Balanced Calendar versus Traditional Calendar: Measuring the Difference in Reading Academic Achievement among Kindergarten through Third-Grade Students Who Have Been Identified as Reading Below or Well-Below Grade Level

Abstract

School accountability is increasing with federal mandates. As public schools investigate strategies to raise students’ achievement scores and graduation rates, some have implemented a modified school calendar. Schools are focusing particularly on the academic success of students from third-grade through twelfth-grades, as these are the grade level performances where accreditation is determined. However, recent studies have shown that the most imperative work happens in the primary grades, including a link between third-grade reading success and graduation rates (Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2010). The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between reading achievement and the balanced or traditional school calendar for Kindergarten through third-grade students who are considered to be reading below or well-below grade level. This study examined the progress of 266 students who attended schools using two types of school calendars in one suburban school district: the balanced calendar and the traditional school calendar. The results for this study found that the relationship was not statistically significant (p = .750) between growth of reading skills for struggling readers in grades Kindergarten through third and the type of calendar used in the school that they attended. There was, however, a deeper analysis that looked at groups of children and one group, Kindergarten males, was found to be statistically significant (p = .470)