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A BALANCED SCHOOL CALENDAR
December 4, 2014
MEMSPA ConferenceTraverse City, MI
Calendar Reform
Welcome & Story
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Chocolate Personality Inventory
•Milk Chocolate
•Krackel
•Mr. Goodbar
•Dark Chocolate
Chocolate Personality Inventory
Milk Chocolate... All-American, loves baseball. Mom, and apple pie A cheerleader for your program Level-headed, good PR person, great fundraiser Kind, thoughtful, always remembers birthdays Playful, nurturing, helps others to shine Dependable, loyal Others turn to you for help
Chocolate Personality Inventory
Krackel…. Creative, optimistic, always sees the glass as
half full Messy (desk/classroom) but organized A hands-on person A little off-beat, funny, friendly, outgoing Always willing to help Likes the "krackel" or surprises in life Prefers situations that allow for flexibility,
growth, and change
Chocolate Personality Inventory
Mr. Goodbar... Analytical, logical, gathers data before
giving an opinion Plays the devil's advocate, sees all the
possibilities, and what ifs Procrastinator, hates deadlines Likes to be the expert but in your own time Prefers structure, rules for everyone to
follow, hates surprises
Chocolate Personality Inventory
Special Dark... Patient, thoughtful, individualist, problem
solver Works well with difficult people Insightful, reflective, good grant writers Little patience with incompetence Sets high standards for self and others Dependable, resourceful, loyal
Introduction
David Hornak – Horizon Elementary, Holt Public Schools
[email protected] 517-694-4224
Kindra Padgett—Horizon Elementary, Holt Public Schools
o [email protected] (517)694-4224
Objectives
To discuss calendar reformTo discuss what a balanced calendar is and how it
works, including advantages and disadvantagesTo check the dataTo discuss considerations for Belding Area SchoolsTo discuss a scan of current schools/districts
transitioning in 2015-16To answer any questions about a working balance
calendar experience
History
Although the traditional school calendar is the dominant calendar used by districts nationwide, the idea of balancing the school calendar dates back to the 1840s where schools in the big eastern cities were open 240-250 school days (Glines, 2009; Silva, 2007).
It was the 20 year period between 1870-1890, when many communities reduced the school year to 180 school days as summers were used at that point for additional school opportunities to teach English to immigrant families (Glines, 2009; Silva, 2007).
History, Continued
•Summer in the 1800s became an opportunity for children to help on the family farm.•The agrarian calendar is believed to have roots that date back to farming and ranching (Weiss & Brown, 2003)
Quote from the 2005 follow-up to the Prisoner of Time report:Learning in America is a prisoner of time. For the past 150 years, American public schools have held time constant and let learning vary. The rule, only rarely voiced, is simple: learn what you can in the time we make available. It should surprise no on that some bright, hard-working students do reasonably well. Everyone else, from typical students to the dropout, runs into trouble (p.1).
Fast Fact Gallery Walk
Read the Room
Quote Analysis
“ They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”
Think, Pair, Share
Process as a large group
Article Jigsaw/SWOT Analysis
The Case Against Summer Vacation
TIME Magazine, Thursday, July 22, 2010
By David Von Drehle
Calendar Reform American children spend
the least amount time in the classroom when compared to other countries. Currently, the school year length in the States is 180 days. Advocates are pushing further toward a 200-day school year, which would align with Thailand, Scotland and the Netherlands, and leave us a close second with Israel, South Korea and Japan, who leads with a 243-day school year. The balanced school calendar does not require more days, but rather reducing the number of days off each summer.
What is a Year Round Calendar?
Students at year-round calendar schools attend class the same number of days and receive the same instruction driven by the same curricula as students at traditional calendar schools. A year-round school modifies the traditional 180-day school calendar to keep the learning process continuous and to maximize the use of school facilities. Students have periodic, shorter breaks rather than one long summer break.
Traditional Calendar
Strengths Summer Tourism Professional
Development Opportunities
Extended Learning Programs for Students
Many buildings do not have AC
Summer Employment Extra Curricular
Scheduling
What Does a Balanced Calendar Look Like?
