1. Research Proposal 1
Running head: YEAR ROUND EDUCATION
The Familial Impact of Year Round Education on Kindergarten Students and Parents of a
Kentucky Primary School
Michael Parent
Cohort XI
Seton Hall University
ELMP 8891

2. Research Proposal 2
CHAPTER I
Introduction
In 1984 the National Commission on Excellence in Education (NCEE) released A
Nation At Risk. This scathing report on the condition of American schools startled
Americans and triggered the modern movements in education policy. A Nation At Risk
deemed the current state of education as in need of serious reform. Subsequently, the
NCEE made a litany of proposals and recommendations for changes to the American
educational system. One proposed change was to increase the time students spend in
school; the NCEE recommended that the actual school year be extended from 180 days to
near 220. However, many schools instead opted to amend their traditional 180 calendars,
rather than face the exponential costs of extending the school year.
Modifications to the traditional school calendar typically take the form of either
year-round school or extended school year programs. In most cases, year-round
education (YRE) does not actually increase the amount of structured learning
opportunities available to students. Rather, students attend schools for the same number
of days as they did with the traditional calendar; however, vacations are distributed
equally throughout the calendar year every six or nine weeks. Between 1985 and 1992,
the number of YRE schools grew from 336 to 2,017 (Worthen & Zsiray, 1994).
However, this expansion of YRE has not occurred without much debate.
Proponents of YRE will say that the modified school calendar enhances learning,
sustains student learning, and assists low-achieving students (Glines, 1997). Dissidents
of the twelve month school calendar claim that school systems cannot afford the demands

3. Research Proposal 3
that will be required, such as potential increases on schools’ infrastructural costs and
increases on fuel and transportation costs (Johnson and Spradlin, 2007). Furthermore,
opponents say that a twelve-month school calendar would cause disruption to the family
environment and have a negative impact on economies that rely on summer season
tourism and travel. Despite the criticisms and warnings, many school districts across the
nation have experimented with YRE. Research on the effectiveness of this intervention is
emerging and suggestive of generally positive effects. (Cooper, 2002). Some school
districts, particularly those that are large and urban, have found success with YRE and
others, smaller and more rural, have encountered great difficulty (Johnson and Spradlin,
2007).
Statement of the Problem
Bardstown City School District, located in western Kentucky, adopted a YRE
calendar in 1995. Since then, the school district reports a steady rise in student’s
achievement scores (as measured by the Kentucky Core Content Test) and improvement
in other areas, such as attendance and discipline. However, no data exists on the impact
of YRE in regards to parent perceptions, particularly in the primary grades, in the area of
YRE’s impact on quality of family life. What type of impact does Bardstown Primary
year-round schedule have on families? Also, what are the perceptions of the quality of
learning taking place at Bardstown Primary as a result of YRE?
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to determine parental perceptions of YRE in relation
to quality of family leisure time and their child’s learning.
Significance of the Study

4. Research Proposal 4
In this study, I will present an empirical analysis of the impact that YRE has on
Bardstown Primary School’s Kindergarten parents in relation to family leisure time and
their child’s learning. This data can assist districts or schools who are considering
implementing YRE in the primary grades and will bring to light the impact and likely
consequences of implementing a YRE model.
Research Questions
1. What are Bardstown Primary School’s Kindergarten parents’ preconceived
perceptions of YRE as related to quality of learning?
2. What are Bardstown Primary School’s Kindergarten parents’ preconceived
perceptions of YRE as related to quality of family life?
3. What are Bardstown Primary School’s Kindergarten parents’ perceptions of YRE as
related to quality of learning after one year’s experience?
4. What are Bardstown Primary School’s Kindergarten parents’ perceptions of YRE as
related to quality of family life after one year of experience?
Limitations
1. The number of surveys returned by parents may limit the data obtained for use.
2. The results obtained from this study may not be generalized to other school
populations.
Delimitations
1. This study will be limited to 50 of Bardstown Primary School’s Kindergarten parents.
The subjects will be randomly selected from the Bardstown Primary School’s
enrollment listing.
Definitions

5. Research Proposal 5
Year-Round-Education (YRE) – A modification of the traditional nine month, 180
day school calendar. The year-round calendar is organized into instructional periods and
vacation weeks that are more evenly balanced across 12 months.
Outline of Study
1. Randomly select parents from Bardstown Primary School’s Kindergarten student
enrollment roster. Fifty randomly selected Kindergarten parents will be asked to
participate in this study.
2. The group will be asked to complete pre and post questionnaires.
3. The selected Kindergarten parents will complete a survey based on their attitudes
about YRE, prior to the beginning of the school year, and a second survey that
measures their attitudes about YRE after 40 weeks of experiences with the YRE
calendar.
Conceptual Framework
Family Life
YRE
Quality of
Learning

