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Office of Research and Evaluation 1

The School Board of Broward County, Florida

IInnffoorrmmaattiioonn BBrriieeff

Number 42 Report from the Office of the Superintendent July 2000

Revisions for the 2000-2001 School Calendar

Purpose The School Board of Broward County is gathering information regarding the feasibility of a calendar change for the 2001-2002 school year. The proposed change would move the calendar to a start date three weeks earlier than previous years. Thus, students would start school on August 6, 2001, and end on May 23, 2002. Implementing the proposed calendar change offers a number of challenges for the 2001 summer term—which would be three weeks shorter than previous summers. The proposed calendar would reduce the regular summer term from 30 to 15 instructional days and the Adult and Vocational Summer Term from 45 to 31 instructional days. The decreased summer break would only occur during the summer of 2001. Despite challenges the first summer before implementation, changing the calendar may have several long-term benefits, primarily in the area of student achievement. Placing additional days of instruction “in front” of the administration of high stakes testing dates has the potential to boost scores. The nature of the evidence is easily seen through an inspection of norming tables for any norm-referenced test published in the United States such as the Stanford Achievement Test-Ninth Edition (SAT-9) (Educational Measurement, 1997). Moving Broward’s calendar to early August adds 3 weeks of instruction prior to the administration of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), Advanced Placement (AP) examinations, High School Competency Test (HSCT), FCAT--Norm-referenced, and FCAT Writing. Higher scores on these assessments are likely to occur because greater teacher-student contact time will have occurred before testing. Districts that have moved their calendars to earlier start dates have not conducted empirical studies contrasting achievement scores prior to and after the calendar changes because of the obvious nature of the benefits. Even so, some districts have moved their calendars to an earlier starting date by only a few days. These districts have reasons for the change unrelated to the benefits associated with higher test scores. This report attempts to document and clarify the complex and multi-faceted issues associated with changing the school calendar. Literature Review The starting date of the school year is a tradition in different parts of the United States. Schools in the northeast historically start after Labor Day, whereas schools in the Southern and Midwestern regions of the US start sometime in August.


The Education Commission of the States is a nonprofit, nationwide compact of states and territories formed in 1965 to help state leaders identify, develop and implement public policy for education that addresses current and future needs of a learning society. The 2000 Commission compiled beginning dates for the 1996 school calendar year from all states in the United States, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. In 1996, 44 of the states and territories started the school calendar based on the decision of the local educational authority option, two started September 1 or later, two started after Labor Day, one started the week before Labor Day through the week after Labor Day, one started August 26 or later and the remaining two states started based on either the State Board of Education Calendar or regional option. Primarily during the last four decades, in an attempt to implement reforms and improve academic achievement, several districts and schools throughout the nation have reorganized their school calendars. Many of these districts developed alternative strategies aimed at effectively restructuring school time. These strategies included extending the length of the school day or school year, realigning the organization of the school day (i.e., block scheduling), or implementing year-round schools (Anderson, 1994). As will be seen later in this report there has been a trend over the past decade within Florida to move the start of the school year from mid or late August to early August. Although the literature is replete with articles on the impact of time and learning on student achievement, most of these articles relate to time in instructional sessions, scheduling time such as block-scheduling, or year-round schooling. Many districts have adopted earlier starting dates despite the lack of empirical research specifically related to shifting school starting dates. As indicated earlier in this report, this demonstrates that school systems may not have used formal studies to decide on moving the calendar to an earlier starting date. Consequently, there are many other factors for school systems to consider when deciding whether to adopt alternative schedules or calendars. Making the Change Various stakeholders are affected with any proposed change to a school calendar. Schell & Penner (1993) contend:

It is important to remember that changes to the traditional school year/day pattern have cumulative effects that influence entire patterns of life for educators, community members and students. This means that the question of any change to school year/day structures must be seen as a possible change in lifestyle for entire communities rather than a single, isolated change to traditional school routine. (p. 20)

School calendar changes involve a change in life for not only the students but also the entire community. Therefore, controversy is often encountered from various stakeholders. Businesses fear they will lose not only employees but also customers. Moving the starting date of school earlier may impact students and teachers who have summer jobs. Starting school earlier also may impact scheduling of family vacations (Ficklen, 1988). Some parents oppose calendar changes that impose changes to their family life without proof that the change will benefit the students (Time to Learn, 1998). Lifestyle changes that families encounter with calendar changes include, but are not limited to, disruptions to family summer


vacations, school-aged child care, student summer employment, community activities and recreational activities. Employee acceptance of any calendar change must include not only the professional employees but also support staff since their lives will be affected to the same degree as professional staff (Schell & Penner, 1993). Schell and Penner (1993) contend that the greatest single obstacle to any change of the school schedule is tradition and that if the educational, societal, economic and legislative implications of altering the school schedule are not successfully addressed, then the result will be failure. In visiting schools throughout the nation who were experimenting with time changes, Jones (1994) found that most school administrators felt time paradigms should be addressed. He further discovered that while teachers have a personal vested interest in traditional time schedules, most acknowledged that changes were needed. Although collaborative planning and discussion are essential while researching and conceptualizing proposed plans to alter the school calendar, Schell and Penner (1993) report that there is still likely to be strong (30% or more) opposition to any change. Ballinger (1994) contends, “There will always be some public resistance to change, no matter how appealing the proposal.” Despite initial opposition to changing the school calendar many stakeholders are either favorable or indifferent toward the change. In addition, favorable attitudes toward new calendars tend to increase over time after the change is implemented. In an evaluation of two year-round schools within the Broward County Public School system satisfaction and perceptions of students, teachers, and parents show improvement over time after the implementation of year-round schooling (Gardner, 1996). Why Systems Decide to Open School Earlier Ficklen (1988) identifies the issues of jobs, tradition, money and local control in relation to the decision-making of schools to open before or after Labor Day. In a study by Armstrong (1991), surveys and a grade distribution analysis were completed among California’s San Diego Community College District to determine the impact of fall semester end dates on student performance. Some of the results of the study included the following: (1) semester start and end dates had little effect on student performance; (2) factors that influenced districts to change calendars included faculty desire to complete the fall semester before the winter break, improved transferability and summer labor market for students, and improved professional development for faculty; (3) 53% of student respondents preferred starting early and ending the semester before winter break. What System Behaviors Promote Calendar Changes Several articles (Davies & Kerry, 1999; Dlugosh, 1994) have studied school calendar changes in the United States and Canada and have identified the following best practices in relation to implementing calendar reform:

