THE IMPACT OF YEAR-ROUND EDUCATION ON TEST SCORES

Dan CurtisPA7065/11/2011

OUTLINE

Research question History of topic Literature review Research method Findings Conclusions Bibliography

RESEARCH QUESTION

Does year-round education (YRE) affect student test scores?

HISTORY OF TOPIC Early American public schools were founded on an agrarian

calendar which gave a 2-3 month summer break to allow for children to help their family with the harvest (Traditional)

With the shift of American culture away from an agrarian society, the need for a long summer break went away, but the traditional calendar remains to this day

To try and alleviate large class sizes and other issues, schools around the country began to experiment with YRE

With the increased scrutiny on learning outcomes and standardized testing, YRE is a common topic of consideration for nearly all public schools in the nation

If YRE can be empirically linked to higher tests scores, public schools will migrate towards it. This shift would cause changes in other areas such as work scheduling and tourism

LITERATURE REVIEW

Rationale: Summer Learning Loss

Cooper, H., Nye, B., Charlton, K., Lindsay, J., & Greathouse, S. (1996). The Effects of summer vacation on achievement test scores: a narrative and meta-analytic review. Review of Educational Research, 66(3), 227-268.

LITERATURE REVIEW

Looking further into summer learning loss it was found that low SES, African-American and Hispanic students were more affected than white, Asian, or high SES students

Quality of teachers was also identified as a contributing factor in test scores

Downey, D. B., von Hippel, P. T., & Broh, B. A. (2004). Are Schools the great equalizer? cognitive inequality during the summer months and the school year. American Sociological Review, 69(5), 613-635

LITERATURE REVIEW

Three studies applied summer learning loss theories and compared test scores: Iowa, Roby (1995)

Compared reading and math scores of 6th graders Used one YRE school’s scores and one traditional school’s scores

[comparison group posttest] YRE mean test scores were higher than traditional control school

San Diego, Alcorn (1992) Looked at reading and math scores of 3rd, 5th, and 6th graders Assessed the rate of success for reaching target increases per school for

the entire San Diego School District Found that 17 YRE schools outperformed their traditional counterparts

North Carolina, McMillen (2001) Compared the reading and math test scores of 3rd - 8th graders Compared all of the schools in the state No statistical relationship was found

RESEARCH METHOD

Multiple linear regression I used the STAR testing data set and

the Academic Performance Index (API) from the California Department of Education for 2009

DV: mean scaled score IV: YRE Hypothesis: YRE has an affect on mean

scaled scores

INDEPENDENT VARIABLESVariable Description Source

YRE A dummy variable coded 1 if the school participates in year-round education and 0 if it has a traditional schedule.

CDE

ALT Taken from the Statewide Rank. If it was coded I=Invalid data, B=District or ASAM, C=Special Education School, then it is coded as Alternative

API

CHAR Public schools that may provide instruction in any of grades K-12 that are created or organized by a group of teachers, parents, community leaders or a community-based organization

API

EMER Percent teachers with emergency credentials API

P_DI Percent of students with disabilities API

P_MIGED Percent of students in migrant education programs API

P_GATE Percent of students in Gifted and Talented Education programs API

MEALS Percentage of students that are eligible for Free or Reduced Price Lunch Program

API

CLASS ACS_K3: Average class size (grade K-3). Used in analysis of 3rd grade scores API

ACS_46: Average class size (grade 4-6). Used in analysis of 5th grade scores

  ACS_CORE: Number of core academic courses. Used in analysis of 7th and 11th grade scores

 

DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICSTable 2

Descriptive statistics

Grade TestState Avg

ScoreYRE Avg

Score DifferencePercent

Difference

Number of Schools Included

Percent of YRE

Schools

3rd Grade ELA 340.72 327.86 -12.86 -3.8% 4931 15

Math 387.58 373.97 -13.61 -3.5 4931 15

5th Grade ELA 356.43 345.61 -10.82 -3.0 4786 15

Math 375.24 363.22 -12.02 -3.2 4784 15

Science 354.34 341.49 -12.85 -3.6 4785 15

7th Grade ELA 353.78 344.39 -9.39 -2.7 1624 8

Math 344.36 335.82 -8.54 -2.5 1617 8

Algebra I 425.24 399.61 -25.63 -6.0 557 7

11th Grade ELA 317.8 303.75 -14.05 -4.4 1378 6

Algebra I 279.35 273.04 -6.31 -2.3 930 6

Geometry 275.33 264.26 -11.07 -4.0 862 6

Algebra II 291.35 279.75 -11.6 -4.0 819 5

HS Math 339.53 318.81 -20.72 -6.1 777 5

U.S. History 321.62 304.15 -17.47 -5.4 1358 6

Biology 335.76 314.21 -21.55 -6.4 908 6

Chemistry 324.83 310.93 -13.9 -4.3 801 5

  Physics 352.93 333.87 -19.06 -5.4 579 5

SAMPLE HISTOGRAM

State Mean for 3rd grade ELA

FINDINGSTable 3.1

Beta results from multiple regression (elementary school)  3rd Grade 5th Grade

  ELA Math ELA Math ScienceYRE -.046 *** -.035 *** -.024 ** -.009 -.017 *ALT -.017 * -.025 * -.032 *** -.035 *** -.019 *CHAR -.038 *** -.065 *** -.008 -.048 *** -.030 ***EMER -.029 *** -.028 ** -.016 * -.013 -.024 **P_DI -.032 *** -.068 *** -.013 -.069 *** -.013  P_MIGED -.082 *** -.079 *** -.061 *** -.070 *** -.071 ***P_GATE .119 *** .166 *** .137 *** .190 *** .138 ***MEALS -.756 *** -.604 *** -.766 *** -.579 *** -.729 ***CLASS .000 -.009   .031 *** .005 .007  

Adj R2 .700 .504   .723 .480 .657  

F 1280.738 *** 557.799 *** 1413.821 *** 501.829 *** 1041.366 ***

* = .05 significance, ** = .01 significance, *** = .001 significance

FINDINGSTable 3.2

Beta results from multiple regression (middle school) 

7th Grade

  ELA Math Algebra IYRE -.014 -.013 -.077

*ALT -.267

***-.228

***.027

 CHAR .003 -.082

***-.049

 EMER -.058

***-.051

**-.006

 P_DI -.040

**-.039

*-.077

*P_MIGED .011 .023 -.080

*P_GATE .186

***.198

***.145

***MEALS -.669

***-.517

***-.512

***CLASS .059

***.055

**-.011

 

Adj R2 .727 .499 .383  

F 481.053 *** 179.901 *** 39.322 ***

* = .05 significance, ** = .01 significance, *** = .001 significance

FINDINGSTable 3.3

Beta results from multiple regression (high school English and math)

  11th Grade

  ELA Algebra I Geometry Algebra II HS Math

YRE -.002 -.058 -.061 * -.050 -.037  

ALT -.489 *** -.237 *** -.244 *** -.145 *** -.067 *

CHAR .016 -.068 * -.032 -.161 *** -.133 ***

EMER -.043 ** -.053 -.068 * -.067 * -.051  

P_DI -.083 *** -.073 * -.118 *** -.147 -.104 ***

P_MIGED .008 .059 .014 .022 -.003  

P_GATE .249 *** .009 .022 .071 * .167 ***

MEALS -.329 *** -.271 *** -.411 *** -.300 *** -.465 ***

CLASS .061 *** .055 .069 * .114 *** .105 ***

Adj R2 .738 .199 .326 .219 .383  

F 431.113 *** 26.650 *** 47.266 *** 26.499 *** 54.477 ***

* = .05 significance, ** = .01 significance, *** = .001 significance

FINDINGSTable 3.4

Beta results from multiple regression (high school history and science)

