Chief Proposes Year-Round Classes to Aid Ailing Programs

Most schools maintain the traditional 180-day calendar, instructing students in three-month blocks broken up by one to two months off.

In lengthening the academic year by about four weeks, the schools would maintain a calendar similar to the one used by the Knowledge Is Power Program, which runs a network of free open-enrollment, college-preparatory public schools in under-resourced communities nationwide, including two high-performing public charter schools and an upstart campus in the District.

The additional time, Janey said, would be used for tutoring and enrichment, including art and music classes and trips to museums.

Migration to the year-round schedule experienced its greatest boom in the 1990s, but has lost ground in recent years. The number of year-round schools nationwide dropped from 3,181 in 2003 to 2,850 this year, according to the National Association for Year-Round Education.

"The research on these things is mixed. We've got places where moving to year-round didn't affect performance," said Michael Casserly, executive director of the District-based Council of the Great City Schools, an advocacy organization representing the nation's largest urban public school districts.

But adding days to the school year "is likely to help," Casserly said.

Janey said he would ask officials from schools interested in switching to the year-round calendar to submit proposals. He also is negotiating with the Washington Teachers' Union to add a provision to an upcoming contract that would allow teachers to participate in the longer schedules.

Union President George Parker said he supports the concept. "The WTU is not opposed to looking at reasonable, research-based options that would make our schools better," he said.

Staff writer Tara Bahrampour contributed to this report.