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It appears these days keeping schools open well into June is becoming very unpopular with district planners for a variety of reasons they mention such as college schedules...
The article states that one of the reasons for schools starting earlier is so that incoming college freshmen can attend summer school, which starts in June. The idea that the state tries to accommodate college age students seems odd. (Is it the parents insisting?)
That many more kids have to attend summer school before their freshman year than did say, 15 years ago? Sounds like it's driven by something else.
The article states that one of the reasons for schools starting earlier is so that incoming college freshmen can attend summer school, which starts in June. The idea that the state tries to accommodate college age students seems odd. (Is it the parents insisting?)
That many more kids have to attend summer school before their freshman year than did say, 15 years ago? Sounds like it's driven by something else.
is this summer school part of college curriculum or continuation of senior hi?
The article states that one of the reasons for schools starting earlier is so that incoming college freshmen can attend summer school, which starts in June. The idea that the state tries to accommodate college age students seems odd. (Is it the parents insisting?)
That many more kids have to attend summer school before their freshman year than did say, 15 years ago? Sounds like it's driven by something else.
If nothing else it's at least plausible. Consider that jobs are harder to find for students to begin with, college is more expensive then ever, and college classes are crowded to where some people miss graduating in four years due to necessary courses being too full.
The cost of college is a triple whammy in this case too:
- First there is the obvious added expense.
- Second it means that even if someone could find a summer job, at minimum wage what they earn would hardly put a dent into the tuition, nevermind living expenses in CA. Some folks may have calculated and decided that they could save more money by graduating on time than make at a summertime minimum wage job, therefore...
- Third the higher cost of college means that there is more incentive than before to be able to graduate on time, typically meaning 4 years or less. Or similarly with Associates degrees, 2 years or less.
With regards to the difficulty finding work, what does a responsible person normally do when they can't find work but are eligible for further education? They try to stay busy and avoid idle time, thus enrolling in summer school would be a very reasonable alternative action.
On the other hand, one point that I am wondering about is that I thought summer classes in public schools would be increasingly suspended due to budget constraints. Although maybe Prop 30 temporarily improved the situation since some of the money went to community colleges? That might have improved the availability of summer classes.
This is all very interesting to me, having grown up in VA where state law mandates the first day of school as the day after Labor Day. I think the attractions industry had a hand in that, as many teenagers are employed at the amusement parks, Colonial Williamsburg, VA Beach, etc. In elementary school we did not have air conditioning, so being there in August would've been just awful. We were released in mid-June and got one week for Christmas and one for spring break. I was so surprised that school started on Tuesday here because the kids only got out halfway through June. In other states I've lived in where school started in August, it ended in May. But LA kids are basically getting only two months of summer vacation.
All summer long I've been hearing a commercial in grocery stores that goes something like "Worried about how you're going to feed your kids this summer with school out?" I can't remember if the announcement is sponsored by Kroger family of stores, or if it's a city program, or maybe a partnership between both. So maybe the poverty level has something to do with it. Kids being in school relieves the burden for financially strapped families who can't afford food or can't be home with their children.
The article states that one of the reasons for schools starting earlier is so that incoming college freshmen can attend summer school, which starts in June. The idea that the state tries to accommodate college age students seems odd. (Is it the parents insisting?)
That many more kids have to attend summer school before their freshman year than did say, 15 years ago? Sounds like it's driven by something else.
Interestingly I remember back when schools followed the "traditional" After Labor Day to week of June 16 school year schedule, quite a number high school students and graduates did attend college summer courses. It was really a non issue back then as high school always ended before college summer classes start. The only bummer is if one attend summer courses they only gets a weekend off after the end of school and beginning of summer college courses. That is if one attend college courses before they graduate from high school as in most schools 12th graders who graduate high school that year are usually dismissed about a week earlier than the rest of the school.
I bet its still the feel good mentality of local educators who think their district would be ahead in test scores if their students had more days to prepare for the standardized tests in May.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaphawoman
This is all very interesting to me, having grown up in VA where state law mandates the first day of school as the day after Labor Day. I think the attractions industry had a hand in that, as many teenagers are employed at the amusement parks, Colonial Williamsburg, VA Beach, etc. In elementary school we did not have air conditioning, so being there in August would've been just awful. We were released in mid-June and got one week for Christmas and one for spring break. I was so surprised that school started on Tuesday here because the kids only got out halfway through June. In other states I've lived in where school started in August, it ended in May. But LA kids are basically getting only two months of summer vacation.
