Pres Obama wants to lengthen the school year

[tetsua]

To be honest, I think this really needs to happen. Nothing against vacation for kids, but it's way too long.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33044676...ews-education/

[Detroitej72]

This has been bandied about for years.

Japan's school year is longer and look how far ahead their children are of ours.

[RO_Resident]

The International Academy in Bloomfield Hills already meets 190 days per year. Their school year started on August 17th.

[ccbatson]

Maybe, maybe not...however, definitely not from expanding big brother central government however. It must be a local phenomenon with parents at the center of the process.

[ZRX Doug]

Oh, for Christ's sake..how about we use the time they're already there to actually teach them the basics? The prez's proposal is little more than a 'keep the animals in the cage a little longer" band-aid fix to a gash that's been hemorrhaging since the eighties..
More time is not what's needed, more quality and less crap would go further, teach better, cost less, and not alienate kids and parents from one another.
Seriously..I've got a great-nephew who is currently required to watch "American Idol" so that he can participate in next-day "current events" discussions in his fifth-grade class..how the hell do we expect kids to learn the "three R's" in that sort of environment?

[Danny]

1st. Premier of the Pre-federative Socialist Communist Democratic United States of Amerika Barack Obama wants longer school days.

GOOD IDEAL! Let's get our children to learn more about Social Darwinsm, Social Realism so they could be structured ready to join the Worker's Party of the Union. Our Children don't need to be goofing off this summer. They must work or else!

Workers of the world unite! We have nothing to lose but our chains.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzXiKJuoPeQ&feature=fvw

[Lorax]

Fabulous idea. Long overdue. Pay good teachers more, clean house with the rest. Teach true socialism, collectivism as it relates to our being part of a greater whole. Nationalism in need of a comeback as well. Encourage youth joining VISTA, a new CCC as Roosevelt had- or perhaps the Peace Corps.

Our kids need to have "skin in the game" if they are to grow up a better class of individuals. No more greedy little bastards becoming doctors or joining Wall Street firms for the sake of getting rich.

[ZRX Doug]

Yeah, lets follow in the footsteps of all those other great socialist success stories, like..oh, right..never mind.

[elganned]

Studies have shown that the long summer break has an adverse impact on the performance of lower income students.

When administered standardized tests at the end of the school year, it was found that most students of affluent and non-affluent households scored pretty much the same across the board. When administered the same tests at the beginning of the following school year, it was found that both groups had slipped in their scores, but the children of affluent households slipped significantly less than the scores of their less-affluent classmates. The difference was attributed to the lack of enrichment activities to the less-affluent over the summer break--no summer camps, dance lessons, organized sports, etc.

There is no reason to have a three-month break in the middle of the year; we no longer require kids to stay home to help with the planting and harvest. A quarterly two-week break would provide the same time off without running the risk of kids forgetting everything over the long hiatus.

Will it help them learn better? Maybe, maybe not. That hasn't been established. But it will help them remember what they've already learned, and less remediation at the beginning of the school term translates into more new material being covered. And better retention among the poorer segments will hopefully lead to less loss of interest and lower dropout rates, with their attendent social costs which we all pay eventually.

Not a bad outcome at all, I think.

[ghettopalmetto]

Oh, for Christ's sake..how about we use the time they're already there to actually teach them the basics? The prez's proposal is little more than a 'keep the animals in the cage a little longer" band-aid fix to a gash that's been hemorrhaging since the eighties..
More time is not what's needed, more quality and less crap would go further, teach better, cost less, and not alienate kids and parents from one another.
Seriously..I've got a great-nephew who is currently required to watch "American Idol" so that he can participate in next-day "current events" discussions in his fifth-grade class..how the hell do we expect kids to learn the "three R's" in that sort of environment?

When was the last time you attended a meeting of your local school board?

[Detroitej72]

Maybe, maybe not...however, definitely not from expanding big brother central government however.

Where were you when your dear leader was enacting the Patriot Act?

[ZRX Doug]

When was the last time you attended a meeting of your local school board?

How 'bout never? I'm not a parent, so I don't feel either obligated to attend, or that as a non-participant I'd be welcomed..also, I live in Detroit..I've seen the friggin' nuthouse that our school board meetings are, and have no desire to crawl in and throw grapes with the rest of the inmates in that particular asylum. This is not a local issue, however, but a federal one..our fearless leader is once again stirring a pot which is supposed to be off limits to his spoon, constitutionally speaking. That being the case, I'll put my two cents worth in if you don't mind too much, mm'kay?If individual schools deem that it would benefit their students to add more hours/days to their school year, so be it.A blanket order from Washington for ALL schools to do so is a whole different enchilada..Personally, I think it's a silly idea..the folks who've created, um..EVERYTHING that currently exists managed to do so with traditional class lengths. Perhaps we should take a look at what has changed within our society and fix that rather than attempt to band-aid it with extended study-time.

[Det_ard]

Studies have shown that the long summer break has an adverse impact on the performance of lower income students.

