Education reformers’ new craze: A war on summer vacation

[xchrom]

http://www.salon.com/2014/09/03/education_reformers_new_craze_a_war_on_summer_vacation/



Could public education reformers take any more of the joy out of childhood? In the past year American students have seen a dramatic increase in the emphasis on standardized testing and a noticeable decrease in the appeal of their school lunches. Now, the target for school reformers is summer fun. Each year, as kids break free from classrooms and homework for a little while to pursue the joys of childhood, the issue of “summer vacation” leading to the “summer slide” rears its ugly head. Time and again, commentators weigh in on the problems of “stopping school” for a couple months when the pools open and the warm weather arrives. The primary criticism is that summer vacation leads to stagnation in learning. Now, as summer wanes and kids return to school, summer vacation and the “summer slide” will be topics of conversation again.

The most recent anti-summer fun entry comes from Cristina Evans, a teacher, who took to the pages of Education Week with “A Teacher’s Case Against Summer Vacation.” Like many reformers and summer vacation critics, Evans focuses specifically on the struggles of low-income and mostly urban students who tend to experience academic regression during the months off schools. This is known as the summer slide. To her credit, Evans doesn’t call for a radical end to summer vacation. Instead, she makes a rational argument for shortening it from maybe 10 weeks to six or so. And no one is arguing that we should ignore a summer slide in schools where it is evident. However, a blanket argument that summer vacation should be shorter across all schools is misguided at best. The reality is that summer vacation is embedded in our culture, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

The case against summer vacation has been made many times, and the carefree break from school has even been called “evil” by some commentators. The reality, though, is a bit different than the “history” indicates. The biggest problem with summer vacation criticism is that the primary argument is based on myth and misinformation. It’s a myth perpetuated at the highest levels, as even Education Secretary Arne Duncan lacks knowledge of public education’s history, saying, “Our school calendar is based on the agrarian economy and not too many of our kids are working in the fields today.” This is fundamentally not true. Summer vacation is not a leftover relic of America’s agrarian past, and it is not a result of our farming history or an “agrarian calendar” that released kids in the summer to work in the fields. In fact, the opposite is more likely true, as American students in the 19th century were generally in school during the summer, but often took breaks in the spring and fall.

[Sancho]

1. I think the article misses the point....

First, I very much disagree with the "reformers" who are trying to undermine public schools, high quality teacher education, and professionalism for teachers.

OTOH, the 180 day school year (six segments of 6-weeks usually) is an artificial choice. With all the distractions and international competition, it might make sense to have a 210 or 230 day school year of seven or eight 6-week segments). There is not much good research to compare apples to oranges, but Japan for example has a 240 school year. The problem with direct comparisons is obvious since the length of school day and many other variables differ, but there is some logical reason to have a shorter summer holiday.

Of course, that would mean paying teachers more and keeping buildings open longer and figuring out holidays. It would still leave a month or so for a holiday break.

The consequence would be about a year more of time on task in 12 years of school - and some students would be ready for college sooner while others would not be as far behind. Those are problems we face now, but the typical 18 year old would be better educated than today.

Very few would argue that kids (and adults!) need a vacation sometimes, but maybe the traditional summer in the US is too long.

[justabob]

4. right

but beyond the actual educational arguments..... Summer break really screws with the work schedules of the adults, especially those of us on the lower rungs. It is hard to make the changes needed for summer and keep your job. It is hard to manage even when school is in session, but having 2.5 months where your whole schedule and obligations change is problematic.

[Sancho]

9. I agree...I don't have kids at home now, but I remember.

30 years ago my wife and I took an entire salary to pay for day care or summer camps, etc. while we were working. Even when they are older, teenagers get in lots of trouble when unsupervised.

