Foundations of Microeconomics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Establishments of Microeconomics - Assignment Example Then again, grown-up clients are for the most part addicts and in that capacity, adults’ request is less value flexible contrasted with teenagers’ request. an) It is erroneous that an assessment that doesn't have a deadweight misfortune can't raise any income for the legislature. At the point when the interest of a decent is flawlessly inelastic, an assessment would have no impact on the amount or any deadweight misfortune. Notwithstanding, the assessment would in any case raise income for the administration. In the chart over, the interest bend is flawlessly inelastic. A presentation of expense moves the gracefully bend inwards from Se to S*. The amount provided lessens from qe to q*. Be that as it may, the value stays steady. In such a situation where the interest of a decent is superbly inelastic, there is no deadweight misfortune yet the legislature is as yet ready to raise income through tax collection. b) It is erroneous that a duty that raises no income for the administration can't have any deadweight misfortune. At the point when the legislature forces a 100% expense on products, merchants won't gracefully any of the great and the assessment will raise no income. Be that as it may, the assessment has an enormous deadweight misfortune as it decreases the amount offered to zero. At the point when the legislature forces a 100% assessment on a decent, there will be no gracefully of that great and the flexibly bend will be equivalent to the value hub. The duty won't raise any income for the legislature and it will have a huge deadweight misfortune as appeared in the figure

What You Should Include in Your Case Study Wiseessies

What You Should Include in Your Case Study WiseessiesCase studies are one of the best methods to help you know the techniques used by certain companies. These cases often help in convincing an employee on some real-life scenario that will leave you impressed by their experiences. The good thing about this is that you do not have to invest in consulting a person to help you get your point across. What you need is a wonderful source of information to make you feel as if you are talking to someone.One of the main thing to keep in mind while making use of case studies is to include details that will demonstrate the subject. In this manner, you will have a clear picture of what to expect. For example, for people who are new to a new industry, you should include a specific example of some unfamiliar areas.Difficulties in life can be highlighted as well. This may come from difficult bosses, old or new customers, difficult people and many more. You should always have an opportunity to includ e these as possible conditions that can create a difficult situation. The key to make it simple for you to understand the situation is to point out the possible difficulties.A very good way to bring out a unique aspect of the product manufacture is to include a different way of working. There are very few examples of companies who can boast of creating products such as those who manage to outdo the others. To illustrate how they did it, they will often include some detail about the worker in question.These details may be simple ways to show how the company operated. Some people might wonder about how many hours they put in each day and other things they have done in order to impress the readers. In order to make these happen, you will need to provide information on the way they managed to manage. This may also include some details about the way they managed their subordinates as well. Another important part to highlight in case studies is the way people reacted to certain situations . You may find it hard to focus on this area if you have a lot of images related to the company and how it did everything. However, you will not want to miss on any possible description about how people reacted to certain situations.The use of case studies may be vital to your business especially if you consider your position in the industry. You will need to get hold of a method that is able to draw you close to the operations of the company you are dealing with.

Marks And Spencer s Business Strategy Essay - 1961 Words

This paper will look at Marks and Spencer s business strategy and its objective business aims. Various areas will be evaluated within this assignment and from these considerations a critical evaluation will be proposed and I will complete a SWOT analysis and PESTLE analysis. COMPANIES OVERVIEW Marks Spencer (MS) is one of the leading retailers of the United Kingdom; with 24 million customers its high quality clothing, food, home products, and financial services are proven to be very popular. The company was first set up by Michael Marks; where he was later joined by Tom Spencer in 1894 where they opened a small head office in Manchester and now in 2016 it has 914 stores throughout the UK and 468 across Europe, Asia and the Middle East employing 82,948 people. REASON FOR CHOICE (5) I chose Marks and Spencer for this assignment as I am aware there must be logic reasons behind the decision making process to close down stores nationwide and in my local town (Barrow in Furness). I presume this will be something to do with the business strategy which will raise concerns with growth and profit within the company resulting in store closures, but I will be investigating this more in this assignment. The whole of the report revolves around the strategic planning of the well renowned company marks and spencer, and it will explore the business strategy, its existing business plan, major factors affecting it and the strategic option is also given in this report through which itShow MoreRelatedAn Analysis of Marks and Spencer1624 Words   |  7 PagesAn Analysis of Marks and Spencer INTRODUCTION TO THE FIRM AND ITS INDUSTRY Marks and Spencer is one of the largest retailers in the United Kingdom, and is also known as a major retailer selling diverse product ranges under their own exclusive brand in more than thirty countries. Customer confidence in the Marks and Spencer brand remains second to none. 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According to Wensley (1983) marketing strategy is an act, a practice and a set of expertise, to analyse the business position. In (1992) Walker Boyd Larrechà © concluded strategic marketing planning is to efficiently assign and equalised marketing resources to attain the goal within the particular market, hence defining the target market segments include a market strategy to offer the brand in the market

