As I mentioned earlier, the children of many of these nations outscore our students on achievement tests. One of the greatest disadvantages of the lengthy American summer vacation is the so-called summer learning loss. Studies show that when most American children return to the school in the fall, they have forgotten many of the skills they had learned in the spring. Teachers often spend the first four to six weeks of the new school year re-teaching last semester's lessons. Over the last 10 years, a number of school districts around the country have adopted year-round calendars.
Teachers are free to introduce new material at the start of new sessions.
In principal, that would suggest that children have the opportunity to learn more. Sounds like a lot of money, but at least as far as I'm concerned, it makes more sense to invest billions of dollars in educating the U.S. work force of tomorrow, than the billions being spent on weapons of destruction today. Click here for Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and Internet Safety Information applicable to this site.