<p>While I agree that we as Americans have very short school years in comparison to the rest of the world, the problem with our schools does not rely on the amount of education we get but the quality of it. You can have a year round school all you want but unless there is a change to the quality and structure of education here in America I doubt our education standings on the world stage will change.</p>
<p>I feel like I can contribute as I have had an exchange student from Hong Kong living with me for almost ten months. I was under the misconception that Chinese students went to school all year and all day and night. Actually they have at least a 2 1/2 month summer break and their school days are only 30 minutes longer than my kids hs. It is after school that is the reason their test scores are high. They have intramurals at school, no sports teams with endless after school practice, games etc…</p>
<p>Their after school consists of leaving school to go to more academic classes that are paid for and from which they practice endlessly for tests. N says school ends at 3:30 and then she goes to classes, gets home around 8-9, eats supper, studies til about midnight then repeats five days of the week. She has never seem any other choice, het parents have said this is what you have to do, so she has done it. Her parents have also saved up 45,000 a year so she can get her bachelors degree in America. </p>
<p>And her mom is constantly telling her what schools to apply to next year. Right now it is Williams, swarthmore…most elite lac along with Ohio state, nyu and ucla. Our other exchange student from Beijing who attends our school this year has the exact same plan with the same elite schools in mind.</p>
<p>N has really struggled with het English and reading grade. I don’t think her sat reading and writing will be very good. But I am sure her math will be perfect. But all she does is study. She was up til 3am last night studying for the next sat. It is what she does. She shares a room with my daughter and D ended up in our bed last night so N could study. Her work ethic is amazing. </p>
<p>So do we need a longer school year? Maybe another week or two. What we really need is a new model. My D wrote an amazing research paper exploring the positive effects of implementing a required foreign language curriculum starting by 2nd grade. I am not saying to follow the Chinese model because they lose creative thinking when all it is is practicing multiple choice tests. But I think Americans need to take education much more seriously along with the government supporting these efforts. </p>
<p>My D says N doesn’t have strong critical thinking skills but she is amazingly smart… and her math and science I am positive are the highest level at our D hs. I think N could teach calculus if her English was better. Lol. Just my observations after living with a Chinese girl who I love nearly as much as my bio. Girls. I should add, these after school classes aren’t mandated by Chinese government. They are basically heavy duty tutoring sessions to prepare kids to take tests and they are optional.</p>
<p>For kids who are struggling to stay up I believe the best solution is to work with a large well-regarded private tutorial service and provide vouchers for those students to catch back up during the summer. Kids need a new environment, and using private companies will allow school districts to measure how these companies are doing and they should only contract with those that are getting meaningful results.</p>