• Involve the wider community from the beginning • Allow enough time for planning • Offer evidence about the plan’s advantages, disadvantages, and effects on student

achievement and attitudes • Examine a variety of alternative calendar schedules


• Establish a forum for dialogue • Set up a consultation group of all interested parties • Provide alternatives within a geographical area • Pursue incentives for change • Hypothesize about the difficulties and be ready to meet them • Challenge false information designed to denigrate the system • Go slowly

What to Expect To date, year-round schooling and alternative scheduling have received ample attention in the educational literature, however, the adoption of a year-round calendar and altering class scheduling time is not directly comparable to starting the school year three weeks earlier than in previous years. The advantages and disadvantages to be expected in changing to an earlier starting date for the school year are based on non-empirical factors. This report is based on theories of learning, feedback from national educational organizations, state education systems, Broward County Public Schools and the Broward community.

Method Information was obtained from Broward County Public School (BCPS) employees, representatives from 13 community stakeholders and 13 municipalities throughout Broward County, representatives from 31 school districts throughout Florida, four national educational organizations, and representatives from 10 universities in Florida. Further, the educational databases were thoroughly reviewed.

Findings National Educational Organizations’ Feedback Contact was made with four national agencies: the United States Department of Education, the Education Commission of the United States, Time to Learn, and the Center for Education Reform as well as the Florida Department of Education, to ascertain if they had any empirical data that documented the impact on student achievement when a school calendar started three weeks early. Although the agencies agreed that there was an increase nationally in accountability and a larger reliance on standardized test scores, none of the agencies could provide any document or research correlating starting date with student achievement. Further, none of the agencies knew of any other agency or state that had such information. Florida School Districts’ Feedback Student starting dates for the 67 Florida school districts and 6 special schools for 1991-92 through 2000-2001 are delineated in Table 1 and graphically depicted in Figure 1.


Table 1 Number of Florida Districts and Special Schools by Starting Dates, 1991 Through 2001 School Year

August 1 – August 10

August 11 – August 20

August 21 – September 8

1991-1992 * 0 16 51 1992-1993 ** 0 25 46 1993-1994 ** 1 22 48 1994-1995 ** 5 21 45 1995-1996 *** 3 21 48 1996-1997 **** 6 45 22 1997-1998 **** 7 43 23 1998-1999 **** 23 35 15 1999-2000 **** 28 30 15 2000-2001 **** 31 28 14 * Data include only the 67 districts. ** Data include 67 districts and FAU/Lab School, FSU/Lab School, FAMU/Lab School, and the UF/Lab School. *** Data include 67 districts and FAU/Lab School, FSU/Lab School, FAMU/Lab School, UF/Lab School, and the Deaf

and Blind School. **** Data includes the 67 school districts, FAU/Lab School, FSU/Lab School, FAMU/Lab School, UF/Lab School, the Deaf

& Blind School, and Eckerd Youth.

Figure 1. Number of Florida Districts and Special Schools by Starting Dates for Students, 1991-2001. As the data above illustrate there are two shifts in starting dates from 1991-1992 through 2000-2001. The first shift occurred between 1995-1996 and 1996-1997; it appears that school districts that started in late August in 1995-1996 adopted a mid August start date for 1996-1997. The next shift occurred between the 1997-1998 and 1998-1999 school years. The number of districts with early August starts gradually increased and the number of districts starting in mid and late

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

91-92 92-93 93-94 94-95 95-96 96-97 97-98 98-99 99-00 00-01

School Year

8/1 - 8/10

8/11 - 8/20

8/21 - 9/8


August gradually decreased until 1997-1998. The following year, 1998-1999, the number of early August starting districts increased dramatically. This increase corresponds to a drop in the number of districts starting in late and mid August. The two shifts may represent a pattern of phase-ins with a number of districts shifting from late to middle August start dates during the first shift and then middle to early August starting dates during the second shift. Figure 2 provides a map of the school districts in Florida color-coded/shaded by the beginning day of school for the 2000-2001 school year. Interestingly, regional differences are reflected on the map. South Florida districts, for example, will start later in the year than schools in central and northwestern portions of Florida. Table 2 displays the 2000-2001 opening and closing dates of required attendance for teachers and students for the regular school year and for summer school as provided by the Florida Department of Education (2000). Figure 2. Map of all Florida School Districts Color-Coded/Shaded by Starting Dates, 2000-2001

Students will begin the traditional 2000-2001 school year in Florida public schools as early as August 2, 2000, in Holmes County and as late as August 28, 2000, in Bay, Broward, Columbia, Dade, and St. Johns counties. Students begin the school year during the week of July 31-August


5 in three districts, during the week of August 7-11 in 29 districts, during the week of August 14-18 in 23 districts, during the week of August 21-25 in seven districts, and during the week of August 28-September 1 in five districts. The regular school year will end as early as May 18, 2001, for students in Marion, Nassau, Polk, Sumter, and Suwannee counties and as late as June 14, 2001, for students in Broward County. The school year ends for students in five districts during the week of May 14-18, 2001; in 33 districts during the week of May 21-25, 2001; in 18 districts during the week of May 28- June 1, 2001; in 8 districts during the week of June 4-8, 2001, and in 3 districts during the week of June 11-15, 2001.


