The myth about why schools get summer off needs debunked.
The myth that the reason public schools get summers off is because of farmers needed the kids home to do work in the summer is absolute organic fertilizer. It is no wonder the public gets conned into following corporate policies, when we are completely ignorant about something as basic as where and why the school calendar actually was developed.
Here are a couple of links that explains the school calendar.
http://stateimpact.npr.org/ohio/2011/08/10/six-reasons-students-get-summer-off-and-the-agrarian-calendar-isnt-one-of-them/
" 1 Standardized school years. School reformers wanted to get rural and urban schools on the same schedule. Since rural areas had two terms – in the summer and winter – and urban schools ran year round, a compromise had to be struck. But, why summer?
2 In rural areas, the summer term was seen as “weak.” Gold said the summer term in rural neighborhoods tended to be taught by young girls in their mid to late teens. On the other hand, schoolmasters, generally older males, taught the winter terms. Because of this, the summer terms were seen as academically weaker.
3 In urban areas, rich families vacationed in the summer. City schools were trying to limit the school year in the mid-19th century anyway, to adjust to the schedules of wealthy families who would generally go on vacation in the summer.
4 It’s hot in the summer. The school buildings of the 19th century weren’t exactly air-conditioned. Heat during the summer months would often become unbearable.
5 Summer gives teachers time to train and get ready for next year. In the 19th century teachers didn’t really go to college or get certified, so Gold said they would use the summer months to train.
6 Doctors thought kids would need a break. This idea isn’t given much medical credit these days, but Gold said back in the 19th century it was believed medically unsound for students to be confined to a classroom year-round."
http://mrruraled.blogspot.com/2005/01/traditional-school-calendar-fyi-not.html
"A funny thing about that statement is that you never hear a farmer say it. Why? Because it's not true! If you were going to develop a school schedule that accommodates the labor needs of farmers, you would have vacations in the spring when you plant the crops and in the fall when you harvest the crops. "
There is also no evidence that eliminating summer vacation improves school performance.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/13/longer-school-year-will-i_n_2468329.html
"A 2007 study by Ohio State University sociologist Paul von Hippel found virtually no difference in the academic gains of students who followed a traditional nine-month school calendar and those educated the same number of days spread across the entire year."
The next time you see someone spewing the agrarian school calendar baloney, you will know they really know nothing about public education.
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