I heard of the law lobbied by tourism industries in some states such as VA that prevents schools from starting before a certain date ie Labor Day. While CA does not have such a legislation it makes me wonder did the strong tourism industry lobby in LA and OC helped to prevent local school districts from opening before labor Day at least until around 2010. Therefore most kids in Los Angeles and Orange Counties were pretty lucky for at least for one more decade compared to their peers in the rest of the state. I know that early starts really hurts seasonal amusement parks For example starting back in 2004 Raging waters San Jose had to close mid August as schools start in SJ but Raging waters in San Dimas continued to open everyday until Labor Day as most all surrounding school districts remained on vacation. That is until recently when schools down south also bulked tradition.
I lived and in the SF Bay Area in the past and noticed post labor day starts were were replaced with August starts in school districts left and right there and other parts of the state ever since 1999. For the same reasons mentioned in the article. While SoCal appeared to hold out for at least 12 more years before they too succumbed to the early start trend.
Last edited by citizensadvocate; 08-18-2016 at 03:29 PM..
Interestingly I remember back when schools followed the "traditional" After Labor Day to week of June 16 school year schedule, quite a number high school students and graduates did attend college summer courses. It was really a non issue back then as high school always ended before college summer classes start. The only bummer is if one attend summer courses they only gets a weekend off after the end of school and beginning of summer college courses. That is if one attend college courses before they graduate from high school as in most schools 12th graders who graduate high school that year are usually dismissed about a week earlier than the rest of the school.
I bet its still the feel good mentality of local educators who think their district would be ahead in test scores if their students had more days to prepare for the standardized tests in May.
I heard of the law lobbied by tourism industries in some states such as VA that prevents schools from starting before a certain date ie Labor Day. While CA does not have such a legislation it makes me wonder did the strong tourism industry lobby in LA and OC helped to prevent local school districts from opening before labor Day at least until around 2010. Therefore most kids in Los Angeles and Orange Counties were pretty lucky for at least for one more decade compared to their peers in the rest of the state. I know that early starts really hurts seasonal amusement parks For example starting back in 2004 Raging waters San Jose had to close mid August as schools start in SJ but Raging waters in San Dimas continued to open everyday until Labor Day as most all surrounding school districts remained on vacation. That is until recently when schools down south also bulked tradition.
I lived and in the SF Bay Area in the past and noticed post labor day starts were were replaced with August starts in school districts left and right there and other parts of the state ever since 1999. For the same reasons mentioned in the article. While SoCal appeared to hold out for at least 12 more years before they too succumbed to the early start trend.
I remember those days as well and wonder what the date of school ending had to do with summer classes?
I remember those days as well and wonder what the date of school ending had to do with summer classes?
The only advantage I see is probably that those kids would have one or two weeks break before summer courses start. Though they will get a shorter break after summer courses ended. August seems to be the only time left for families and relatives of different ages to get together. Now the school systems rip that time away too by having a large difference between school start dates. Many seasonal summer activities also have to shut down in middle of August instead of after Labor Day as attendance became highly unpredictable but most importantly they don't know how many staff members would have to drop out at what date in August due to their district(s) starting school.
No, the goal is to jump start academics before 'standardized' tests that decide school funding.
Two weeks earlier means the students will be 'two weeks ahead' by the time they get their Common Core and AP examinations- whose dates are not set by the state of California.
It also terminates a semester by December, leading to no 'brain drain' over Holiday Break in semester long courses, allowing more students to complete their courses and move onto fresh material and test training.
If the College Board, or the ED stated "Nationally administered tests will be given no earlier than 160 instructional days and no later than 165 instructional days into the school year", then you can be the calendar would be back to Sept to June in a second.
The entirety of the moves are based on getting students as much time towards test preparation which determines funding.
I am wondering how San Diego City managed to hold out from jumping on the early start bandwagon until this year though even though schools in rest of the county started much earlier many years ago. I know its not because of us lowly peasants who still opposes such early starts based on surveys. It must have been a big Gorilla that has influence over policy making, maybe Seaworld?
I hope that once the big gorilla district returns that suburban districts that followed it to start early would also go back.
As what WithDisp mentioned there should be better ways to deal with the testing issue than starting early. Which I am still trying to find if there are any recorded improvements to student performance in any of those tests in the years after districts that started to open schools earlier as opposed to previous years.
I know teachers in from NY, I heard that the districts there don't follow the rest of the country in this early start trend as their testing is all done in June and not April or May. Schools in NY generally rank better than much of the country.
As for breaking the semester before Christmas, I really hope that two super large final semester exams could be broken into three or four smaller ones throughout the year so students don't have to overwhelmingly cram everything they learned throughout the semester. I always wonder how is that good for learning?
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