Table 2 Florida School Districts Calendars, Opening and Closing Dates, 2000-2001

Traditional School Term Summer School Term(s) Teachers Students Teachers Students

District Name Open Close Open Close Open Close Open Close Alachua 08/14 06/05 08/21 06/01 06/06 07/13 06/11 07/12 Baker 08/09 06/05 08/16 06/01 Bay 08/17 06/08 08/28 06/06 06/14 07/26 06/14 07/26 Bradford 08/07 06/01 08/10 05/30 06/11 07/24 06/11 07/24 Brevard 08/01 05/22 08/08 05/21 05/24 06/29 05/29 06/29 Broward 08/21 06/15 08/28 06/14 06/18 08/20 06/18 08/20 Calhoun 08/03 05/30 08/10 05/23 06/11 07/23 06/11 07/23 Charlotte 08/08 06/01 08/14 05/31 Citrus 08/08 05/31 08/14 05/30 Clay 08/10 06/05 08/16 06/01 06/13 07/26 06/13 07/26 Collier 08/14 06/07 08/21 06/06 07/03 08/04 07/03 08/04 Columbia 08/21 06/12 08/28 06/08 06/15 06/29 06/15 06/29 Dade 08/17 06/15 08/28 06/13 07/06 08/17 07/09 08/17 DeSoto 08/01 05/25 08/07 05/24 Dixie 08/01 05/25 08/07 05/23 06/11 07/19 06/11 07/19 Duval 08/09 06/05 08/15 06/01 Escambia 08/07 05/29 08/14 05/24 06/01 06/30 06/05 06/30 Flagler 08/09 05/30 08/14 05/25 06/11 07/13 06/11 07/13 Franklin 08/07 06/04 08/11 05/30 06/18 07/20 06/18 07/20 Gadsden 08/03 05/23 08/09 05/21 06/11 07/16 06/11 07/16 Gilchrist 08/07 06/06 08/14 05/31 06/18 07/26 06/18 07/26 Glades 08/03 06/06 08/14 06/01 06/18 06/26 06/18 06/26 Gulf 08/03 05/30 08/10 05/28 Hamilton 08/08 05/29 08/14 05/25* Hardee 08/07 05/25 08/10 05/23 Hendry 07/31 05/24 08/07 05/23 Hernando 08/07 06/01 08/14 05/25 Highlands 08/07 05/25 08/14 05/24 Hillsborough 08/02 06/01 08/09 05/31* 06/12 07/12 06/12 07/12 Holmes 07/26 05/30 08/02 05/25* 06/04 07/12 06/04 07/12 Indian River 08/15 06/05 08/21 06/01 Jackson 08/01 05/30 08/07 05/25 Jefferson 08/03 05/25 08/08 05/23 06/04 07/19 06/04 07/19 Lafayette 08/07 05/25 08/14 05/24 Lake 08/03 05/31 08/10 05/25 Lee 08/15 06/11 08/21 06/08 Leon 08/07 05/30 08/14 05/25 06/01 06/29 06/04 06/29


Table 2 continued.

Traditional School Term Summer School Term(s) Teachers Students Teachers Students

District Name Open Close Open Close Open Close Open Close Levy 08/02 05/29 08/08 05/25 Liberty 08/04 05/31 08/10 05/31 Madison 08/03 05/28 08/10 05/24 06/04 06/04 Manatee 08/08 05/31 08/14 05/30* 06/04 07/05 06/05 07/05 Marion 08/01 05/21 08/07 05/18 06/05 07/13 06/05 07/13 Martin 08/09 05/25 08/14 05/24 06/04 07/06 06/04 07/06 Monroe 08/16 06/12 08/21 06/24 06/18 07/20 06/18 07/20 Nassau 08/01 05/23 08/07 05/18 Okaloosa 08/07 05/29 08/14 05/23 Okeechobee 08/10 06/05 08/16 06/01 Orange 08/08 05/25 08/14 05/23 05/29 06/29 05/29 06/29 Osceola 08/01 05/25 08/04 05/23 Palm Beach 08/09 06/05 08/16 06/01 Pasco 08/07 05/30 08/14 05/25 06/18 07/13 06/18 07/13 Pinellas 08/17 06/08 08/23 06/06 Polk 08/03 05/22 08/10 05/18 Putnam 08/10 06/05 08/16 06/01 06/11 07/09 06/11 07/09 St. Johns 08/21 06/15 08/28 06/13 St.Lucie 08/10 06/06 08/16 06/05 06/13 07/18 06/13 07/18 Santa Rosa 08/02 05/24 08/09 05/22* Sarasota 08/15 06/11 08/21 06/07 Seminole 08/02 05/31 08/07 05/30 Sumter 08/02 05/23 08/07 05/18 Suwannee 08/01 05/22 08/07 05/18 05/29 07/12 05/29 07/12 Taylor 08/03 05/24 08/10 05/21 Union 08/03 05/24 08/10 05/22* Volusia 08/01 05/24 08/07 05/22 Wakulla 08/08 05/30 08/14 05/25 06/04 06/29 06/04 06/29 Walton 08/04 05/30 08/09 05/25 Washington 07/28 05/30 08/03 05/25 06/04 06/04 Deaf & Blind School