6. Research Proposal 6
CHAPTER II
Literature Review
The birth of YRE
The 180-day school calendar is a recent development in the life of American
education. Most writings and research on the subject of school calendars indicate that the
now familiar, indeed “normal”, 180-day schedule has only been widely practiced in
American educational systems since World War I. Prior to this time, many of America’s
largest school districts (i.e. New York, Chicago, Boston) constructed school calendars
that neared 210 instructional days (Rakoff, 1999). However, after World War I, the
lifestyle of the American family changed drastically.
In the 1920’s, American legislatures stressed the importance of compulsory
education. States across the nation began to adopt legislation that required children from
ages 7 to 14 to attend local public schools on a regular basis – something that had not
been part of American educational design prior to World War I. These compulsory
education laws were often enacted with child labor laws. Thus, school became the work
for children, rather than the factory.
But why a calendar that excludes learning during the summer months? Rakoff
(1999) indicates that this norm is quite likely a result of economics. What is the public
willing to pay for an extended school year? What are the costs of operating large school
facilities during the summer months? What would it cost taxpayers to pay for the
continuous use of local school facilities? The answers to these questions will likely give
us the reason for the widely accepted, indeed almost universal (in America), “normal”
calendar.

7. Research Proposal 7
Does this “learning-less summer” calendar reflect the needs of modern America? Many
think not. Those who aim to improve or change the “normal” calendar argue that our
current practices are of extreme detriment to our students and that alternatives must be
sought and adopted.
One alternative to the normal calendar is the concept of year-round-education
(YRE). Modifications to the traditional school calendar typically take the form of either
year-round school or extended school year programs. In most cases, year-round
schooling does not actually increase the amount of structured learning opportunities
available to students. Rather, students attend schools for the same number of days as
they did with the traditional calendar; however, vacations are distributed equally
throughout the calendar year every six or nine weeks. Research on the effectiveness of
this intervention is emerging and suggestive of generally positive effects (Cooper, 2002).
YRE’s cost effective appeal launched various programs in the early part of the 20th
century. The population boom after World War II caused programming initiatives to
shift to accommodating the increase of students to public education (Glines, 1997).
However YRE remains an viable option to address the modern day needs of the
American family and accountability system measures imposed by NCLB.
Researchers in the 1994 report, Prisoners of Time, from the National Education
Commission on Time and Learning suggested that public education leaders must re-
examine time issues and the real “limitations…imposed” by the clock. Their
recommendations included more innovative program initiatives to “accommodate the
learning needs of American students.” Further conclusions cited the wasteful approach to
educating students where buildings remain closed and families are not supported by

8. Research Proposal 8
school programming throughout the year to affect student achievement.
Summer Learning Loss
There are few issues facing education policymakers today that are as well
documented by social scientists as summer learning loss. Since 1906, researchers have
studied the effects of summer vacation on student learning. Cooper (1996) and others
identified 39 studies involving a wide range of experimental designs and methods that
demonstrate what social scientists describe as “summer effect,” “summer learning loss,”
or “summer setback.” The common finding across all of these studies is that students
generally score lower on standardized tests at the end of the summer than they do on the
same tests at the beginning of the summer. Recent studies estimate that summer loss for
all students equals about one month on a grade-level equivalent scale (Cooper, 1996). All
students experience significant learning loss in mathematical computation as a result of
summer vacation.
For far too many young people, summer vacation results in a three-month holiday
from constructive learning activities and valuable opportunities to practice the skills they
need to be successful in school and in life. Research demonstrates that all students
experience significant learning losses in procedural and factual knowledge during the
summer months. Studies also show that the magnitude of summer learning loss varies
significantly by grade level, subject matter, and family income. Most importantly,
research identifies the cumulative effect of summer learning differences as a primary
cause of widening in-school achievement gaps between students by family income.
On average, all students lose approximately 2.6 months of grade level
equivalency in mathematical computation over the summer months (Cooper, 1996).

9. Research Proposal 9
Studies reveal that the greatest areas of loss for all students, regardless of socio-economic
status, lie in factual or procedural knowledge during the summer months. Cooper (2000)
estimates that such summer school programs, which focus on lessening or removing
learning deficiencies, do have a significant positive impact on the knowledge and skills of
participants.
While remedial programs generally do produce single-summer results in the form
of improved test scores and promotion rates, they are not designed to serve as long-range
preventative approaches to summer learning loss. YRE programs have been adopted as
the viable and most logical remedy to overcome summer learning loss.
The YRE Problem
While YRE has become a popular alternative to the normal school calendar in order
to combat summer learning loss, there are questions about the impact of YRE on families
and children. Rakoff (1999) notes that some districts who ponder changing to a YRE
system face opposition by parents and community groups because of the unknown effects
that YRE has on family time and child development.
Traditionally, families spend the summer months vacationing and reconnecting.
Parents often use their allotted vacation times during the summer months so that they can
spend great quantities of time with their children. Many families also use the summer
months to send their children to camps, volunteer projects, or social-educational
programs. Research indicates that these are viable learning opportunities for children,
although not academic. Athletic programs, camps, and summer programs offer children
and families the chance to learn what cannot be taught in schools; community building,
volunteerism, and religious exploration. Thus, YRE hinders the American family from

