Why we no longer need the traditional calendar :: essays papers

Why we no longer need the traditional calendar For over a century North American students have been following a traditional calendar, nine months in school, followed by three months out of school. In more recent times, many schools have been converting to a year-round calendar. Reasons for this include a wide variety of things, ranging from helping the overcrowding in schools, to increasing learning, as well as for the simple reason that we no longer need the traditional calendar. In the article, Effects of school calendars on student achievement and retention, Woodward states how early on, â€Å"farming was the primary source of income for families, and everyone in the family was obligated to help†¦school calendars were scheduled to revolve around the harvesting and planting of crops.†(1). These days, farming is no longer the main occupation in North America, and therefore there is no need to continue to use the traditional calendar if this is not the best way to increase education. The question asked here is, i s it the best way? If so, why are so many schools turning to year-round education? In Vital Speeches of the Day, Charles Ballinger suggests, â€Å"The growth continues because parents and educators question the wisdom of using a school calendar that interrupts formal education for three months at a time, is not educationally-sound, and was designed for yesterday's society.† In this paper, traditional calendars and year-round calendars will be looked at, and discussed, with quotes, by people who have been directly affected by both. The purpose of this research paper is to compare the effectiveness of year-round education and traditional schooling with respect to student learning, knowledge retention and development. What exactly does year-round education entail? Advocates for year-round schooling are convinced that, yes, this is the way to better education in this country, but typically people do not understand what year-round education is. People are quick to assume that this means spending more days in school, but the actual term in the thesaurus notes that year-round schools are, â€Å"schools that operate year-round but have no increased the number of days students must attend† (ERIC database). â€Å"Year-round calendars often begin the academic year in early August†¦45 days in school, followed by 15 days of vacation time (Shields and Oberg 4). Notice, the authors said often, because there are many slight variations of the year-round calendar.