  11th Grade

  US History Biology Chemistry Physics

YRE -.015 -.054 * -.033 -.026  

ALT -.465 *** -.330 *** -.147 *** -.086 *

CHAR -.030 -.073 ** -.121 *** -.105 **

EMER -.035 * -.009 -.066 * -.057  

P_DI -.061 *** -.077 *** -.116 *** -.146 ***

P_MIGED .010 -.021 .044 .028  

P_GATE .248 *** .152 *** .110 *** .033  

MEALS -.303 *** -.407 *** -.507 *** -.475 ***

CLASS .110 *** .102 *** .040 .142 ***

Adj R2 .705 .537 .384 .356  

F 361.555 *** 117.957 *** 56.443 *** 36.453 ***

* = .05 significance, ** = .01 significance, *** = .001 significance

FINDINGS

7 out of 17 tests found YRE to be significant

All betas for YRE were negative In general, the impacts of YRE decrease

as grade level increases

3rd Grade 5th Grade 7th Grade 11th Grade

YRE -0.0462221174849486 -0.0237242997243444 -0.0144638989896681 -0.00190274516007978

-.048-.043-.038-.033-.028-.023-.018-.013-.008-.003

YRE's relative impact on ELA

Beta

CONCLUSIONS

YRE seems to produce low test scores Controlling for factors that typically indicate a failing

school, YRE still underperformed YRE is most impactful at lower grades where YRE is

more prevalent The findings here run contrary to the theory of

summer learning loss

BIBLIOGRAPHYAlcorn, R. D. (1992). Test scores: can year-round school raise them? Thrust for Educational Leadership, 21(6), 12-15.Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Steffel Olson, L. (2007). Lasting consequences of the summer learning gap. American Sociological

Review, 72(2), 167-180.California Department of Education (2010, July 21). 2007-08 Year-round education directory. Retrieved from

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/fa/yr/direct07.asp California Department of Education (2010, September 16). Year-round education program guide. Retrieved from

http://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/fa/yr/guide.aspCalifornia Department of Education. (2010, January 14). Research file list - STAR 2009 test results. Retrieved from

http://star.cde.ca.gov/star2009/ResearchFileList.asp?ps=true&lstTestYear=2009&lstTestType=C&lstCounty=&lstDistrict=&lstSchool=&lstGroup=1&lstSubGroup=1

Cooper, H., Nye, B., Charlton, K., Lindsay, J., & Greathouse, S. (1996). The Effects of summer vacation on achievement test scores: a narrative and meta-analytic review. Review of Educational Research, 66(3), 227-268.

Cooper, H., Valentine, J. C., Charlton, K., & Melson, A. (2003). The Effects of modified school calendars on student achievement and on school and community attitudes. Review of Educational Research, 73(1), 1-52.

Davies, B. & Kerry, T. (1999). Improving student learning through calendar change. School Leadership & Management, 19(3), 359-371. Downey, D. B., von Hippel, P. T., & Broh, B. A. (2004). Are Schools the great equalizer? cognitive inequality during the summer months

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16(1), 67-85.Granderson, L. (2011, May 10). We need year-round school to compete globally. Retrieved from

http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/05/10/granderson.yearround.school/index.html Glines, D. (1995). Year-round education: History, philosophy, future. National Association for Year-Round Education: San Diego, CAMcMillen, B. J. (2001). A Statewide evaluation of academic achievement in year-round schools. The Journal of Educational Research,

95(2), 67-74.Roby, D. E. (1995). Comparison of a year-round school and a traditional school: reading and mathematics achievement. ERS Spectrum,

13(1), 7-10.Wothen, B. R. & Zsiray, S. W. (1994). What twenty years of educational studies reveal about year-round education. Retrieved from The

University of North Carolina, North Carolina Educational Policy Research Center: http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED373413.pdf