YRE students attend the same number of days = 180
Most popular is the 45-15 plan
Several short vacations all through the year, rather than one three-month summer break
The Single Track Model
Single-track modified calendar plans are designed to conform closely to the natural learning patterns of students (Ballinger & Kneese, 2006).
In 2004-05 there were 1,944 single track schools working on a balanced calendar (Ballinger & Kneese, 2006).
Balanced Calendar
Strengths Continuity of
Instruction= Quality Planning and
Preparation Intersession for
Remediation & Enrichment
Reduces Summer Learning Loss (Summer Slide)
Improvement in Teacher Attitudes
Less Teacher Burnout
Benefits of Balanced Calendar
Facilitating educational improvements. Teachers in year-round programs generally believe that the
quality of instruction is better than in traditional programs due to the continuity of instruction (Quinlan, George, & Emmett, 1987).
Teachers also believe that the YRE schedule has a positive impact on the way in which they think about and plan for instruction (Shields & Oberg, 2000).
The organization of the instructional time allows them to be reflective practitioners because they are able to plan at regular intervals during the academic year when it is needed the most (Shields & Oberg, 2000).
They find it more efficient and productive to plan curriculum for shorter blocks of time and feel that the year-round calendar provides ample time segments for instruction.
Benefits of Balanced Calendar
In schools offering intersession programs during the vacation periods, teachers credit the intersession with enhancing and supplementing the regular curriculum (Quinlan, George, & Emmett, 1987).
In addition, intersession courses provide opportunities for teacher experimentation with different curriculum and grade levels (Zykowski et at., 1991).
Another advantage for teachers is that less review time is necessary at the beginning of each instructional block, as research has demonstrated that the shorter vacation periods reduce summer learning loss (Cooper, et al., 1996).
Benefits of Balanced Calendar
Researchers claim that this is especially true for the low socio-economic status (SES) level and high-risk students (Kneese & Knight, 1995; Gandara & Fish, 1994; Quinlan, George, & Emmett, 1987).
This may be due to accessibility of immediate re-mediation in YRE (Curry, Washington & Zyskowski, 1997).
Benefits of Balanced Calendar
Enhancing the climate of professionalism.
Of the studies in which teacher attitudes have been explicitly examined, the research results clearly indicate that the majority of teachers in year-round schools favor the year-round calendar and believe it substantially enhances the professional environment (Worthen & Zsiray, 1994; Shields & Oberg, 2000).
The year-round calendar can enhance teacher professionalism in several ways. Due to the frequency of breaks on the year-round calendar, teachers exhibit improved morale and motivation, and less burnout and stress (North Carolina Insight, 1997; Minnesota, 1999; Quinlan, George, & Emmett, 1987).
Benefits of Balanced Calendar
It has been reported that teachers were absent considerably less on YRE schedules (Brekke, 1984) and research by Quinlan, George, and Emmett (1987) substantiated the findings that YRE decreased teacher absences considerably (Worthen & Zsiray, 1994).
SAMPLE CALENDAR
SAMPLE CALENDAR
Theoretical Framework
Faucet Theory:When children are in school, all children learn at the same rate. When on a recess (vacation), the middle class/upper class child maintains levels and the lower class child loses knowledge.
To what extent does summer intermission impact the retention of knowledge?
•The amount of knowledge that is lost during a summer break by childrenis paramount (Cooper, Charlton, Valentine, & Muhlenbruck, 2000).
•The extent of summer learning loss becomes more dramatic as studentsget older (Cooper, 2003).
•Smith (2012) indicated that two-thirds of the achievement gap in 9th gradecan be attributed to the amount of required time it takes a teacher to reteach and review what was learned prior to the summer intermission.
•All children attending school on the traditional calendar, according to Cooper et al., (2000) lose an average of 2.6 months of math skills during the summer break annually.
Recent Unpublished Data
Seeking to better understand the relationship between the balanced school Calendar and summer learning loss, I asked the following research questions:
1) To what extent does the length of summer recess impact student mathematicallearning retention?
Pre-test/Post-test comparison quasi-experimental quantitative research design
2) Is there a relationship between student mathematical learning retention and at-risk status of students?
The unpublished multiple regression results
Coefficientsa
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Standardized Coefficients
Model B Std. Error Beta t Sig.
