While I applaud the efforts of those studying summer programs, I have to admit that I'm confused as to why all of this money is being spent. Don't we have enough information about the value of summer programs and the amount of learning that is lost over the summer to make some changes to education?
I've written about my advocacy of a twelve month school year. I don't know that we need to spend more money to have a summer program. It seems that the real answer is probably the same number of school days, but with periodic breaks during the year and a shorter summer break.
So far, no one that I've talked to in the charter world or district world has been able to tell me what would be wrong with a twelve month school year. Would teachers complain? They would still get the same time off. Would parents complain? Students would complain, but let's face it, students don't do much in the summer anyway, especially if their parents work.
If we know that kids take a big step backward during the summer, then why have it?
Believe me, I'm all in favor of summer academic programs, but why don't we just call it school, and not a special program?
2 comments:
What you seem to be advocating for is year around school, not full year school. I agree that it might be better for students to have year around school, but what about those families that use the time in summer to take family vacations? Plus, during those longer breaks, would not the same lapses in learning take place? You would have to spend the first day or two back reviewing what you had done during the shorter breaks, which might add up to the same amount of time you spend reviewing after summer (Just over a longer period of time).
I think that you make some good points, but the deal needs to be bigger, more widespread, and needs to deal with the foundational issues plaguing education--not just switching the school year around for better results.
Danny, Thanks for your thoughts. I suppose you are right, but I think (but have no evidence) that the reteaching times would be shorter, even if more frequent and would not add up to the time that students have to forget during the summer. I wonder if there is research.
I'm not overly sympathetic to the "families that take vacation over the summer" argument, and I suspect that you aren't either. I think there are many counter arguments to that argument that focus on the educational issues, not on what people are used to or what people want to do, neither of which is logically compelling in the least (although I also understand that logic doesn't necessarily drive decision making in a democracy).
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