WE NEED A LONGER SCHOOL YEAR

Introduction

In the article “WE NEED A LONGER SCHOOL YEAR”, wrote by Jennifer Davis, states that there is need to escalate the school year calendar in the sense that it reduces the gap between poor children and their peers from a higher social class. The article further states that longer school year helps to eliminate negative implications from the neighborhood. Even though summer may be a magical time for children, this has never been a case for the lower class children since they find it worthless. The reason is that the lower families cannot afford camping and other activities which take place during summer. Longer time in school will ensure the future of a nation in need of a well-informed and highly skilled work force. However, more days in school will mean additional cost to cater for staff time, transportation and to keep the schools running.

I support the author when she states that summer holidays are not helpful to children, particularly those from low-income families

I also support the author when she articulates that expecting students and teachers to stay in school for more days is expensive.

I disagree with the author when she expresses the feeling that spending time in school does not guarantee a superior education.

It is indeed true that summer holidays are not helpful to children particularly those from low income families. As the author puts it, “eliminating the long summer break by making our school year longer, at least for schools serving poor neighborhoods, seems a ready solution to a problem that has enormously negative implications” (Davis par 5). In my opinion, if poor children are kept in school for longer days, they will be able to get to gain much in education. This is because, while at home, their parents will not be able to arrange for enriching summer activities compared to their peers from a higher social class.

Students and teachers staying in school for more days seem to be expensive. It actually makes sense to use that institution like schools need money to get going and the longer the operating time, the higher the budget. As the author puts it, “requiring students (and teachers, for that matter) to stay in school for more days is complicated and costly” (Davis par 8). It is true that spending more time in school means spending more in terms of cost and logistics. It may also be hard to convince the public concerning the sudden change of structure in the academic institution.

The relationship between the quality of performance and the time spend by students in school has raised a lot of controversy. As Davis (par 13) puts it, “spending time in school does not guarantee a superior education. I tend to disagree with her position on this because I believe that children who are poor in performance tend to be exposed to extension programs like tuition simple to escalate their time dedicated to learning to improve their performance. For the poor students, spending more time in school will help them to avoid bad acts like drug abuse. Keeping them in school will ensure that they get food from the feeding programs and reduce the chances of dropping out. Studies have also shown that parents’ personality and decisions regarding marriage, family size and employment affect the time spent by children in educational and family activities which may affect their school achievement. Learning activities such as reading ahead of the syllabus, which is highly associated with higher achievement, is ensured (Hofferth & Sandberg 301).

Conclusion

Our future as a nation depends upon having a well-informed and highly skilled work force. We should expect our schools to furnish today’s students with the education they will need to excel in our global society. But we must also be willing to provide schools the tools they need to ensure this outcome, including the flexibility to turn the lazy days of summer into the season of learning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works cited

Davis, Jennifer. We need a longer school year. 2012. Print.

Hofferth, Sandra & Sandberg, John. How American Children Spend Their Time. Journal of           Marriage and Family, 63.2 (2001): 295-308. Print.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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