T&L Advisor Guest post — Carl Hooker, Director of Instructional Technology, Eanes Independent School District: Why do we still have summer? I’m not talking about the season. I know that’s the Earth’s fault. I’m talking about summer vacation. In 1906, we have the first documented implementation of summer vacation. It was put in place for the agricultural society that thrived in the United States in the early 20th century. Like its brother “Daylight Savings Time,” I think it’s time we take a hard look at what our lives are like and the necessity of summer vacation. We are no longer an agricultural society nor do we make our kids work when they are pre-teens (Thank you child-labor laws.) Agriculture as an industry currently makes up 9.3% of all employment, yet it affects 100% of our kids. Studies have shown that students lose between 1-3 months of progress in math skills each summer (depending on your SES). So if we know that it hurts students’ progress and is only in place for less than 10% of the population, why do the majority of schools still continue to do it? The answer? TTWWADI (That’s The Way We’ve Always Done It)