08/14 06/12 08/21 06/01

Eckerd Youth 08/14 05/16 08/17 05/11 05/16 06/29 05/16 06/29 FAU/Lab School 08/08 06/06 08/14 06/01 FSU/Lab School 08/03 05/31 08/10 05/25 06/11 07/25 06/11 07/25 FAMU/Lab School 08/07 05/30 08/14 05/25* UF/Lab School 08/15 06/05 08/21 06/01* * Different last day for seniors

Structured telephone interviews were conducted with staff from 29 districts throughout Florida by either a representative of the Broward School Calendar Focus Group or by one of these authors. See Table 3 for a list of districts from which a representative was contacted. Twenty-


five districts starting early, August 1-10, in 1999-2000 were interviewed. Two large and two small districts that started in the middle of August, August 11-20, were interviewed. Table 3 School Districts from which a Representative was Interviewed Brevard Hardee Liberty Santa Rosa

Calhoun Hendry Madison Seminole Dade Hillsborough Marion Suwannee DeSoto Jackson Orange Taylor Dixie Jefferson Osceola Wakulla Gadsden Lafayette Palm Beach Walton Gilchrist Lake Pinellas Washington Gulf Levy Polk Of the districts that started in either early or mid-August, the number of years the district had been opening the school year at the same time ranged from 52 years to one year. Twenty four districts contacted plan to remain with their current schedule, two plan to go to a year-round calendar, two are not sure if there will be a calendar change because it depends on the recommendations of their bargaining units. One district, Lake County, was considering returning to a late-August start because of a change in the position of their teachers’ union from approval to disapproval of ending the first semester in December. The time dedicated to transition to an earlier calendar varied from no transition time to gradually phasing-in one day per calendar year over a 15-year period. Thirteen districts transitioned in one year. Nine districts had a year of planning and then implemented the change during the second year. Four districts had a two to three year transition, one had no transition time, one had a gradual phase-in over 15 years, and one district’s representative did not know. Districts secured parent and public input through various mediums. Some of the ways input was received was by use of school advisory councils; parent and school faculty surveys; advertisements in newspapers; union involvement; calendar committees consisting of parents, teachers, students and administrators; parent teacher organizations and school improvement teams, staff training, and word-of-mouth in the small districts. All of the districts interviewed end the first semester prior to the winter break. In relation to student/teacher morale attributed to ending the semester before the winter break, six districts either did not notice or did not measure any improvement in morale while the remaining districts believe that teachers and/or students’ morale was higher, especially in the high schools. In 24 of the districts, the calendar had no effect on union contracts as new calendars contained the same number of days and hours in the school year as previous calendars. Only one district increased the number of instructional days with the change to an earlier starting calendar. In the early starting districts, summer school length varied from a low of 10 days to a high of 32 days. The majority of the districts had a 24-day summer school. Early calendar starting dates impacted summer school by providing students and teachers an earlier vacation as well as having the buildings vacant during July to accommodate maintenance and repairs. Various districts mentioned that the summer school prior to the first year of the calendar change was challenging because it reduced the summer break for students; however, after the first summer, the summer


school calendar start/end dates were changed to correlate with their school calendar. Several districts mentioned issues with Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) counts, and either eliminating or modifying summer school due to the tight time schedule. Representatives from each district were asked whether they had seen any effect of the calendar change on student achievement (i.e., test scores). Twenty-four districts stated it was either too soon to tell, no tracking was done, or increased scores could not be proven to correlate with calendar changes. Five districts stated that the FCAT scores, grade point averages or teacher-made tests improved; however, no district could prove causality due to the calendar change. The benefits and disadvantages of having an early start to the school year were solicited from each district and summarized below.

Advantages. • More time to prepare before state assessments • Final preparation for FCAT can be accomplished upon returning from winter break

rather than focusing on semester finals • Natural break for holidays at the end of the first semester • Earlier start for high school students applying for summer jobs • Completion of summer school prior to the end of the fiscal year • Ending of the school year during cooler weather • Opportunity to do post-year inservice using consultants’ down time (easier to

schedule and less expensive)

Disadvantages. • Shorter summer the first year of implementation • Summer college courses for teachers running into pre-planning time • Interpretation of educational changes from legislature does not filter down in time for

school beginning • Interference of early start with family vacations; student absences at beginning of the

school year • Absences at the beginning of the school year for migrant populations and students

moving in from other states • Small cadre of people rooted in the way things have always been done resist any

change; opposition may occur • Potential problems with pre-scheduled activities if community stakeholders not given

enough lead time Two large districts that start in late August and have considered starting earlier, Dade and Pinellas, were also surveyed by telephone. Both districts state the reason they have considered an early start date is due to student achievement and the hypothesis that an earlier start date would positively impact academic achievement, especially in the area of criterion-referenced tests that are high stakes. Should Miami-Dade County Public Schools adopt an earlier starting date the proposed calendar for Broward County Public Schools would be more in line with Broward’s Dade and Palm Beach County neighbors.


