Since the Reagan Administration's landmark report, A Nation at Risk, sounded the alarm in 1983, schools have been under constant pressure to help all students learn more, premised on the notion that whatever we asked of students in the past will not be sufficient for them or the country in the future. Schools have responded by requiring students to meet higher standards. However, most schools are asking them to meet these new standards in exactly the same amount of time they had to meet the standards of the past and in much the same way. That's asking a lot. The more time students devote to learning, the more they learn.
Research also indicates that how time is used is very important.
We ought to stop denying these plain facts and find time for students to succeed. The best time is during the summer. Not all summer, or even the heart of summer. Under this plan, the school year would run roughly from Aug. 15 to June 30. It would include about 200 days instead of the current norm of 180.