Actually some of the previous arguments that were being used for
NOT make any change seemed pretty trivial or not well researched to
me. ANyone at the secondary level knows that sports practice
starts long before school starts, so that is not an reason to
change or not change the calendar. Plus kids not being able to
study when its nice out, maybe if OP is in Alaska, but even in Iowa
there are at least five more months that its really nice out. When
I lived down south, I would have preferred to be in my air
conditioned school during the summer and off in October and April
when it was actually cool enough to do something outside.

I liked the fact that she also put down more arguments that came up
at their meeting that the OP hadn't even thought about. She also
gave the reason that her administration shot down those arguments.
This should give OP some ideas about what his own adminstration
will say if he uses those same arguments. That is not trivial.

I would prefer for my own school to go to a schedule such as this.
I teach ESL. My kids loose so much language during the extended
break its disheartening. Educational research backs up my
observations. Kids loose a tremendous amount of learning over the
summer.

Unfortunately for OP, there is a great deal of educational research
that supports a shorter summer break, the only real reason that we
have three months off is because it's what we did in the past.

On 11/01/09, Trivialize It wrote:
> You are to be commended for trivializing everyone's concerns so
> well. I know I feel more comforted. :) Your position is simply to
> tell people to suck it up and we will find ways to adjust. That
> is a very old argument, to be honest. It is not very scientific
> to say, "Make a change because we can make it work." We are
> hearing that kind of rhetoric from Washington. There needs to be
> evidence that making a change will actually improve the situation.
> No speculation, actual research.
>
> I can come up with all kinds of ways to make a 4 day or 3 day
> school week work, but that doesn't mean we should do it. Heck, I
> could make a 2 hour school day work, but that doesn't mean
> students will learn more as a result of it. I can, and people do,
> poke holes in instructional pedagogy all the time and say, "We
> need to do it differently," but that doesn't mean the latest
> million dollar system is necessarily the answer.
>
> People say they like having summer off for various reasons and you
> say, "Don't worry, you'll get over it." People say they like
> having summers to work second jobs. You say, "So sorry you are in
> the minority and will have to adjust for the good of the whole."
> People say, "It could be a problem for my family and our daycare
> situation." You say, "Don't insult their intelligence."
>
> It appears to me that you are convinced this is the greatest thing
> since sliced bread and you really don't care about others opinions
> or concerns. Hmmmmmm sounds exactly like Washington DC right now.

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