Friday, September 18, 2015

Year-Round School Websites

The Wasatch School District apparently will not be providing any information of Year-Round Education - but merely "threatens" its use - if the $62 Million school bond fails      Here are just a few of the multitude of sites discussing Year-Round Schools, in no particular order.

WCSD Promotional Website 'Citizens for Better School' - (but buried deeply in a July 9th post.)

WCSD Social Media Manager, Melissa Campbell's July 9 report on the school board presentation by Rosemarie Smith, Provo principal with ten years of experience with year-round schools.
The interview with Rosemarie Smith is one data point out of others that will be studied as the board seriously studies year round schools.”    Comment: That serious study apparently was postponed as soon as she finished her presentation and answering questions so the Board could get down to the more serious of getting the $62 Million bond passed. Listen to the complete hearing here.
 
Provo School District switched half of their elementary schools over to year round schools back in the 1990s for two primary reasons (1) to improve scores and enhance learning and (2) for the cost of one school, three school buildings are saved.”

Utah Schools 2012   
Granite:     "The district began year-round schools about 20 years ago during a high growth period and it is estimated that over the years the decision saved the district $25 million in administrative costs and another $80 million in schools that weren't built, district spokesman Ben Horsley said.
But in recent years, the number of students in the district has stabilized at around 67,000 students, Horsley said. If the district had elected to build more facilities and keep the traditional schedule, students today would be attending half-empty schools."
Jordan:    "In Jordan, 19 year-round elementaries have saved the district from building 13 additional schools, spokeswoman Sandra Riesgraf said. At an average construction cost of $16 million per school, the year-round format has saved taxpayers more than $200 million."

The California Department of Education’s Year-Round Education Program Guide, for instance, highlights some cost savings of year-round education:
  • Avoided Costs: capital outlay for additional facilities; avoided extra‐site operation and staffing, including classified, certificated, and administrative personnel, furniture, supplies and
    equipment, utilities and maintenance, and transportation.
  • Potential Savings: additional average daily attendance (ADA) generated; shared materials (library, computer, audio visual, science resources, textbooks); benefits (calculated on a 12‐month basis for most employees), reduced absenteeism (additional ADA and decreased requests for substitute teachers); and decreased vandalism.

Year Round vs. Traditional Schedule Public Schools “Proponents of year-round school maintain that students forget knowledge and skills they acquired during the previous academic year. Several studies support this notion, as children show losses in math and language arts knowledge over the long summer break.”

Several studies

  • Students in year-round schools do as well or slightly better in terms of academic achievement than students in traditional schools.
  • Year-round education may be particularly beneficial for students from low-income families.
  • Students, parents, and teachers who participate in a year-round school tend to have positive attitudes about the experience.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/always-ready-go-back-students-may-benefit-year-round-schooling/

http://www.attn.com/stories/1066/argument-year-round-school
Numerous studies have shown that over summer break, students lose, on average, one month of grade-level equivalence, most in mathematics. The amount of information retained decreases as students get older as well. Furthermore, according to the National Summer Learning Association, students on a traditional school calendar will typically score lower on a standardized test taken at the end of the summer break than on the same test at the end of the school year.

Nation Association of Year Round Education

http://www.teach-nology.com/edleadership/school_improvement/yearround.html

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