Student Achievement While there is a paucity of hard data available for predicting the precise impact of early school calendars on student achievement, potential benefits are evident based on learning theory and related research. A calendar change has the potential for affecting student achievement on standardized assessment tests and in the classroom. Assessment Tests. Learning theory assumes that achievement increases as the time devoted to study increases (Mehrens & Lehmann, 1975). While many models of learning propose factors such as aptitude, quality of instruction, ability to understand instruction, and perseverance as playing a part in learning, most models of learning also include time as a primary component. There are two general classes of assessment instruments used to measure student learning, norm-referenced and criterion-referenced tests. Effects on these measures are predicted with the implementation of an earlier calendar. Norm-referenced test and criterion-referenced “mastery” tests are predicted to show favorable increases in scores and passing or mastery rates, respectively.

Norm-referenced tests equate scores across all students based on the date the examination was administered to the student. Norm-referenced tests are used to identify how a student performs relative to other students who take the same test at the same time. Test publishers construct national norms tables that enable the scorer to adjust scores to reflect the knowledge expected of the test taker at that point in time. For example, a student with a raw score of 25 on the Reading Comprehension section of the Stanford Achievement Test, Primary 1, would score in the 44th percentile nationally if they took the test in April. A student with the same raw score of 25 who took the same test in March would score in the 58th percentile. Currently, all Florida school districts are normed using the same norming table (Period 13) for FCAT--Norm-referenced. Therefore, as long as test dates for state norm-referenced tests and the norming tables remain constant, achievement as measured by norm-referenced tests should improve by changing to an earlier school start date that would add 15 days of instruction. Criterion-based tests are based on the principle of mastery. That is, items on criterion-referenced tests assess material the students should know at their educational level. In contrast to norm-referenced tests that assess a student’s standing relative to other test takers at a given point in time, success on criterion-referenced test scores is generally based on the number of correct items. Students who perform to a certain pre-established performance criterion are said to have mastered the material. Students meeting the criterion can either graduate or move on to learning more advanced material, while those who do not meet the criterion would ideally spend more time learning the material and then retake the examination. In essence, more time spent on instruction and student preparation does have a positive effect on test scores and will affect a number of students who otherwise would not meet or exceed performance criteria on a number of tests taken by district students. Exactly how much scores will improve by changing the calendar is unknown. Yet, assuming that neither the test dates nor the criteria associated with each test change after the proposed calendar revision, an additional 15 days of instruction are predicted to have a positive impact on scores for the following tests:

1. Advanced Placement (AP) exams normally administered in the second week of May 2. Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) performance assessments 3. Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test—Norm-referenced (FCAT-NR) assessments


4. Scholastic Assessment Test, College Placement Test, and American College Testing Program college admission tests

5. FCAT Writing 6. High School Competency Test scores

Another effect of changing the calendar related to student assessment is that an earlier start date would maximize instructional time for students in AP courses during the second semester. Under the current calendar, AP courses have approximately three additional weeks of instruction after administration of AP examinations. Those three weeks of instruction moved in front of the examination would increase exposure of testable material to students. This additional exposure increases the chances of receiving a score of three or above, the cutoff for receiving college credit from most colleges and universities in the United States. It should be noted that students in 4X4 block scheduling schools, where classes are structured so that the content of traditional yearlong courses can be completed in a single semester, would benefit from the proposed calendar change by having what equates to six weeks of instruction before AP examinations. In addition, an earlier start date to the school year provides financial advantages to schools as they have a financial incentive based on the number of students who receive AP scores three and above. Classroom performance. Currently, the second quarter finishes approximately three weeks after the winter break. By beginning the school year three weeks earlier the second quarter would end before the winter break. A change in the calendar would primarily affect students in secondary schools who currently receive one to two weeks of instruction and a week of final examinations after the winter break. The proposed calendar will have two effects on students with regard to ending the semester before winter break. The proposed calendar would result in continuity of instruction through the end of the quarter, immediately followed by final examinations. However, students who use the break under the current calendar for studying course material for semester examinations and to work on class projects would not have the availability of that two-week period. School Board of Broward County Feedback A Broward County Public School system convened a focus group seven times between December 1999 and April 2000 to discuss the feasibility of a calendar change. The Committee consisted of school-based administrators and district staff representing Facilities and Construction Management, Property Management, Summer School, Adult and Technical Centers, Safety, Educational Technology Services (ETS), Pupil Transportation, Administrative Procedures, Employee Relations, Testing and Assessment, Personnel and Benefits, Food and Nutrition, and Budget. Additional participation included representatives from District Advisory Council (DAC), Broward Teachers Union (BTU), Broward Paraprofessional Association (PPA) and the Parent Teacher Association (PTA). The group concluded that while the proposed calendar changes would present realistic concerns and some inconvenience the issues are resolvable. After thorough consideration of the issues, the group recommended moving the 2001-2002 school year calendar by three weeks to August 6, 2001.


