The School Year Should Be Extended

Good afternoon to everyone. To all bystanders and fellow debaters. We are here to discuss a resolved on which the Demigod Debaters and the Daring Dragons have different views on.

That resolve is: That in order to improve the education of our children, make the school system more relevant to the twenty-first century, and make more American students more globally competitive, the school year should be extended.

I will start by explaining the few key terms that this statement contains. The first important term that pops up is: improve education. This means that lengthening the school year will improve the amount of knowledge that students receive, this ultimately leads to better test scores. "In Vail, Arizona year-round schools have been running since 2003. Before then, the schools scored less than Arizona state average. However, ever since the schools have turned year-round about 90% of the students have been scoring on grade level or above."2This shows that the kids in Vail benefitd from the lengthened from year-round school. While all the students are still not passing, the mass of the students. Meaning the year-round school had a beneficial effect on the grades of the majority of students.

The second key term is: more relevant to the 21st century. Extending the school will give students more time to learn 21st century skills. By 21st century skills I mean collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving which are core competencies1 needed to thrive in the 21st century.

The last term that comes up in the resolved is: globally competitive. How the students of the United States of America rank academically on a global scale compared to other countries.

A lengthened school year will definitely help students on tests. "In Vail, Arizona year-round schools have been running since 2003. Before then, the schools scored less than Arizona state average. However, ever since the schools have turned year-round about 90% of the students have been scoring on grade level or above." According to Debbie Hedgepeth, the assistant superintendent of curriculum for the Vail school district. 2This shows that the kids in Vail benefited from the lengthened from year-round school. While all the students are still not passing, the mass of the students. Meaning the year-round school had a beneficial effect on the grades of the majority of students.

According to the latest P.I.S.A or Programme for International Student Assessment test the U.S is not very globally competitive. Shanghai, China was ranked #1 on the chart. About 55% of the students who took the test were considered