School Calendar Change - Essay Example

School Calendar Change in the United s With the diminishing number of farm families, it is necessary to change the education system that was typically based on the agrarian society. According to Cooper (“Summer Learning Loss”), the nine months of attendance and three months off for summer has raised a lot of concerns from both parents and teachers; it has been noted that students have had poor grades, especially after the long vacations. The new calendar is aimed at solving problems that have been caused by the old calendar.

According to Metzker (“School Calendars”), the effects associated with the old calendar have been so immense as to be called “summer losses”. Teachers have raised concerns over the effects of long vacations, claiming that the time taken by students during vacation makes them forget what they had learned. As a result, reviewing the previous year material takes a significant amount of time, which, according to the educators, affects the curriculum. Cooper ((“Summer Learning Loss”) argues that summer vacation mostly affected mathematics and spelling subjects.

This is because more accurate information is required from the two subjects as compared to the other tested skill subjects. Cooper goes on to defend his argument by stating that students are more likely to practice reading than performing mathematical calculations on their own.Another major effect of long summer holidays, as noted by Cooper (“The Effects of Summer Vacation”), relates to students with disabilities. The students require continuous study or instruction period to be able to understand better.

The summer programs ought to help the disadvantaged students notably by ensuring that their studies are never interrupted for long. Students who speak languages other than English have also been affected by the calendar, because catching up after the long summer holidays is difficult.Cooper also notes that the scores of students are lower after the long summer vacations, the loss being equated to one month according to past studies. According to Cooper (“The Effects of Summer Vacation”), a new study program will help solve all the concerns raised by the old calendar.

When short holidays are spread out across the year, they better serve the intended purpose. Considering all the above arguments, it can be stated that our school district has to adopt the new calendar.Works CitedBill, Metzker. “School Calendars: Eric Digest”. Ericdigests.org. 2004. Web. 21st June, 2012. Cooper, Harris. “Summer Learning Loss: The Problem and Some Solutions”. Education.com. 1996. Web. 21st June, 2012. Cooper, Harris. “The Effects of Summer Vacation on Achievement Test Scores: A Narrative and Meta-Analytic Review”. Rev. of Educational Research Fall.

Sage Journals, 66.3 (1996): 227-268. Print.