Cited by 44School Choice and PerformanceEarly Childhood Education and DevelopmentEducational Assessment and Improvement

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

McMullen, Steven C, Rouse, Kathryn E·2012·American Economic Journal: Economic Policy

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)

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Crossref · 10.1257/pol.4.4.230

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  1. Von Drehle David, 2010, TIME, 36

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Authors
McMullen, S. C., & Rouse, K. E.
Affiliations
  • Calvin University (US)
  • Elon University (US)
Venue
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
Published
2012-11-01
Volume
4
Issue
4
Pages
230-252
ISSN
  • 1945-7731 (ISSN-L)
  • 1945-774X
OpenAlex
W2075538378
Cited by
44
References
25
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 2
FWCI
18.51
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • American Economic Journal Economic Policy (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
  • Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Information Systems and Management › Educational Assessment and Improvement
Keywords
year-round schooling, academic performance, human capital model, racial inequality in education, Wake County, North Carolina, natural experiment

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