Va. school tries longer academic year to boost pupil achievement

It's good to see that more and more schools, districts and even states are moving to a longer academic year.  I think it should be mandatory for schools in which, say, more than 33% of kids are reading or doing math below grade level.  I think I heard this from KIPP: "We have a school system in which time is the constant and achievement is the variable.  It should be the reverse."  Hear, hear!

While it's the start of the school year  for most American students, children at Barcroft Elementary have been at their  desks for nearly a month - and they're fine with that.
 
The suburban Washington school is among 3,000 across the nation that have  tossed aside the traditional calendar for one with a shorter summer break and  more time off during the rest of the year. The goal: preventing children from  forgetting what they have learned.
 
Barcroft's principal, Miriam Hughey-Guy, pushed for the new calendar in  hopes of boosting student achievement. She had read studies showing the toll a  long summer break takes on what students remember, and she figured that  shorter breaks also would help the school's many immigrants keep up their  English skills.
 
Tests administered in the spring and fall show that children generally  slide in math and reading during the traditional summer break lasting 10 to 12  weeks, says Harris Cooper, director of the education program at Duke  University. Both poor students and their wealthier counterparts lose math  skills, and pupils from low-income families also decline in reading. More than  half of Barcroft's students are poor.
 
There hasn't been rigorous research into whether students at schools where  summer breaks are short do better than children attending other schools. But  existing comparisons suggest that the modified calendars have a small positive  effect on student achievement. The impact appears to be somewhat bigger for  low-income children.

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Va. school tries longer academic year to boost pupil achievement
1-month summer break suits pupils, parents, teachers
Associated Press  |  September 2, 2007

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/09/02/va_school_tries_longer_academic_year_to_boost_pupil_achievement/

ARLINGTON, Va. - While it's the start of the school year for most American students, children at Barcroft Elementary have been at their desks for nearly a month - and they're fine with that.