Summer school will definitely be affected by the decrease in number of instructional days the first summer before implementation. The Executive Director of Educational Programs stated that the change could be accommodated through various means including lengthening the summer school day, limiting the amount of credit earned from one to one-half a credit, or reducing the provision of non-essential services such as test preparatory classes. The School Board Guidance Department saw the impact of a calendar change as positive in several areas. The proposed change would be an advantage to the 3,000 students who collectively are involved in early admissions to colleges and dual enrollment. Another advantage was the timing of students moving in and out of the district in December before the holiday break. Lastly, the change was seen as advantageous for seniors because they could obtain their final transcripts earlier than presently available. The guidance department did not feel that the proposed change would have any impact on the 3,000 students who receive the Bright Futures Scholarship. The Broward Teacher’s Union (BTU) reported that they conducted an informal survey of 200 teachers at 120 campuses during the 1999-2000 school year to ascertain their feelings regarding a proposed calendar change. The BTU also ran a focus group with teachers and had union stewards talk to teachers regarding this issue. The BTU reported that approximately two-thirds of the teachers were in favor of the proposed calendar change. The union reported that the secondary level teachers liked the proposed change better than elementary level teachers. Further, only one middle school reported being opposed to the calendar change. The coordinator for the Summer Science Academy said that the program could accommodate the earlier start date by starting the six-week program for 8-12th graders in early June instead of mid June. The Saturday Science Academy, administered by the same coordinator, mentioned that this program would benefit from an earlier start date because it would avoid the disruption to the beginning phase of the program caused by long holiday weekends at the start of school year under the current calendar. Community Stakeholders’ Feedback

Notes. A sample of fourteen agencies external to the School Board of Broward County and 13 municipalities throughout Broward were contacted by telephone to obtain their input regarding the impact that would be created for them if the three-week change to the public school calendar were implemented. One additional municipality (Margate) and numerous other stakeholders provided their concerns regarding the issue at a public forum. A list of the community stakeholders and municipalities who provided input can be found in Table 4.


Table 4 Municipalities and Community Stakeholders from which a Representative was Interviewed Municipalities Coconut Creek Cooper City Coral Springs Davie Deerfield Beach Hallandale Hollywood Lauderhill Margate (represented at Public Forum) Pembroke Pines Pompano Tamarac Wilton Manors

Community Stakeholders Alternative to External Suspension Archdiocese Educational Department for South Florida Big Brothers & Big Sisters Broward County Libraries Broward Cultural Affairs Broward Teacher’s Union (BTU) Florida Ocean Sciences Institute (FOSI) Florida Parks and Recreation Juvenile Intervention Facility Lighthouse of Broward South Florida Sub-Region of the Rabbinical Assembly (by letter) Temple Kol Ami United Way Young Men’s Christian Association

The following external agencies were either in favor or neutral overall regarding the proposed calendar change: Florida Parks and Recreation, Lighthouse of Broward, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Broward County Libraries, United Way, Florida Ocean Sciences Institute, and Broward Cultural Affairs. The overarching theme of these agencies was that they would adjust their programs to any school calendar. Representatives from the Juvenile Intervention Facility (JIF) and Big Brothers Big Sisters noted that some of their deputies and volunteers, respectively, take summer vacations in August and would have to adapt to a calendar change. The JIF representative also related that the Sheriff’s Youth Ranches provide a statewide training for the School Resource Officers (SRO), which must coincide with the calendar of all school districts throughout Florida. Resolution of this conflict would require Sheriff’s Youth Ranches to accommodate training sessions for Broward SRO’s along with those for SRO’s from the 29 districts that currently start in early August.


Representatives from the Alternative to External Suspension program felt that the proposed change would not affect their program. However, it was noted that during the first summer only there would be a short turnaround time to develop community partnerships. This issue would be resolved by arranging the partnerships earlier if the calendar change is implemented. According to the director of children’s services for the YMCA of Broward the proposed calendar change would affect county YMCA programs in relation to several areas. With an earlier start date to the school year and depending on the correspondence of the new calendar with postsecondary institution calendars the YMCA may have difficulty hiring college students for summer camp staff. As funding for specific programs is allocated well in advance the YMCA will need to be notified of the change as early as possible so that funds can be redirected for the shortened 2001 summer. For example, more money will need to be allocated to after-school care programs the first summer and less toward summer camps. The Archdiocese Educational Department for South Florida was mildly opposed to the change since Catholic schools are on a school calendar that starts in late August and the change may impact their sports schedule; however, their representative said the Archdiocese could adjust if the proposed change was implemented. The South Florida Sub-Region of the Rabbinical Assembly, consisting of 70 Rabbis of whom 20 are in Broward County was strongly opposed to the proposed calendar change. The Assembly representative expressed objections to the change since many of their organizations’ informal education programs take place during July and August and students starting back to school in early August would miss out on programs in which other children throughout the nation participate. Objection to the proposed calendar change was also voiced by one of the rabbis of Temple Kol Ami in Plantation. Of the municipalities contacted, the following stated that there would be no major impact to moving the calendar and further, their summer recreational programs would adjust to any school calendar implemented: Coconut Creek, Cooper City, Davie, Coral Springs, Deerfield Beach, Hallandale, Hollywood, Lauderhill, Pompano, Tamarac and Wilton Manors. Pembroke Pines stated they would prefer to phase in a calendar change over a 3-year period. Although Pompano stated they would reschedule their camps to correspond with the school calendar, they did note that the Pompano City Commission is on vacation in August and the city encourages city employees to take their vacations during that month. Pompano also stated that the first year of the proposed change would affect their block grant money, but after the first year it would not be a problem. Coconut Creek and Tamarac noted the concern of college student availability for summer camp programs if the public schools are over too early (refer to college and university calendars in Table 5). Deerfield Beach mentioned that a significant number of their summer program employees are school board employees also; however, they would adjust their summer programs because they are centered on the public school calendar. During a public forum, a representative of Margate’s city management voiced his disapproval of the calendar change because it would create a negative financial impact on private and public institutions. Forum. A Public Forum was held by the Broward County Superintendent of Schools to allow the community stakeholders an opportunity to voice their opinions regarding a possible calendar change for the 2001-2002 school year. Parents, school board employees, and representatives of religious organizations, municipalities, and private industry attended the forum. Of the 31 individuals who spoke formally, 27 were opposed to a calendar change while 4 approved of a