10. Research Proposal 10
necessary and crucial bonding opportunities.
Some research also indicates that YRE does not dramatically improve the quality or
quantity of learning. McMillen (2001) notes that while YRE does seem to offer a remedy
to summer learning loss, no conclusive research exists to deem YRE as a panacea to
overall improvement of learning or knowledge retention.

11. Research Proposal 11
CHAPTER III
Methodology
This descriptive study will utilize a quantitative methodology: pre and post school-
year surveys designed to compare parents’ preconceptions of YRE with their actual
experiences with the YRE calendar.
Sampling
Bardstown Primary School has approximately 385 students in grades K-2. The
school has been on an alternative YRE calendar for the past eleven years with short
breaks, or intercessions. During the 2007-2008 school year, Bardstown Primary will hold
177 instructional days over 12 months.
Because the Kindergarten students (totaling 124) and parents are new to the school
and the district, their experience with YRE has been non-existent. A random sample of
fifty Kindergarten parents will be asked to participate in this study.
Instrumentation
The YRE perceptions process will consist pre and post school-year questionnaires
comparing parents’ preconceptions of YRE and their actual experiences with YRE. The
surveys will attempt to gauge the participant’s attitudes and perception about the quality
of learning and the impact on family leisure time as a result of the school’s YRE
calendar. Pre-existing valid and reliable instruments used in previous studies will be
obtained and utilized for this study.
Data Collection
The fifty Kindergarten parents will complete two surveys on August 1 (the
beginning of the school calendar year) regarding their preconceived attitudes toward

12. Research Proposal 12
YRE with respect to (1) anticipated quality of learning and (2) anticipated difficulties
with quality of family life. After the surveys are collected, this researcher will
summarize the results and prepare a report for the participating parents.
At the conclusion of the school year (July 1), this researcher will again survey the
selected parents to measure their attitudes toward YRE with respect to (1) actual quality
of learning and (2) actual difficulties with quality of family life after they have had
experienced the full calendar cycle. After the parent surveys are collected, this researcher
will summarize the results and prepare a report for the school district.
Data Collection
Evaluation Questions Data Sources Data Collection Techniques
What are Bardstown Primary Randomly selected parents of Quality of learning questionnaire.
School’s Kindergarten parents’ Kindergarten students
preconceived perceptions of YRE
as related to quality of learning?
What are Bardstown Primary Randomly selected parents of Family-life questionnaire
School’s Kindergarten parents’ Kindergarten students
preconceived perceptions of YRE
as related to quality of family
life?
What are Bardstown Primary Randomly selected parents of Quality of learning questionnaire.
School’s Kindergarten parents’ Kindergarten students
perceptions of YRE as related to
quality of learning after one
year’s experience?
What are Bardstown Primary Randomly selected parents of Family-life questionnaire
School’s Kindergarten parents’ Kindergarten students
perceptions of YRE as related to
quality of family life after one
year of experience?
Data Analysis
The null hypothesis (Ho): Bardstown Primary’s YRE calendar will not have a
significantly negative or positive effect on family life and will not significantly impact

13. Research Proposal 13
the perceived quality of learning in Kindergarten. A comparison of the pre-school year
surveys and the post-school year surveys will be made conducting a frequency
distribution to determine the number of times parents responded agree or disagree on
their questionnaires. A paired t-test might be conducted to summarize the data. Since the
population sample size will be small, a Wilcoxon T-Test may be used to determine the
difference between the pre-school year survey and post-school year survey scores: T =
the smaller of R+ or R-.
Hypothesis (H1): The YRE calendar will have a significantly negative or positive
impact on family leisure time and will have a significant positive or negative impact on
the quality of learning as evaluated by parents. The researcher will consult with a
statistical authority to determine the appropriateness of these tests and the possibility of
including additional and or alternative testing methods.

14. Research Proposal 14
References
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Axelrad-Lentz, S., Michigan Extended School Year Programs 1992 - 1995 - An
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Ballinger, C. (1995, November). Prisoners no more. Educational Leadership, 28-31.
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for Research in Child Development, 65, (1, Serial No. 260).
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texas. Education, 116(1), 115-120.

15. Research Proposal 15
Rakoff, T. D. (1999, April). Schooltime. Paper presented at the meeting of the Annual
Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Montreal, Quebec,
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St. Gerard, V. (2007). Year-round schools look better all the time. In V. St. Gerard (Ed.),
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