(Constant) -3.947 1.247 -3.164
0.002
What is your sex? 0.308 0.685 0.010 0.449
0.654
Which School? 5.082 0.683 0.172 7.438
0.000
F/R -1.308 0.699 -0.044 -1.872
0.062
Pre-test 0.910 0.024 0.901 38.340
0.000
1
Summer Enrichment or Remediation
6.935 1.353 0.118 5.127 0.000
a. Dependent Variable: Post-test
Unpublished T-test results
Mean Test ResultsSchool Pre-test Mean Post-test Mean Mean Difference
(Spring) (Fall)Traditional 41.94 34.03 7.913
Balanced 42.88 40.11 2.773
Overall 5.527
TIMSS Report, 2011 (Math)
Country Number of Instructional
Days
Type of Calendar
TIMMS 4th grade Math
Average Score
Singapore 200 Balanced 606
Republic of Korea
220 Balanced 605
Hong Kong 195 Balanced 602
Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)
190 Balanced 591
Japan 243 Balanced 585
United States 180 Traditional 541
Impacting Behaviors
Focused and engaged children tend to behave better
Less time teaching behavior expectations annually allows for more instructional time on current curriculum
Brief behavior expectation review following each break
Considerations
Determine the needs of your environmentWork with the community to ensure
students will not be left without intersession opportunities, child care, summer activities
Work with your educational partners to ensure all children accessing programming outside of the district will not be impacted
Schools may need to offer Professional Development and community meetings
Considerations
Does the Balanced School Calendar have a positive impact on the children that score within the bottom 30% on the MEAP?
Faucet TheoryCan the Balanced School Calendar be
implemented district wide? Yes, it is most efficient for districts to
transition all schools (Michigan examples: Flint Beecher & Baldwin)
Considerations
How would our students that attend the career center manage two calendars?
Independent studies, project based learning, cooperative learning, attend activities on both calendars
With strong partnerships with the ISD, how would we honor IEPs?
Offer make-up sessions in September and May Pay an ISD employee to service balanced calendar
children Allow families to seek their own services to be paid by
the district
Considerations
Does the balanced school calendar require specific adjustments to employee contracts?
No, the entire Holt district has one contract, however, the contract has two different calendars guiding work time.
If my district were to adopt the balanced school calendar, what kind of enrollment numbers do you forecast?
Waiting list at many grade levels Increase in overall numbers Better fit with current lifestyles and workloads
Another Option: Multi-Track Plan
A Multi-track plan is implemented to provide additional capacity within already-existing space to accommodate over enrollment of students, maximize the efficient use of current resources, solve one or more administrative or logistical problems, or a variation of the three (Ballinger & Kneese, 2006).
During the 2004-05 school year, there were 934 schools operating on the Multi-track plan (Ballinger & Kneese, 2006).
QUALITY INSTRUCTION + TIME = LEARNING
Collaboration and Professional Development
Muskegon Heights Public School Academy SystemYpsilanti Community SchoolsGEE Edmonson AcademyPort Huron Area School DistrictMadison District Public Schools (Oakland County)Baldwin Community SchoolsMadison School District (Lenawee County)Bay County Public School AcademyNiles Community SchoolsSchool District of the City of Pontiac
School/Districts Transitioning to the Balanced School Calendar
in 2015-16
VIDEO: HTTP://YOUTU.BE/DLMIM_OGFVS
BALANCING THE SCHOOL CALENDAR: PERSPECTIVE FROM THE PUBLIC AND STAKEHOLDERS (KNEESE & BALLINGER)
SCHOOL CALENDAR REFORM: LEARNING IN ALL SEASONS (BALLINGER & KNEESE)
YEAR ROUND SCHOOLS (RUGGIERO)
YEAR-ROUND EDUCATION: CHANGE AND CHOICE FOR SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS (HASER & NASSER)
Other Resources
THE BALANCED CALENDAR OFFERS EDUCATORS THE OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK BACK AT THE
CURRICULUM AND LOOK FORWARD TO WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE. TOGETHER,
BALANCED CALENDAR EDUCATORS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE IN PART DUE TO THE SCHOOL
CALENDAR!
THANK YOU!
QUESTIONS
Questions/Networking