CNN’s Sherry Rauh on effectiveness of year-round schools

(CNN) -- About two million students in 43 states are on some kind of year-round education plan, according to the National Association for Year-Round Education. One type of plan, for example, gives students three weeks off between semesters and six weeks of vacation during the summer. The total number of school days is usually the same as in a traditional schedule.

Sherry Rauh, producer of the Endless School Year series, has been with CNN Headline News for four years. She currently works with the Production Unit team, whose work includes special reports, weekend features and guest interviews.

Chat Moderator: Welcome to the Headline News Chat, Sherry Rauh, and thanks for joining us today.

	MESSAGE BOARD
Year round school

Sherry Rauh: Thank you for inviting me to do the chat. I look forward to answering some questions.

Chat Moderator: Why do some communities opt for year-round school plans?

Sherry Rauh: Well, there are two different reasons a community might want to do this.

The first is that they are looking for a unique way to reform education. They believe that changing the calendar and shortening the length of the summer will help improve student learning.

But in about 41 percent of communities that go year-round, the driving reason is economics. By using a multi-track schedule, where one segment of the student population is always on vacation, they are able to pack more students into a single school. That saves money, and they can avoid building new schools.

Question from Stagmie: How many school systems have experimented with year-round school and gone back to the traditional calendar?

Sherry Rauh: Well, that’s a tough statistic to nail down. The proponents of year-round education, particularly the National Association for Year-Round Education, say that in the past 10 years, about 17 percent of year-round schools have switched back. Now opponents of the program say that the figure is actually much higher.

Question from Fatdog: Hi, Sherry. Who are some of the people that you have interviewed?

Sherry Rauh: I've talked with teachers, students, parents, principals and the executive director of the National Association for Year-Round Education, as well as activists who opposed year-round education. I've also talked with school board chairmen in a district that tried it and switched back.

Chat Moderator: What are some of the complaints or criticisms about such programs?

Sherry Rauh: The biggest complaint I've heard is that it makes family life more difficult. The reason for that is that in a family where a child is at a year-round school and his or her sibling is at a normal school, they may have separate vacations. Then the parents may have to get one kid ready for school and prepare activities for the other child, who is at home. This also makes it very difficult to plan family vacations.

Another criticism I've heard is that students and teachers can burn out without the long summer break, although proponents of the program say that burnout is less likely at year-round schools, because the breaks are more evenly distributed.

Question from Haley-CNN: How do teachers feel about all-year schooling?

Sherry Rauh: Well, it depends on whom you ask. Some teachers love it. They say the frequent breaks give them and their students a chance to refresh.

Teachers at the multi-track schools tend to be more critical. That's because some of them actually have to switch classrooms every few weeks in order to accommodate the various tracks. Other teachers say they've tried the program and didn't actually see any academic benefit.

Question from RCT: Don't you think that summer camp programs benefit kids and would be harder to implement in the winter, especially in colder climates such as New England?

Sherry Rauh: That's certainly one of the strongest arguments of those who oppose year-round education. They say the unique experiences at camp are as important to a child's development as school. Certainly the summer camp industry does not like the idea of year-round schooling.

But supporters of the program say that children can still go to camp. They would just have to squeeze it into the month that they do have off in summer or, if possible, into other breaks during the year. Now, some of the children I talked to said they didn't like that idea, because if camp took up their entire summer break, they would have no time left for relaxing and hanging out with friends.

Question from Blah: How long is the summer break for year-round schools?

Sherry Rauh: It varies from three to six weeks, depending on the particular program.

Chat Moderator: Has there been an increased interest in year-round school plans?

Sherry Rauh: There's a continuing increase in many types of educational reforms. As parents and politicians agree that students are not learning enough, communities are looking to alternatives.

Year-round education is not a new idea. It has been around for decades. But as the need to improve education becomes more urgent, this program's popularity has seen an increase.

Question from Pavlov: What's the most standard break schedule for these types of schools? Do they get more time off for Christmas?

Sherry Rauh: Typically, yes. They would have several long breaks throughout the year. One popular schedule is to have six weeks off in the summer, nine weeks in school, three weeks off, nine more weeks of school, three weeks off, nine more weeks of school, etc.

Question from Blah: How do students feel about year-round school?

Sherry Rauh: Students actually have very different opinions about it. Many who have never tried the program say that it sounds awful to them. They don't want to give up a single day of their long summer break.

Other students say they like the idea because summer is too long and they start to get bored, and they would rather have more time off to break up the school year.

The elementary school kids I talked to who are on the program say they like it very much.

Question from Haley-CNN: What will happen with those children with both parents working that, until now, have taken vacation while their children are out of school?

Sherry Rauh: Many of the districts with year-round programs provide some sort of activities during the mid-year breaks. These activities include remedial classes for students who are falling behind, and enrichment classes for other students. In districts without these programs, the parents tend to be much more opposed to year-round education than in the areas where they have intercession activities.

Question from Blargh: If there were periods of, say, nine weeks in school, three weeks off, nine more weeks of school, six weeks off for summer, etc., how is that even year-round schooling at all?

Sherry Rauh: Well, that’s a very good point. The term "year-round" is extremely misleading. Some schools prefer the term "modified calendar." In fact, year-round schools are not year-round at all. They have the same total number of school days, generally, as a traditional school. The school year is just more evenly distributed.

Question from James01: Is this issue also a product of both parents having to work, where there is no time for summer vacations, and the children not only need to be cared for but need assistance in the education they should be getting at home?

Sherry Rauh: Well, students who don't get assistance at home could benefit from the remedial classes offered during school breaks.

As for vacations, one of the benefits of the program is that families have an opportunity to take trips during times other than summer. So parents who may not be able to get summer off, but may be able to get another time of year off, can still vacation with their children.

Question from DeanK: Has anyone objected to more teens being in the job market? I know the labor market is tight right now, but in high unemployment, wouldn't teens with more time off be pushing other people out of work?

Sherry Rauh: One of the criticisms I've heard of the program is that teens who normally work over the summer will not be able to because the break is so much shorter. It will be harder to get hired for a short time, so you could look at it the other way and say there are more jobs for other people. But I do not think that it is an issue of teens taking jobs from other people, anyway.

Chat Moderator: Thanks for joining us today, Sherry Rauh. Do you have any final thoughts for us on this subject today?

Sherry Rauh: One question I came across in researching this issue was: Why do some schools love it and say it really helps their students while other districts try it, call it a disaster, and switch back?" The answer I've found is, the program is much more likely to be successful in communities where the parents and teachers want to do it, go to it by choice and are very supportive of the transition. On the other hand, if switching to a year-round schedule is an administrative decision that is forced on unsupportive parents and teachers; it is most likely doomed to fail.

Chat Moderator: Thank you!

Sherry Rauh: Thank you very much. I enjoyed answering questions about this issue and hope everybody can catch the rest of the series.

Check out the CNN Chat calendar
Post your opinion on our message boards

National Association for Year-Round Education

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.