Year-round education centers on reorganizing the school year to provide more continuous learning by breaking up the long summer vacation into shorter, more frequent vacations throughout the year.  It does not eliminate the summer vacation, but reduces it and redistributes it as vacation or intersession time during the school year.  Students attending a year-round school go to the same classes and receive the same instruction as students on a traditional calendar.  The year-round calendar is organized into instructional periods and vacation weeks that are more evenly balanced across 12 months than the traditional school calendar.  The balanced calendar minimizes the learning loss that occurs during a typical three-month summer vacation.

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Single-track YRE provides a balanced calendar for a more continuous period of instruction.  Students and all school personnel follow the same instructional and vacation schedule.  Single-track does not reduce class size, nor does it allow a school to accommodate more students.  The rescheduled vacation is placed throughout the school year into periods called "intersessions", allowing time for remediation and enrichment throughout the school year. 

Multi-track YRE is used primarily to alleviate overcrowding, although it also incorporates the educational values of single-track YRE, including intersessions. It was designed specifically for schools with a shortage of classroom space. Multi-track avoids double sessions and the extended school day. It also alleviates the need to build costly new buildings with their attendant operating costs. 

Multi-track divides students and teachers into groups, or tracks of approximately the same size. Each track is assigned its own schedule. Teachers and students assigned to a particular track follow the same schedule and are in school and on vacation at the same time. Multi-track creates a "school-within-a-school" concept. 

Example: implementing a four-track year-round calendar extends the capacity of a school by 33%. A school with the capacity of 750 students can accommodate 1,000 students, as only three tracks of 250 would be in school at the same time; there would always be one track on vacation or intersession every day of the school year.

Extended Year calendars lengthen the school year substantially, from the usual 180 or so days annually up to 240 days of instruction.

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Single Track

Balanced/ Modified:

• Balanced calendars are usually 45/10, 45/15, 60/20/or 90/30 calendars which can provide any number of instructional days.
• Summer vacation is divided throughout a school year with staff and students at school at the same time. Intersessions are usually offered during the break times.

Extended School Year:

• Lengthened from the current 170-180 instructional days up to 240 instructional days.
• (Approximately 245 possible days remain after Saturdays, Sundays, federal and state holidays are subtracted from the 365-day calendar.)

Flexible All-Year Calendar:

• School is open for instruction approximately 240 days per year and students are required to attend the minimum number of days designated by each state.
• Education is individualized; students and staff vacation throughout the year in short breaks.

Multi-track Three-Track:

• Increases capacity by up to 50%.
• Concept 6 and Modified Concept 6 Calendars are generally limited to 163 instructional days that are lengthened in order to accommodate state-required cumulative annual instructional minutes.
• Concept 6 offers 2 vacations/intersessions of approximately 41 school days each.
• Modified Concept 6 offers 4 vacations/intersessions of approximately 20 school days.

Four Track:

• Increases capacity up to 33%.
• 45/15, 60/20 and 90/30 calendars provide for the authorized number of days of instruction.
• 45/15 offers 4 vacations/intersessions of approximately 15 school days each.
• 60/20 offers 3 vacations/intersessions of approximately 20 school days each.
• 90/30 offers 2 vacations/intersessions of approximately 30 school days each.

Five Track:

• Increases capacity up to 25%.
• 60/15 calendar can allow up to 197 days of instruction. Districts utilizing a multi-track 60-15 calendar generally provide a 180-day instructional schedule, with a common three-week vacation for all tracks in the summer, in addition to each track's vacations/intersessions.
• Orchard Plan Calendar provides the common three-week vacation of the 60/15 calendar; students receive 3 additional vacation/intersession breaks of 15 school days.

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1904: A four-quarter schedule in Bluffton, Indiana became known as the forerunner of modern year-round education. 

1910-1938: Various forms of year-round and extended calendars were used to increase space, improve the quality of education, provide a setting in which European immigrant children could learn English, and offer 12-month access to vocational training. States involved included Texas, New Jersey, North Dakota, Nebraska, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. During this period, the first mandated K-12 YRE program was implemented in Aliquippa, PA (1928-1938). 

1938-1945: YRE ceased during World War II, for national uniformity was felt essential to the war effort to provide summer workers for the farms and factories. 

1946-1967: YRE was discussed in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Royal Oaks, Michigan and in the state of New York, but was not implemented. Rebuilding America and the Korean and Vietnam wars were major factors. 

1968: Hayward, California implemented an official 50-15 YRE program at Park Elementary School, which became the first YRE school following WWII. It later changed to a 45-15 plan but remains the longest-running YRE program in the nation. 

1969: Francis Howell School District in St. Charles, Missouri, introduced the first multiple track calendar in the nation. It was a 9-3 pattern, now commonly called the 45-15 calendar. That same year, the Wilson Campus School at Mankato State University, Mankato, MN, implemented the personalized continuous year 12-month calendar. 

1970: The Valley View district in Romeoville, IL, reached a milestone as it introduced a multi-track 45-15 plan later mandated to K-12, the first such program since Aliquippa (1938). 

1971: La Mesa-Spring Valley District (K-8) and the Chula Vista District (K-6), both in San Diego County, became the first multi-track YRE programs in California. They launched the state on its way to a national leadership role as their 45-15 programs, patterned after the successful Valley View schedule in Illinois, caused a change in legislation, and in turn became the immediate model for 13 other California districts that began by 1974. 

