Should Schools Have Extended Learning Time?

PROS
Year-round school stems summer learning
loss.

CONS
Year-round school complicates schedules for
parents, especially if multiple family
members are in different schools and possibly
on different tracks.
Year-round school reduces teacher and
It is financially very costly to school districts,
student burnout.
as the buildings are being used year-round
instead of idle for 3 months.
ELT helps working parents manage and match Year-round school takes a toll on tourism as
their schedule with their children.
students during the high tourism season.
Reduced workforce for tourism.
Year-round school and enrich students
Year-round school deprives children of
educational experiences by allowing for
needed respite from school.
additional intersessions or creative courses.
Year-round school can ease overcrowding in
Year-round school distracts from more
schools by putting students on different
effective school improvement strategies.
tracks.
Year-round school can save on daycare in the Research is inconclusive as to whether yearsummer.
round school makes a difference in students
academic performance.
Year-round school can still have the same
With year-round school, many high school
amount of vacation, just spread out in smaller students cant get a summer job and earn
pieces.
money for college.
With year-round school, you can get extra
Year-round school reduces teacher time for
remedial and enrichment sessions during the
professional development and growth.
short breaks.
For year-round schools using the multi-track
With year-round school, family vacations are
method, the district saves money on buildings disrupted.
by being able to house more students in less
space.
With year-round school you can avoid reYear-round school will force a drastic change
teaching lost material from summer break.
to the American lifestyle.
With year-round school, students needing
With year-round school, sports teams would
academic support get help year-round,
have trouble if their athletes were on different
making it easier for them to stay on track with vacation schedules, and different schools may
academics.
have different schedules.
Some ELT schools have shown an increase in Schools need to improve quality of instruction
graduation rates.
not quantity.
ELT schools are better able to individualize
With ELT, there are many teachers union
instruction.
concerns over wages, and much teacher
resistance to increased work time.
ELT works best at elementary and middle
With ELT, there is teacher and student fatigue
school.
from longer school days.
With year-round school, families can take
With ELT, coordination of multiple programs

vacations at different times of the year instead

of always having to take them in the summer.

can be very difficult.

With ELT, there are lots of staffing problems
(both teacher and non-teacher) and high
turnover.
With ELT, there are transportation problems,
students are getting on buses even earlier in
the morning and off the bus very late in the
afternoon or early evening.
ELT requires more staffing and creates
teacher shortages.
Year-round school creates increased building
costs for air conditioning and electricity in the
summer when traditional school would be on
recess.
Cybereducation is the way of the future
changing traditional school now is a waste of
time and money.
Lack of funding for all the additional costs
related to ELT or year-round school.
High costs of teachers salaries and other staff
due to additional hours worked.
Extended school day with cut into other
activities like sports practice, vocal or dance
lessons, drama and other after school
activities.

Bibliography Extended School Time

Nair, S., Should American Schools Go Year Round?, TeacherHub.com, retrieved from:
http://www.teachhub.com/should-american-schools-go-year-round.
Zubrzycki, J., Year-Round Schooling Explained, December 2015, Education Week, retrieved
from: https://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/year-round-schooling/.
McMurrer, J., et. Al., Extended Learning Time: A Summary of Findings from Case Studies in
Four States, January 2015, Center on Education Policy, retrieved from:
file:///C:/Users/krisp/Downloads/McMurrerFrizzellYoshioka_SummaryReport_ExpandedLearning
Time_011315.pdf.
Gabrieli, C., More Time, More Learning, Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Educational Issues,
2014, McGraw-Hill Education.
Cuban, L., The Perennial Reform: Fixing School Time, Taking Sides: Clashing Views on
Educational Issues, 2014, McGraw-Hill Education.