Harris Cooper on merits of year-round schools

(CNN) -- Some schools are changing their calendars to shorten the summer break. Proponents of this program feel that by shortening the period of time that the student is left idle over the summer, retention of knowledge is aided. Opponents argue that the program is ineffective and possibly detrimental, disrupting the family and the community.

Harris Cooper is a social psychologist at the University of Missouri. He has reviewed numerous studies of education reforms and summer learning loss. Cooper is currently researching the academic and social impact of modified school calendars under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

MESSAGE BOARD Year round school

Chat Moderator: Welcome to the Headline News Chat, Dr. Harris Cooper.

Harris Cooper: Good afternoon, everyone. It's a pleasure to be here. I'm looking forward to exchanging ideas with you all.

Chat Moderator: What do some of the studies say about year-round schools?

Harris Cooper: Well, we've just completed a survey of the research that's available on year-round schooling. We refer to it as a modified school calendar to distinguish between calendars that add school days and calendars that simply modify the typical number of days.

Also, among modified calendars, some schools adopt what's called multi-tracking, in which students will have different vacations even though they attend the same school building, and single-track calendars where all kids attend school at the same time.

We found about 60 school districts that had attempted to evaluate the impact of a modified calendar on student achievement. Typically, these studies are done with what I would have to describe as poor research designs, which means any conclusions we would draw from them must be tentative.

That being said, in about two-thirds of the school districts, the study did indicate an improvement in children's achievement on modified calendars when compared to the traditional ones. Among the best conducted studies -- that is, the best research designs -- the results indicated that in the first year of a modified calendar program the traditional schools did better, but after the first year, on average, the modified calendar schools did better.

We also found about 50 school districts that surveyed parents, teachers, administrators, staff and children about their attitudes toward the modified calendar. These surveys overwhelmingly describe the experience as positive.

Question from Richard: What psychological affect does year-round schooling have on the students in your study?

Harris Cooper: The only psychological variables that have been studied involve attitudes towards school and the modified calendar, and even among the students who take part in these programs, the typical response is positive. That doesn't mean it's positive in every case, but generally speaking, students who attend school in this manner think highly of it.

Question from Mmmmmbeeer: Has there been an influx in schools going to a year-round program, lately? Is that the reason for this discussion?

Harris Cooper: I think that there is increasing interest in alternative calendars for schools. A great deal of interest in modified calendars arises, first, as an economic issue related to overcrowded schools. But more recently, as more mothers have entered the work force and more children are in non-traditional families, as parents' work schedules have changed, there has been an increasing desire for school calendars that more closely correspond to how families live.

Question from Mike: Some folks, like myself, believe summers should be for kids. We've already taken a third of the traditional summer vacation away. Why are we so eager to deny kids the joy and freedom of childhood?

Harris Cooper: I don't see modified calendars as denying children anything. One might argue that having all of one's vacation or most of one's vacations occur in summer denies children the wonderful opportunities available that can be experienced on vacations during other seasons of the year.

We often confuse the adoption of the summer vacation as having originally been a child issue when, in fact, it was an economic issue related to the farming cycle. The traditional calendar wasn't initially adopted because it was best for kids. It was adopted because it was best for local economies.

Question from Happy-Anne: Harris, describe a year of year-round schools in one school building. Are there several tracks going on at once? Do siblings get put on different tracks?

Harris Cooper: That's a very good question.

Under multi-tracking, that does occur, so that at any given time in a school year, a certain portion of students would be on vacation. This permits the school district to serve, for example, 600 students in a building that could only hold, say, 450.

Multi-tracking creates some very legitimate concerns on the part of teachers and parents. The major concern is that children within the same family could potentially have vacations at different times. School districts that have planned effectively and show proper concern for parent issues take measures to prevent that from happening.

Again, however, districts don't adopt multi-tracking for education purposes. They do it for economic ones.

Question from Year: The government won't pay teachers appropriately, anyway. So how could we possibly get them to pay teachers MORE for working all year?

Harris Cooper: As the spouse of a third-grade teacher, I am sympathetic.

Here we have to keep our terms straight again. Modified calendars do not necessarily add extra days. Teachers who work under modified calendars tend to be very satisfied and point out that the multiple shorter breaks actually prevent teacher burnout, rather than add to it.

There are, however, legitimate teacher concerns revolving, especially, around professional development.

Question from Blargh: Dr. Cooper, as a recent student, I kind of think that I'd like having more frequent breaks. A long summer break was nice, but the long semesters were rather stressful. Is this where the students would get the most benefit, or are there other desirable outcomes from the students' perspective?

Harris Cooper: When advocates of modified calendars state their case, they often point to the summer learning loss as the major benefit. Teachers spend less time reviewing material, and they find their students have more positive attitudes, because they know that a break from school is never too far away.

Question from Wes: What concrete data is there to prove that year-round education raises standardized test scores?

Harris Cooper: In my opening remarks, I mentioned that of the 60 school districts we found that had conducted studies comparing the achievement scores of modified and traditional calendar students, in about two-thirds of the instances, the modified calendar kids did better.

The effect isn't a large one, however. In the course of a child's years in school if the effects accumulate, it could be a significant difference.

Question from Vurcease: How will and/or should curriculums change to better suit the year-round schedule? Surely, students would lose interest and enthusiasm with the current method year-round.

Harris Cooper: Again, the question may relate more to adding days to the school year than rearranging the calendar.

Most school districts on modified calendars choose either a nine-week on school and three- week off school, or a twelve-week on and four-week off. Whichever calendar a school district chose would require them to examine how their units would fit in.

Question from Sharkie: If such a program was to be recommended, how long would it take to be implemented -- two years, five, ten?

Harris Cooper: That's a very good question.

My impression from visiting schools and examining their experiences suggests that how this kind of reform is introduced to a community is critical to whether or not it is accepted. My belief is that a go-slow approach is most effective. When most hear the term "year-round schooling," they think it means kids go to school to be locked in and never to be seen again. So the first step is always getting out good, thoughtful and dispassionate information.

If school districts are capable, setting up pilot programs or magnet schools on modified calendars would be a good next step. This permits parents to learn about the change from other parents when they run into them at the grocery store or church. When a district makes a decision to implement a modified calendar in a top-down manner or rushes it into place because of economic reasons, it is much less likely to succeed.

Question from Wes: What percentage of current year-round schools are in low socio-economic areas?

Harris Cooper: Another very good question. Generally, more than would be expected. Modified calendar schools can be found in poorer communities or neighborhoods. I think one reason for this is that educators and parents recognize that the long summer break can have more detrimental effects for children who are struggling in school, especially if English is not the language spoken at home.

Question from Fred: Isn't it true that adding days and making smaller class sizes are the only proven way to improve student achievement?

Harris Cooper: There is little argument today that smaller classes improve achievement. Extending the school year is a bit more controversial.

The research seems to indicate that adding just a few additional days won't do the trick. Rather, a substantial number of additional days -- perhaps 20 or so -- accompanied by corresponding changes in curriculum and grade level standards, has promise.

Many educators would respond by saying the change in curriculum and standards has occurred already, without the addition of days. This forces them to cover more material in the same amount of time.

Question from ChrisNewland: Has this study been published yet? My reading of the extant literature is that academic benefits are unlikely to be seen.

Harris Cooper: Our study of summer learning loss was published in 1996 in the "Review of Educational Research." The data on our review of modified calendars was presented at a conference in July, the proceeds of which will be published, hopefully, shortly.

Chat Moderator: Do you have any final thoughts for us today?

Harris Cooper: The point I would like to reiterate is that when we look at the history of the school calendar, we find that it has always been economics and not what's best for children and families that has dictated when kids go to school.

Our economy has changed, but our school calendar has not. Therefore, I suspect calendar reform is not far down the road.

I would hope that as we consider alternatives, perhaps this time, we'll also keep the interest of families and the well being of children in mind as we develop alternatives.

Chat Moderator: Thank you for joining us today, Dr. Harris Cooper.

Harris Cooper: Thanks for joining in. The questions were great. It's always exciting to be involved in intelligent discussions of this nature.

Check out the CNN Chat calendar
Post your opinion on our message board
Year round school

Marilyn J. Stenvall and Charlotte Lampe on year-round school
September 6, 2000
CNN’s Sherry Rauh on effectiveness of year-round schools
September 5, 2000

Headlinenews.com - Endless School Year
National Association for Year Round Education
Time To Learn
The Never Ending School: Year Round Education

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.