Trends in Elementary and Secondary Education - Should We Lengthen The School Year?

The chart shows the average number of days per year that 13-year-olds in industrialized nations spent in school in 1991. In every country except France, children spent more days in school than did their American counterparts. But there's more to this issue than at first meets the eye. A closer look reveals that American students have a relatively high number of hours of instruction in a day compared to their international counterparts. Only France had more hours in a day.

Average TIMSS Math Score, Eighth Graders

Still, U.S. mathematics test scores were the lowest in the six countries shown, as seen on this chart. TIMSS¹ gave momentum to the movement for an extended school year. Proponents point out that the current school calendar is based on the outdated notion that children are needed on the family farm to till the fields during the summer. They point, too, to encouraging research showing that students who attend summer school, after-school programs, or year-round school outscore their peers when tested. Opponents counter that children learn important nonacademic lessons through summer camping and travel (if they can afford it).

The table below demonstrates the growth of year-round education over a nine-year period. The number of states offering year-round education nearly tripled between 1988 and 2001, and the number of students attending year-round school grew by 409%. Today, more than 2 million children attend more than 3,000 public schools operating year-round in 44 states. None of this comes cheaply. When California Governor Gray Davis proposed adding 30 extra days to the middle school calendar, the estimated cost was $1.45 billion.

Growth of Public Year-Round Education in the United States

School Year	States	Schools	Students	Enrollment2
1988-89	16	494	428,961	58,254,000
1992-93	23	1,646	1,345,921	62,686,000
1996-97	38	2,400	1,766,642	65,762,000
2001-2002	44	3,011	2,184,596	68,516,000

One final note about whether more homework or lengthening the school year would improve math and science test scores. Educators and parents will continue to debate that issue. TIMSS researchers concluded that the major reason for the disparity in test scores was the nature of the instruction that American students receive in classrooms. They concluded that American teachers stress breadth of learning rather than depth. Richard Riley, U.S. Secretary of Education, opined: "Our problem is not merely the amount of time U.S. students or teachers spend on mathematics and science but what they do with the time they have."

The next four panels look at how high schools are preparing students for life after graduation.

Source: Chart 1: National Center for Education Statistics. Education in States and Nations. 2nd ed. NCES 96-160, Phelps, Richard P., Thomas M. Smith and Nabeel Alealam. Washington, DC.: 1996, pp. 144-45. Online. Available: http://nces.ed.gov/. February 15, 2002. Chart 2: IEA Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), 1994-95,. Online. Available: http://timss.bc.edu/timss1995i/Highlights.html. February 21, 2002. Table: Excerpted from "Growth of Public Year-Round Education in the United States Over a 15-Year Period." Statistics compiled by the National Association for Year-Round Education (NAYRE). Online. Available: http://www.NAYRE.org/about.html February 15, 2002. Total enrollment figures: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2001. "Summertime and School Isn't Easy: As the School Calendar Continues to Grow, Will the Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer Be No More?" Time, 31 July 2000, p. 18. National Center for Education Statistics. Pursuing Excellence: A Study of U.S. Fourth-Grade Mathematics and Science Achievement in International Context, 1997 and Pursuing Excellence: A Study of U.S. Twelfth-Grade Mathematics and Science Achievement in International Context, 1998. "A Matter of Time: Politicians Discuss Lengthening the School Year." Current Events 16 March 2001, p. 3. Fiske, Edward B. "Insights Into Why U.S. Students Lag Behind in Global Academic 'Horse Race.'" International Herald Tribune 11 February 1997 p 17.