When administered standardized tests at the end of the school year, it was found that most students of affluent and non-affluent households scored pretty much the same across the board. When administered the same tests at the beginning of the following school year, it was found that both groups had slipped in their scores, but the children of affluent households slipped significantly less than the scores of their less-affluent classmates. The difference was attributed to the lack of enrichment activities to the less-affluent over the summer break--no summer camps, dance lessons, organized sports, etc.

There is no reason to have a three-month break in the middle of the year; we no longer require kids to stay home to help with the planting and harvest. A quarterly two-week break would provide the same time off without running the risk of kids forgetting everything over the long hiatus.

Will it help them learn better? Maybe, maybe not. That hasn't been established. But it will help them remember what they've already learned, and less remediation at the beginning of the school term translates into more new material being covered. And better retention among the poorer segments will hopefully lead to less loss of interest and lower dropout rates, with their attendent social costs which we all pay eventually.

Not a bad outcome at all, I think.

I'm having a hard time understanding how summer camp or sports leads to better retention of academic information. Perhaps the reason for the better retention of information by students in affluent families is that those families continue to stress education over the summer. Personally, we have our children doing some "schoolwork" over the summer so that they hit the ground running come September. They review last year's work and start on the next grade's material. This is "free", of course.

They don't do much in the way of camps but they do have a lot of free time for fun and adventure. They return to school tan, rested and ready.

I've spent a fair number of days at school helping out and seeing how they operate. There's a lot of non-value-added time during the day. I can understand how homeschoolers get the job done, well, in just three hours a day. If the schools think they need to have the kids seven hours a day for the full year then they need to reexamine their methods. They're wasting a lot of time.

[elganned]

Perhaps we should take a look at what has changed within our society and fix that rather than attempt to band-aid it with extended study-time.

I'm afraid that would lead to even more interference from On High, which you would find unpalatable in the extreme.

I take it, then, that you were opposed to No Child Left Unscathed--er, Behind?

[ZRX Doug]

I'm afraid that would lead to even more interference from On High, which you would find unpalatable in the extreme.

I take it, then, that you were opposed to No Child Left Unscathed--er, Behind?

When I say "we" should take a look at what's changed and fix it, I mean "we" as in you, me, and the rest of the school community..I most assuredly do not include the federal government in my "we" statements.

As for "No Kid Left Unphucked.." I oppose a LOT of things you probably assume I would support..federal monkeying with education is one of 'em.

Seriously, have you ever seen any federally run/mandated program which actually accomplished it's goal and/or remained within it's budget without substantially messing with some citizen's life?

[elganned]

As for "No Kid Left Unphucked.." I oppose a LOT of things you probably assume I would support..federal monkeying with education is one of 'em.

Actually I made no assumption regarding what you support. I was merely checking for consistency in your position, which you demonstrated.

Seriously, have you ever seen any federally run/mandated program which actually accomplished it's goal and/or remained within it's budget without substantially messing with some citizen's life?

Well, there's the army...but I suppose that would depend on 1) what you consider it's goal to be, 2) what you define as "remaining within budget", and 3) what you would call "substantially messing with some citizen's life".

[Trumpeteer]

1st. Premier of the Pre-federative Socialist Communist Democratic United States of Amerika Barack Obama wants longer school days.

GOOD IDEAL! Let's get our children to learn more about Social Darwinsm, Social Realism so they could be structured ready to join the Worker's Party of the Union. Our Children don't need to be goofing off this summer. They must work or else!

Workers of the world unite! We have nothing to lose but our chains.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzXiKJuoPeQ&feature=fvw

So DANNY I see you've now taken to using the "Amerika" handle and also now speaking of "Social Darwinism". You're right, that is a really "GOOD IDEAL"

[ghettopalmetto]

Seriously, have you ever seen any federally run/mandated program which actually accomplished it's goal and/or remained within it's budget without substantially messing with some citizen's life?

Seriously, have you ever seen a day where you haven't blamed the federal government for everything that is wrong with your life?

FWIW, the Stafford and Perkins Loan programs worked just splendidly for me.

[ccbatson]

Danny...where have you been....bring it on, we need more of what you bring to the table.

[Trumpeteer]

Danny...where have you been....bring it on, we need more of what you bring to the table.

Pardon me sir may I have some more porridge?? DANNY brings absolute crap and gibberish in most cases "to the table". Occasionally he stumbles on a coherent thought.

[Lorax]

Danny...where have you been....bring it on, we need more of what you bring to the table.

I guess if you're dining in the toilet bowl, it makes sense, otherwise, nothing to see here.....

[Detroitej72]

Danny...where have you been....bring it on, we need more of what you bring to the table.

Making fun of people now? Thats pretty low for you.

[ccbatson]

Back on topic...I wonder what songs the kindergarteners will be singing in praise of the megalomaniac Obama if he adds 3 months of indoctrination.

[ghettopalmetto]

Back on topic...I wonder what songs the kindergarteners will be singing in praise of the megalomaniac Obama if he adds 3 months of indoctrination.

God forbid we teach children to have respect for the men who have served as President of the United States.

[ccbatson]

Respect? If it were only that...this is worship plain and simple.