School district's calendar changes yield benefits

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

by Brian S. Orban

Ending the school year's first semester just before Christmas turned out to have positive benefits on student performance, according to district and school officials. Photo by Brian S. Orban

Starting classes in the Mountain Home School District two weeks ahead of schedule yielded positive results this year, according to local educators.

Breaking from their traditional schedule, the district opted this year to start classes Aug. 17, which ended the first semester just before the Christmas break on Dec. 22.

Budget cuts in state education funding prompted the district to cut back on the number of annual furlough days when it put together this year's school calendar, said James Gilbert, the district's assistant superintendent. With fewer days to work with, the district's final schedule put the end of the first semester in mid-December.

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Why do school districts always try to spin things to take credit for 'results' for which they are not responsible? It seems to me that there were no real changes in student performance in Mountain Home schools due to the schedule change. Rather, the data merely LOOKS better because mid-year tests were taken before the break when students are more likely to be able to recall information. But those students who have problems with holding information in their long-term memories most likely STILL forgot what they supposedly learned over the holiday break! Just because there is no test data to back it up doesn't mean there has been any positive change in student performance! Call me a cynic, but that's how I see it!

-- Posted by AFWifeMom on Wed, Jan 26, 2011, at 1:56 PM

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