Balanced School Calendars

In response to an opinion piece in The Tennessean advocating a balanced school calendar for metro Nashville public schools, Bryce Inman argues that no research supports the notion that balanced calendars enhance academic performance. While The Oracle admits that he has not read the studies in question, and, thus, lacks the ability to evaluate the research methodologies and findings, it is a bit difficult to get beyond the rather common sense notion that children with a shorter break between class years will have forgotten less when school starts again. That should enable shortening the emphasis on review in the first quarter of the year, with the result that more time can be spent introducing new material.

In addition, in urban school systems for which the agricultural ebb and flow of life is not relevant, what is the compelling interest, other than a desire to grasp on to tradition, for retaining the traditional school schedule? The number of school days is the same under either system, and the only difference is in the spacing of the periods off. It seems that the traditional schedule really has no relevance to modern urban life.