change. It should be noted the views of the participants who spoke at the forum are not representative of the entire community as no steps were taken to ensure that all views were presented. It may be that those people or organizations which were in favor of or indifferent about the proposal were not as compelled to attend the forum as those opposed to the proposed change. Parents were concerned about the emphasis placed on standardized tests, student motivation and willingness to learn, and a lack of focus on holistic education. Other concerns voiced were issues related to inability to attend or staff summer camps and enrichment programs, economic impact to private and public organizations, summer employment, hurricane season, interruption of summer vacations, adverse impact on family time including blended families and custodial parent issues, issues involving special needs children, and a lack of research proving the benefits of a calendar change to student achievement. According to Forum attendees, the primary benefit of a calendar change was seen as having the first semester and exams completed prior to the winter break so that students and teachers could return from the break refreshed and ready to begin a new semester. Other issues supporting an early school start date included having a school calendar that was aligned with universities and more districts in the state, ability of teachers to attend summer classes to further their education, and students could be enrolled in dual enrollment or college courses earlier. Proponents realized that the change would be inconvenient but workable and that the first year would be the hardest due to the shortened summer. Several stakeholders asked that enough notice about any calendar change be given so that organizations can make adequate accommodations. One municipality was emphatic that parents should be heavily involved in any decision-making regarding the school calendar. Suggestions included having continued open dialogue with increased and more effective notification of when the forums would be held, finding other ways to reduce time such as eliminating early release days, and phasing in a calendar change incrementally. College and University Feedback Eleven colleges and universities throughout the state of Florida were interviewed and surveyed regarding summer programming for youth and any possible impact that might result from a change to the public school calendar. A list of the colleges and universities contacted along with their schedule for Summer 2001, Fall 2001, Winter Break 2001 and Spring 2002 for each university can be found in Table 5. The Admissions and Student Affairs Office of each university were contacted by e-mail and a follow-up telephone interview was held with the Student Affairs Offices and some individual university academic departments.


Table 5 Colleges and Universities Contacted and Their Calendars

Summer 2001

University Full Summer

1st Term

2nd Term

Fall 2001

Winter Break 2001

Spring 2002

Barry University None May 7 – June 15

June 18 – July 7

* * *

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University

*

*

*

*

*

*

Florida Atlantic University

May 14 – Aug 9

May 14 – June 25

June 28 – Aug 9

Aug 23 – Dec 14

Dec 14 – Jan 6

Jan 7 – May 3

Florida International University

May 7 – Aug 16

May 7 – June 22

July 2 – Aug 16

* * *

Florida State University

May 8 – Aug 3

May 8 – June 15

June 25 – Aug 3

Aug 27 – Dec 14

Dec 15 – Jan 6

Jan 7 – May 3

Nova Southeastern University

None May 2 – June 20

June 20 – Aug 10

Aug 27 – Dec 14

Dec 15 – Jan 6

Jan 7 – May 3

University of Florida

May 14 – Aug 10

May 14 – June 22

July 2 – Aug 10

Aug 22 – Dec 14

Dec 15 – Jan 7

Jan 8 – May 3

University of South Florida

May 14 – July 20

May 14 – June 22

July 2 – Aug 10

Aug 27 – Dec 14

Dec 15 – Jan 6

Jan 7 – May 3

University of Miami

None May 16 – June 20

June 27 – Aug 1

Aug 23 – Dec 12

Dec 13 – Jan 13

Jan 14 – May 9

University of Central Florida

May 8 – July 30

May 8 – June 18

May 8 – July 9

June 19 – July 30

Aug 23 – Dec 14

Dec 15 – Jan 6

Jan 7 – May 3

Broward Community College

May 14 – Aug 10

May 14 – June 26

June 28 – Aug 10

Aug 20 – Dec 18

Dec 19 – Jan 6

Jan 7 – May 8

* Contacts made with adminis trative offices on July 20, 2000. Calendars not available at the time of contact. Upon calling each college or university, it was found that no one individual could answer all the summer programming questions. There was no centralized system for inquiry into all summer programs offered by any particular university. It was found that within the college or university, the individual disciplines, schools, departments, clubs, or teams, offered, implemented, and managed their own summer programming, therefore making it difficult to globally inquire about all of their summer events.


