Date of Award

2010

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

School of Education

Abstract

Restructuring the school calendar has been investigated by school districts as a possible way to increase student achievement in order to meet the standards of higher accountability. In order for districts to make sound and informed decisions about year-round schools and to evaluate the effectiveness of calendar differences; educators and administrators need to review the research on this subject. However, the research on year-round schools (YRS) can be misleading, biased, and inconclusive. While increased student achievement would arguably be of importance when researching YRS; demonstrating and reporting student achievement can be challenging.

This study will investigate the academic achievement in year-round and traditional schools in Chicago, Illinois. This study is designed to determine if there is a difference in student achievement between year-round schools and traditional calendar schools as demonstrated on the Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT). This study matches 39 year-round schools in Chicago, Illinois, with 39 traditional schools that have student populations with similar geographic locations, socio-economic status, and ethnic backgrounds. The purpose of the study is to determine if the academic achievement of students in year-round schools is different than the achievement of students schooled on a traditional school calendar. Specifically, passing percentage averages in reading and math for third grade students will be compared between the 78 schools for the 2008-2009 school year. Subgroups of low-income and minority student achievement will also be examined in both types of schools.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

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