[KatyaR]

11. Oklahoma City went to a "full-year calendar" a few years ago.

School starts the first of August. Kids get 2 weeks' Fall and Spring breaks, 3 weeks at Christmas, and June and July for summer. Of course, with all the days they're out because of teachers' meetings, etc., they're honestly rarely in school for an entire week at a time. There was a lot of complaining when this started, but I think most of it has stopped. The worst part is going back so early in August (we've always started school before Labor Day) when it's so hot. There are several schools that still don't have air conditioning, and more that use portable classrooms, and it's miserable for everyone.

All this to say I don't agree with full-year school. Everyone needs a break, especially kids.

[Sancho]

14. But does OK City simply spread out the normal 180 days or actually attend more school?

Here in Florida we had some schools experiment with 210 days. All the normal schedule was the same, except the longer year is 6 more weeks in the summer. The summer break is 6 weeks (half of July and most of August).

Those kids got two years more school by the time they finish HS...so many of them were way ahead on test scores, college credit, etc.

The school districts here usually don't keep those schools going because it costs more for teachers and AC.

[Starry Messenger]

2. Never going to happen.

No one wants to fund the time we are already open. All this talk about extending is hot air.

[gollygee]

3. People sometimes claim year-round school is something it isn't

For instance, I've head a great number of suggestions where summer vacation is done away with (or cut shorter) but other vacations are added throughout the year so there are the exact same number of school days, just throughout the year rather than having such a long period of time out of school at once. Kids don't retain everything over the summer and they would do better with a program like that. Would it really suck the joy out of childhood to have the same number of vacation days, just not all at once?

[starroute]

8. "Vacation days" during the school year aren't real vacations

As I recall, especially in high school, the teachers loved to pile up the reading assignments, especially over Christmas break. You were never really free. You couldn't just take off, or even go visiting relatives, without the undone work hanging over your head.

Kids need to be free. They need time to wander, to think their own thoughts. They need the space to get involved in projects of their own. They need the opportunity to form friendships outside of school, discover mutual interests, and see those friendships ripen.

If some kids forget between June and September that 6x8=48, maybe that's a good thing. Maybe it means they're using their brains for something more important.

[msanthrope]

5. I am all for a shorter vacation. The writer of this article fails to address the very real academic

problem of "summer slide" and admits that the current system we have was designed with higher-income parents in mind.

Why not a longer school year?

[vi5]

6. I loathe the school "reform" movement more than anyone, but.....

I wouldn't be averse to a shorter summer vacation. Right now my kids are off from mid June until after Labor Day. My kids don't have too bad of a summer slide but I can see where that would happen. I'd be up for shortening the summer break by 2-3 weeks or so.

[canoeist52]

7. Longer school school days would make kids and teachers pay for our poor economic system.

These anti-teacher pro-longer-school-day types will be the first to run away from higher real

estate taxes to pay for retro-fitting our schools for air-conditioning.

Kids and teachers need the summer break to spend time with family and re-charge their batteries.

If the long vacation cuts into parent's work schedule, maybe they should bargain for better benefits such as childcare through joining a union and voting their interests.

[taught_me_patience]

10. I love the idea of summer break for kids.

What I hate is the summer break for teachers, who then complain about how hard they work.

[Brickbat]

12. ROFLMAO.

[wildeyed]

13. My kids hate summer vacation and so do I.

The first month is great, but after that, they are bored, miss their friends and are ready to go back. There are few kids in the neighborhood, so it is difficult to just dump them outside for the day the way my mother did with me. So I am forced to either have them in the house with my while I attempt to work (I work from home) which is difficult unless I allow them unlimited screen time which I don't, work less and drive them around, or pay a ton for summer camps. Like $100-300 per week, depending on the quality and duration of the camp.

I feel like we have this huge lull in the summer and then we are busting ass for the rest of the year to make it up. It would be much better to spread the break time around more. One month off for a summer and winter break, two week off of spring and fall would be perfect, and about the same amount of time off that they currently have. My sis lives in Australia, and that's what they do there. She loves it and so do her kids.