Summer programs provided by colleges and universities include the following: a myriad of sport camps for both males and females, cheerleading camps, scholastic enrichment programs, music and band camps, college outreach programs, minority outreach programs, scholarship recruitment programs, 4H clubs, economically disadvantaged youth outreach camps, wellness center programs, college preparatory courses, standardized test preparatory classes, leadership camps, art camps, youth summer fun programs, theater art camps, language arts programs, and science exploration activities. All of the above mentioned programs are available to high school students who have an interest and/or talent in the area of study. The majority of the colleges and universities have programs that are also open to middle school children. The dates these summer programs operate vary and range from early June to late August, with the majority being offered from mid June to early August. The majority of the college and university contacts said that at least a few of their programs do run into August and students would not be eligible to attend if they had to return to school in early August. Two universities stated that students could attend a program and leave early if they had to go back to school. Three of the universities claim that all of their summer programs are over by the last week in July. Not one of the universities had all their programs running into August. Representatives from eight universities stated that they felt that the early school calendar change would impact families and students more than it would university programming. A contact from Broward Community College (BCC) felt that starting the school year early would have a negative impact on athletic camps and scholarship scouting that happens in the month of August. BCC felt that this would negatively impact athletes who are hoping to earn scholarships for secondary school. The contact at Florida State University felt that it was becoming increasingly more difficult to schedule summer events for youth due to the wide range of start dates across the various school systems they serve. However, as stated earlier, Broward County is not among the majority of Florida schools with an early start date. Thus, Broward’s athletes are currently among those less likely to participate in summer events. The majority of college and university contacts agreed that students should ideally participate in the entire program but that many of the camps are duplicated throughout the summer and it would be possible for a student to participate in a session that did not conflict with their school calendar year. The majority of contacts also stated that their summer programs are not for the entire summer so a shortened summer break would not disqualify them from participation. For example, the representative from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University noted that one of their programs for disadvantages African-American males called Black Explorers, a six-week academic program for 7-11th graders, would not be affected by the change as it is regularly completed by the end of July. Overall, the consensus of the college and university contacts was that they did not anticipate any problems with a change in the public school system calendar year. Accommodations would need to be made the summer before implementing the new calendar, particularly for local colleges and universities that have already set their academic calendars for the 2001-2002 school year (see Table 5). Representatives from local colleges and universities expressed concerns about the lack of sufficient lead-time for considering the proposed calendar change in constructing their


academic calendars. The lack of correspondence in summer schedules will affect teachers wanting to attend daytime college or university courses to further their training, as the dates for summer terms at these schools are not aligned with the proposed 2001-2002 calendar for Broward County Public Schools. Faculty at local colleges and universities with children who attend Broward County Public Schools will also need to adjust to the initial lack of correspondence in calendars. Local colleges and universities that consider public school calendars in the decision-making process for determining their academic calendars would be able to account for the proposed change, but not until at least the second year. Despite the challenge of aligning summer terms, spring terms beginning in 2002 would correspond so that students who graduate high school early can begin taking college or university courses in the spring. Under the current calendar, high school students who graduate and begin colleges or universities early must either take night courses or attend a local community college or university because high school graduations typically occur after most college and university spring semesters begin. The proposed calendar would expand the opportunities to these students by allowing them to graduate in December. Thus, they can register for day or night spring courses or begin school at a college or university outside the local area. This effect of the calendar change would especially benefit the significant proportion of high school students from block-scheduling schools who graduate in three and one half years; see Brown and Schatten (2000) for more about block scheduling in Broward County Public Schools.

Final Point In summary, this proposal for a change in calendar starting in 2001 would require adjustments on the part of the school district and the community. This brief is provided to assist in determining whether the potential benefit to students outweigh the challenges of an early August school start date.

References

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Armstrong, W. (1991). The Educational, Fiscal, and Access Implications of the Fall Academic Calendar: The Report of the Academic Calendar Task Force. San Diego, CA: San Diego Community College District Research and Planning. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED413973).

Ballinger, C. (1994). Tired excuses for avoiding calendar reform. The School Administrator, 51(3), 56.

Brown, A. & Schatten, E. (2000). Block Scheduling: Evaluation Report. The School

Board of Broward County, Florida. Davies, B., & Kerry, T. (1999). Improving student learning through calendar change.

School Leadership & Management, 19(3), 359-371.


Dlugosh, L. (1994). Quality Schools and the Myth of the Nine-Month School Year. Nebraska. Paper presented at the Annual University of Oklahoma National Conference on Creating the Quality School, 1994). (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED375507).

Education Commission of the States. (2000). School Calendar: ECS Information Clearinghouse 1996. Available: http://www.ecs.org/ecs/ecsweb.ns. Educational Measurement (1997). Stanford Achievement Test Series, Ninth Edition: Spring Norms Book. San Antonio, Texas: Harcourt Brace.

Ficklen, E. (1988). Labor Day: Should summer vacation run out before or after it? The American School Board Journal, 175(5), 49-50.

Florida Department of Education. (2000). 2000-2001 Florida School Districts Calendars – Opening and Closing Dates. Tallahassee, FL: Florida Department of Education. Available: http://www.firn.edu/doe/bin0050/eiaspubs/tcschcalmhtm. Gardner, D. (1996). Year Round Schools: Evaluation Report 1995-1996. The School Board of Broward County, Florida.

Jones, J. (1994). A few observations from the frontier. The School Administrator, 51(3), 20. Mehrens, W. & Lehmann, I. (1975). Standardized Test in Education (2nd ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

National Commission on Excellence in Education. (1983). A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. Washington, DC:US Department of Education. Available: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/index.html.

Schell, A., & Penner, G. (1993). Rescheduling the Traditional School Day/School Year: Research in Brief. SSTA Research Centre Report. Saskatchewan, Canada: Saskatchewan School Trustees Association, Regina. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED366047).

Time to Learn. (1998). Overview. Available: http://www.timetolearn.org/overview.htm. Prepared by: Craig C. Jackson, M.A., Database Researcher Research and Evaluation, Broward County Public Schools

Arlene K. Brown, Ed.D., Project Consultant Arlene K. Brown Consulting, Inc.

Cary Sutton, Ed.D., Director, Research Services Research and Evaluation, Broward County Public Schools

Dr. Frank Till Superintendent of Schools

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