Year-round calendars are arranged to include shorter periods of both in-session time and vacation time. Typically, students attend for 45 days and then have 15 days off. Although there are no more days built into the calendar, the allocation of time prevents summer learning loss and promotes continuous learning. Smaller breaks built into the school year can prevent stress, frustration and burn-out that can lead to students decision to drop out.
Minority students, low-income and at-risk students are most at risk for dropping out of high school. The largest disparities in graduation rates are among white and Asian-American students and minority students, with white and Asian-American students graduating at a higher rate in nearly every state. For example, in Nevada, 43 percent of the African-American population graduated in comparison to 71 percent of the white population.
It's common knowledge that when students perform better in school, they're more confident and more likely to succeed and graduate. When students constantly feel frustrated by school, they are more likely to give up or quit altogether. For this reason, year-round schools' positive impact on academic performance can also be a factor in reducing drop-out rates.
During the course of a year-round calendar, the curriculum and schedule is reorganized to provide enrichment, acceleration or remediation. On a traditional school calendar, time for remediation or enrichment must be done outside of the classroom, or in place of other instruction. Schools with overcrowding problems have an even bigger problem when it comes to providing additional services to students. Year-round calendars can be arranged so that students operate on two separate schedules of in-session and vacation days, called a multi-track calendar. By preventing overcrowding and providing additional individualized services to students, students may be less inclined to quit or give up altogether on school.