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The Impact of Year-Round Schooling on Academic Achievement: Evidence from Mandatory School Calendar Conversions

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  • Steven C. McMullen
  • Kathryn E. Rouse

Abstract

In 2007, 22 Wake County, North Carolina traditional calendar schools were switched to year-round calendars, spreading the 180 instructional days evenly across the year. This paper presents a human capital model to illustrate the conditions under which these calendars might affect achievement. We then exploit the natural experiment to evaluate the impact of year-round schooling on student achievement using a multi-level fixed effects model. Results suggest that year-round schooling has essentially no impact on academic achievement of the average student. Moreover, when the data are broken out by race, we find no evidence that any racial subgroup benefits from year-round schooling. (JEL H75, I21, I28, J24)

Suggested Citation

  • Steven C. McMullen & Kathryn E. Rouse, 2012. "The Impact of Year-Round Schooling on Academic Achievement: Evidence from Mandatory School Calendar Conversions," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 230-252, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejpol:v:4:y:2012:i:4:p:230-52
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/pol.4.4.230
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2007. "The Impact of Length of the School Year on Student Performance and Earnings: Evidence From the German Short School Years," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(523), pages 1216-1242, October.
    2. Eric A. Hanushek & John F. Kain & Steven G. Rivkin, 2009. "New Evidence about Brown v. Board of Education: The Complex Effects of School Racial Composition on Achievement," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 27(3), pages 349-383, July.
    3. Robert Bifulco & Helen F. Ladd, 2006. "The Impacts of Charter Schools on Student Achievement: Evidence from North Carolina," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 1(1), pages 50-90, January.
    4. Graves, Jennifer, 2010. "The academic impact of multi-track year-round school calendars: A response to school overcrowding," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 378-391, May.
    5. Graves, Jennifer, 2011. "Effects of year-round schooling on disadvantaged students and the distribution of standardized test performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1281-1305.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Thompson, Paul N., 2019. "Effects of Four-Day School Weeks on Student Achievement: Evidence from Oregon," IZA Discussion Papers 12204, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Graves Jennifer & McMullen Steven & Rouse Kathryn, 2018. "Teacher Turnover, Composition and Qualifications in the Year-Round School Setting," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 18(3), pages 1-27, July.
    3. Jorge M. Agüero & Marta Favara & Catherine Porter & Alan Sánchez, 2021. "Do More School Resources Increase Learning Outcomes? Evidence from an extended school-day reform," Working papers 2021-06, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics.
    4. Graves, Jennifer, 2013. "School calendars, child care availability and maternal employment," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 57-70.
    5. Takyi, Stephen Appiah & Azerigyik, Richard Apatewen & Amponsah, Owusu, 2019. "The effects of multi-track year-round education on the delivery of senior high school education in Ghana. Lessons from global MT-YRE systems," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    6. Kevin P. Belanger & Angela K. Dills & Rey Hernández-Julián & Kurt W. Rotthoff, 2019. "Class Size, Course Spacing, and Academic Outcomes," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 45(2), pages 301-320, April.
    7. McMullen, Steven C. & Rouse, Kathryn E., 2012. "School crowding, year-round schooling, and mobile classroom use: Evidence from North Carolina," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 812-823.
    8. Valerie Bostwick & Stefanie Fischer & Matthew Lang, 2022. "Semesters or Quarters? The Effect of the Academic Calendar on Postsecondary Student Outcomes," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 40-80, February.
    9. Dills, Angela & Hernández-Julián, Rey & Rotthoff, Kurt W., 2016. "Knowledge decay between semesters," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 63-74.
    10. Figlio, D. & Karbownik, K. & Salvanes, K.G., 2016. "Education Research and Administrative Data," Handbook of the Economics of Education,, Elsevier.
    11. Thompson, Paul N., 2021. "Is four less than five? Effects of four-day school weeks on student achievement in Oregon," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    12. Dobrescu, Isabella & Faravelli, Marco & Megalokonomou, Rigissa & Motta, Alberto, 2019. "Rank Incentives and Social Learning: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial," IZA Discussion Papers 12437, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Agüero, Jorge M. & Beleche, Trinidad, 2013. "Test-Mex: Estimating the effects of school year length on student performance in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 353-361.
    14. Gregory Gilpin, 2020. "Policy‐Induced School Calendar Changes and Teacher Moonlighting," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(3), pages 989-1018, January.
    15. Gregory Gilpin, 2018. "Policy-induced School Calendar Changes and Teacher Moonlighting," CAEPR Working Papers 2018-009, Center for Applied Economics and Policy Research, Department of Economics, Indiana University Bloomington.
    16. Jennifer Graves & Steven McMullen & Kathryn Rouse, 2013. "Multi-Track Year-Round Schooling as Cost Saving Reform: Not Just a Matter of Time," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 8(3), pages 300-315, July.
    17. Depro, Brooks & Rouse, Kathryn, 2015. "The effect of multi-track year-round academic calendars on property values: Evidence from district imposed school calendar conversions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 157-171.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H75 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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    1. The Impact of Year-Round Schooling on Academic Achievement- Evidence from Mandatory School Calendar Conversions (American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 2012) in ReplicationWiki

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