1970's-1980's: YRE studies, proposed plans and implementation projects continued. Each year, many new communities were added to the YRE roster. 

1990: By 1990, 859 schools and 733,660 students in 152 districts and 22 states were year-round. 

1993-1994: More than 1,400,000 students are enrolled in nearly 2,000 schools in 33 states, with interest still increasing across the nation. 

1994-1995: Number of students enrolled in year-round programs continues to increase, over 2,200 schools in 37 states. 

1995-96: YRE experiences its eleventh consecutive year of growth. More than 1.7 million students attend year-round schools in 39 states. 

1996-97: YRE continues to grow. Now 2,460 schools in 41 states enjoy alternative schedules. Total enrollment reaches nearly 1.8 million students. 

1997-98: Once again YRE experiences a tremendous growth spurt. Now over 2,800 schools with enrollment of 1.9 million students are on a year-round schedule. 

1998-99:  For the first time, the number of students on a year-round schedule breaks the 2 million mark. 

1999-2000:  Two new states (Mississippi and South Dakota) and the District of Columbia add year-round programs.  The total number of schools passes the 3,000 mark for the first time. 

2000-2001:  North Dakota adds year-round program.  YRE enjoys 15th consecutive year of growth.

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GROWTH OF PUBLIC YEAR-ROUND EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES OVER A 15-YEAR PERIOD

U.S. Totals (PUBLIC AND PRIVATE) for the 2000-2001 School Year:
States - 44
Public Districts - 600
Private Districts - 51
Public Schools - 2,983
Private Schools - 76

To find out which schools have year-round education, purchase NAYRE's School-by-School Directory.  Click here to find which states have year-round education.  Click here to find out the largest districts.  NAYRE Members, remember, you have on-line access to NAYRE's 27th Reference Directory of Year-Round Programs. 

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SELECTED RESEARCH STUDIES
OF YEAR-ROUND EDUCATION

NAYRE serves as a clearinghouse for information. The studies described below are listed for informational purposes. Full abstracts of these studies are included with purchase of NAYRE's Research Portfolio. 

The Research Portfolio was compiled to assist researchers, graduate students, and doctoral candidates with their study of year-round education issues. The Portfolio contains the publications Paths to Resources (a comprehensive year-round bibliography) by Drs. Don Glines and David Mussatti and Year-Round Learning: A Research Synthesis Relating to Student Achievement by Dr. Carolyn Kneese. The Research Portfolio ($40 total value) is offered at the special package price of $29, plus shipping/handling. 

Note: NAYRE also lists for graduate student consideration, at the end of this section, The Top Research Issues in Year-Round Education. 

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Student Satisfaction Related to Year-Round Education and Block Scheduling by 

L. Sue Cabat, Assistant Superintendent 
Hitchcock Independent School District, Texas 

Findings among researchers during the Effective Schools movement of the 1970s and 1980s indicated that school climate, or the school environment, is a determinant of student productivity. Student productivity is defined as academic achievement and satisfaction. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of the reorganization of school time -- the school calendar and the length of instructional periods -- on student satisfaction at the high school level. 

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Investigating the Effects of Single Track Year-Round Education on Achievement of At-Risk Students
By 

Dr. Carolyn Calvin Kneese and Dr. Stephanie L. Knight 
Texas A&M University 

This study investigates the impact of the year-round calendar on achievement, and the degree to which it differentially affects students. 311 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students enrolled in single track year-round classes were individually matched with students in traditional calendar classes in the same schools on both reading and math. There were statistically significant differences in favor of year-round education in both math and reading achievement for all students, and especially in reading for at-risk students. 

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The Effects of Summer Vacation on Achievement Test Scores: A Narrative and Meta-Analytic Review By 

Dr. Harris Cooper, et al 
University of Missouri, Columbia 

A review of 39 studies indicated that achievement test scores decline over summer vacation. The results of the 13 most recent studies were combined using meta-analytic procedures. The meta-analysis indicated that the summer loss equaled about one month on a grade-level equivalent scale, or one tenth of a standard deviation relative to spring test scores. 

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Longterm Influences of Extended Year Schooling on Academic Achievement

By 
Dr. Julie Frazier-Gustafson 
Purdue University, Indiana 

Research Goals: This research examined the impact of adding 30 mandatory instructional days to the school year on children's achievement from kindergarten to third grade. 

Project Findings: Using cross-domain growth analysis, the effects of an extended -year schooling schedule (210 days) on reading, mathematics, general knowledge, and vocabulary growth from kindergarten through third grade were examined (compared to a traditional 180 day schooling schedule). Findings revealed that achievement growth depended on mother's educational level and school schedule. 

Overall, the pervasive and unique impact of extended-year schooling on children's cognitive development suggested that it may be a key reform in improving the American education system. 

For additional information, visit:
Dr. Frazier-Gustafson's web site. 

Top Research Issues for Graduate Student Consideration NAYRE researchers have listed the issues below as currently in need of more research. They are suggested for topics to pursue for senior papers, graduate theses, or doctoral dissertations. 

1. Student achievement and the impact on the issue of standards.

2. Focused studies dealing with specific topics such as special education, linguistic diversity and work with "at-risk" students.

3. Research on the financial impact of year-round education with a separate evaluation of multi-track and single track calendar programs.

4. The impact of both intersessions and the extended school year.

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