Othello, By William Shakespeare - 1795 Words

Trust is often indicative of the intimate relationship between two people: husband and wife or two soldiers, for example. In Shakespeare’s drama, â€Å"Othello,† the main character and general of the Venetian army, Othello, is forced to choose between trusting his first wife, Desdemona, or his reputable honest ensign, Iago. Iago tells Othello that Desdemona is having an affair with Cassio, his lieutenant. Although he does not know of anyone more honest than Iago, Othello cannot easily believe that the women he so ardently loves would cheat on him and betray their marriage. Othello is forced to believe Iago’s accusations and punish Desdemona and Cassio or believe his innocent, fair wife. He decides to believe Iago’s false tale of Desdemona’s†¦show more content†¦Desdemona becomes one of the most, if not the most, important parts Othello’s life. Othello, a black soldier from the Barbary coast, knows â€Å"little of this great worldâ⠂¬ ¦ More than pertains to feats of broil and battle† (l.l. 101-102). Othello’s whole world is revolved around before he meets Desdemona. In fact, it is his savviness in battle that has brought him into the white Venetian sphere as the general of the Venetian army. Therefore, the life of a husband is foreign to him. He is a soldier who spends time with his cohorts on the battlefield and manages all of his own affairs and is confined to no one and nothing. However, â€Å"but that [Othello] loves the gentle Desdemona,† he would not give up his â€Å"unhousà ¨d free condition† (l.l. 28-29). Othello’s relationship with Desdemona is founded on sacrifice. Othello sacrifices his lifestyle and freedom for Desdemona whom he likens to â€Å"the sea’s worth† (l. 31). This sacrifice is indicative of Othello’s love for Desdemona and his commitment to the relationship. Something about Desdemona is worth risking giving away the only life that Othello has ever known. Othello’s commitment and sacrifice to the relationship show his trust that it, and Desdemona, are worth the risk and that he trusts Desdemona to be worth giving up everything he has ever known. This lack of experience in relationships makes Othello nervous and protective. One would expect that if Othello is willing to risk so

Employment Relationship in a Korean Company-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the Employment Relationship with their Colleagues in a Korean Company. Answer: Introduction The paper talks about the employment relationship with their colleagues in a Korean company. In the case study, it is clearly shown that how Lee faces a situation of being isolated from the team. The case study shows the Lee expression and feeling after joining the job. He found that no colleague wants to talk to him even the manager told he is rude. The paper includes the steps that Lee should take to retain in the organisation without impacting the work. Hofstedes culture dimension theory Hofstedes culture dimension theory is a framework that defines the cross-culture communication within the organization. It defines the effect of the society's culture on the values of its member. It shows the behavioral values of the employees in an organization (Rinuastuti, Hadiwidjojo, Rohman and Khusniyah, 2014). dimensions of the Hofstedes culture dimension In total there are 6 dimensions of the Hofstedes culture dimension theory which are explained below. Power- Distance index: - According to the Hofstede, power distance is an index in which less powerful employees feel that unequal power is distributed in the organization. In this case study, Lee being the member of the organization gave different innovative ideas to the company manager to bring improvement in the services. But on the same time manager neither listens to Lee nor implemented lee suggestion related to the business. Individualism vs. collectivism: - This shows the degree to which individuals are combined into groups. This culture shows that individual has personal goals which they want to fulfill. Working collectively will help in accomplishing the goals of the company. On the initial day, itself Lee showed that he was determined towards the job. He completed the allotted task by 5 pm and later he left for the day. This shows that he fulfilled his individual allotted task. Uncertainty-Avoidance index: - This dimension defines the way society or colleagues deals with the unknown or unexpected situations. In the case study, there is a high index which shows that the employees have less tolerant when Lee became the part of the organization. That is the reason organization employees started avoiding Lee as they were not able to accept Lee as their team member. Masculinity vs. femininity: - This dimension shows the role played by the men and women. In the masculine society, they are expected to behave assertively. In the case study, there is high masculine which has strong egos or values of their pride. That might be one of the reasons that the colleagues were not able to talk to Lee. Seeing the hard work and determination of Lee they get aggressive and they ignore whatever Lee do. Long-term Orientation vs. Short-term Orientation: - This dimension defines the connection of the past with the current and future actions and challenges. The situation of the Lee shows that the company is having a low level of an index. Lee is facing the situation of being ignored after putting affords on the work. There is possibility that Lee is not the first person who is facing this situation. Indulgence vs. Restraint: - This dimension defines the organization culture ability to satisfy the needs and personal desires of its employees (Nash, 2015). Lee being a member of the employee was willing to form a good relationship with the colleagues but he was not able to do so. This shows the organization culture of the Korean company that they are not able to accept the new member existence in their company. Steeps lee should take to retain in the company Lee can put some efforts to remain in the company without hampering the work. Finding another job in Korea is one of the difficult tasks to do. Lee should try to retain in the organization. The best way to deal with the situation is communication. Communication is the best way to understand the wants and desires of the colleagues and manager (Johnson, and Leydesdorff, 2015). Lee took a decision to arrange a meeting with the manager so that he can discuss the issues. This was the initial step which Lee took to understand the concern. The manager said that it was rude to leave the office before his superiors. Manager told dyed hair and casual clothes for the office are not allowed (Williams, and Scott, 2012). Over here, he needs to understand that he needs to be little professional and need to dress up well. Building professionalism: - