School Calendars

ERIC Educational Reports by Bill Metzker

Few issues in a community generate the fractiousness that changes in school calendars can, yet many districts nationwide are scheduling earlier start times for school. The traditional September start date may become a mere memory. In 1988, just over half the nation's schools opened before September 1; in 2000, three-quarters did-a 50 percent increase (Market Data Retrieval, 2001).

A year ago, Rudolph W. Guiliani, then mayor of New York City, proposed Saturday classes, and New York's governor suggested longer school days. In California, Governor Gray Davis has recommended adding thirty instructional days for middle-school students to address academic deficiencies (Wilgoren, January 10, 2001).

A move toward year-round schooling propels some of this change, but socioeconomic conditions and demands for higher school standards play significant roles as well. As of this writing, newly passed federal legislation, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, calls for more testing and accountability than many states presently require. In this high-stakes environment, addressing time in some form-more of it, rearranging how it's scheduled, or making better use of what's already there-has become part of the school-reform agenda.

This Digest discusses the rationale for changing school calendars, describes what some districts are doing, and advises school leaders and board members on the issues that typically arise when a calendar is changed. WHY CHANGE?As compulsory education evolved in the United States, so did the conventional school calendar of nine months in school followed by a three-month summer vacation, during which many children helped with harvesting crops. But now that it is common for both parents to work outside the home year-round, public opinion increasingly supports a longer school year (Rakoff 1999).

As part of the push to reform schools, states have legislated so-called high-stakes testing and mandated increased instructional hours. To complete state examinations by December's winter break, some school districts are starting classes earlier. Others have added days to accommodate a state-mandated expansion of hours, while others modify the calendar for localized reasons (Keller 2001). Some of these calendars add days, usually as remedial intercessions between breaks. Summer sessions also play an increasing role.

For these and other reasons, more schools across the country are altering their instructional schedules. Some are trying later start times to address adolescents' physiological needs (for more sleep). Several rural districts are adopting four-day weeks. Other schools are experimenting with trimesters. Extended learning schedules for students with academic deficiencies are now available in many districts. And two million children attend year-round schools (Chaika 1999). WHAT ARE STATES AND DISTRICTS DOING?School districts set their instructional calendars in response to a variety of local imperatives. In Michigan, district superintendents have had to adjust to a state-required increase of 108 instructional hours, and at least one district moved its start date to August (Keller). North Carolina school boards must adopt a school calendar of 220 days, of which 180 to 200 must be instructional (Education Commission of the States, 2000). Students at Brooks Global Studies Magnet Elementary in Greensboro, North Carolina, began school on August 1, 2001, and will attend school for 210 days, with breaks interspersed.

In 2002, Pinellas County schools in the Tampa Bay, Florida, area will open August 7 to allow time for the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test; the district also hopes the change will help it compete for teachers by offering an early paycheck (Fields 2000). At the Jefferson School District in Kentucky, school officials moved the start date to mid-August so that the school year ends before Memorial Day in late May (personal communication with Robert Rodosky, 2001). Parental choice led to an early start date in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where fewer than 1 percent wished to begin after Labor Day (personal communication with Mary Thurman, 2001).

Most schools in Indiana open around August 15. In the Benton Community School Corporation of that state, the Board of School Trustees mandated that the first semester, when state tests are administered, end prior to the winter break. Since school ends earlier in the spring, students get first crack at summer jobs (personal communication with Glenn Krueger, 2001). Most West Virginia calendars add vacation time around Thanksgiving for the hunting season; New Orleans schools acknowledge Mardi Gras; and Aroostaook County high schools in Maine give a three-week break for the potato harvest (Chaika). ARE ADDED SESSIONS PART OF THE SHIFT?While some year-round schools offer intercessions during breaks between instructional periods for students who need remedial help, other districts are exploring extra days, after-school programs, and/or summer sessions as ways to extend learning. Again, the two primary reasons cited for investigating such changes are the need to meet higher educational standards and the trend for both parents or single parents to work full time.