer, and you can't play outside all day," said a child in Itasca, who does not attend a year round school.
Year round doesn't mean more school: "Year round school is taking the traditional calendar days, the 180 in the State of Illinois, and breaking it up into different segments of time," said Molly Carroll with the Chicago Teachers Union. Carroll is a founding member of the Illinois Association for Year Round Education. Carroll says breaking up the calendar eliminates the summer learning loss.
Dr. Patricia McCann is principal of Mays Academy in Chicago, a year round school. "It prevents a lot of burnout for teachers and students," McCann said. And parents seem to like it, once they get used to the different schedule.
Most school children in America look forward to, even long for, summer vacation. And that's probably true for most teachers and many parents. It's a time to close the books and forget about school for a few months, something that makes year round educators cringe.
"In our school district, we can ill afford to let children sit home for three months, doing nothing, and losing all that hard work," McCann said. She says when her kids come back to school after their six week summer vacation. "They're ready. They're ready and anxious to learn."
Tom Mulligan is the Superintendent of the Riverton School District near Springfield. It's been year round for seven years and he can't figure out why every school district in the country is not year round. "The traditional school calendar has been here for hundreds of years, when our entire society was a farming society. Well, we're not anymore, you know? It doesn't make sense to me that more schools have not been aggressive in moving to this type of a calendar."
Mulligan says old habits die hard. He had to work with the entire community, churches, daycare centers, and the park district to change to what's called a balanced calendar. "So, we all made the change together. That's how it's worked and been successful." How successful? "We have seen slow, consistent growth in our state test scores, since we've gone to the balanced calendar."
Most year round advocates say that's the key. Modifying the school calender means less learning loss. "Because you mostly forget everything during the three months," said a student from Edwards Elementary School on the South Side.
While there has been an increase in year round education, only about three percent of all schools in the country are year round. Opponents hope it stays that way. Billee Bussard, editor of Summermatters.com says summer does matter. "Bill Gates, for heavens' sake, was tinkering with computers in the summertime, in his garage, so, there are a lot of things you can learn in the summer that you can't learn in the school year."
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says times have changed and so should schools. "We used to live in a rural society. Young men and women had to work on the farms, but this is a very urban society and we're still under that philosophy, taking two and a half months off, which I disagree with. I think education has to be reviewed. I think we have to keep children in school."
Bussard says there is no hard research showing that year round schools are effective. "Our federal government has not invested any serious money into studying this." Judy Sauri is Principal of Edwards Elementary School on Chicago's South Side. It's a year round school on a multi track calendar.
"I don't like it. It's like my AP (assistant principal) says, 'Oh, Mrs. Sauri this is very challenging.'" Bussard juggles four separate tracks of students. They are assigned different schedules throughout the year. "We give them a calendar. It's still confusing for some parents."
One of the benefits, perhaps the most important for Edwards, is that 200 kids no longer have to be bused to other schools. It appears only time will tell if the time to learn is year round
WGN's Judy Pielach Looks at Pros and Cons of Year Round Schools
(WGN-AM) - The sounds of summer for some kids are chalk on the board, books being opened and attendance being taken. There are thousands of year round schools in the United States, including in Illinois. In this three part 720 News Series, Time to Learn, WGN's Judy Pielach takes a look at teaching throughout the year.
Most schools are closed for the summer. No more homework. Kids having fun at the pool. Playing in the park.
The traditional school calendar means a nearly three month summer break. It dates to a time when kids were needed on the farm. But times have changed and there are schools, and whole districts, which are now turning to the year round calendar.
"I like having vacations when it's, like, cold. That's, like, my favorite part of year round," exclaimed a student at Edwards Elementary School on Chicago's South Side, which is a year round school.
There are about 3,000 year round schools in the country, 73 in Illinois. They are both public and private. Some kids like it. "The plus side is that you have a break during school. Sometimes school can be really hard, so, sometimes you need a rest," said one student at Edwards. Some kids don't: "I would hate going to year round school; 'cause it might be a really, really nice day out, in summer, and you can't play outside all day," said a child in Itasca, who does not attend a year round school.
Year round doesn't mean more school: "Year round school is taking the traditional calendar days, the 180 in the State of Illinois, and breaking it up into different segments of time," said Molly Carroll with the Chicago Teachers Union. Carroll is a founding member of the Illinois Association for Year Round Education. Carroll says breaking up the calendar eliminates the summer learning loss.
Dr. Patricia McCann is principal of Mays Academy in Chicago, a year round school. "It prevents a lot of burnout for teachers and students," McCann said. And parents seem to like it, once they get used to the different schedule.
Most school children in America look forward to, even long for, summer vacation. And that's probably true for most teachers and many parents. It's a time to close the books and forget about school for a few months, something that makes year round educators cringe.
"In our school district, we can ill afford to let children sit home for three months, doing nothing, and losing all that hard work," McCann said. She says when her kids come back to school after their six week summer vacation. "They're ready. They're ready and anxious to learn."
Tom Mulligan is the Superintendent of the Riverton School District near Springfield. It's been year round for seven years and he can't figure out why every school district in the country is not year round. "The traditional school calendar has been here for hundreds of years, when our entire society was a farming society. Well, we're not anymore, you know? It doesn't make sense to me that more schools have not been aggressive in moving to this type of a calendar."
Mulligan says old habits die hard. He had to work with the entire community, churches, daycare centers, and the park district to change to what's called a balanced calendar. "So, we all made the change together. That's how it's worked and been successful." How successful? "We have seen slow, consistent growth in our state test scores, since we've gone to the balanced calendar."
Most year round advocates say that's the key. Modifying the school calender means less learning loss. "Because you mostly forget everything during the three months," said a student from Edwards Elementary School on the South Side.
While there has been an increase in year round education, only about three percent of all schools in the country are year round. Opponents hope it stays that way. Billee Bussard, editor of Summermatters.com says summer does matter. "Bill Gates, for heavens' sake, was tinkering with computers in the summertime, in his garage, so, there are a lot of things you can learn in the summer that you can't learn in the school year."
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says times have changed and so should schools. "We used to live in a rural society. Young men and women had to work on the farms, but this is a very urban society and we're still under that philosophy, taking two and a half months off, which I disagree with. I think education has to be reviewed. I think we have to keep children in school."
Bussard says there is no hard research showing that year round schools are effective. "Our federal government has not invested any serious money into studying this." Judy Sauri is Principal of Edwards Elementary School on Chicago's South Side. It's a year round school on a multi track calendar.
"I don't like it. It's like my AP (assistant principal) says, 'Oh, Mrs. Sauri this is very challenging.'" Bussard juggles four separate tracks of students. They are assigned different schedules throughout the year. "We give them a calendar. It's still confusing for some parents."
One of the benefits, perhaps the most important for Edwards, is that 200 kids no longer have to be bused to other schools. It appears only time will tell if the time to learn is year round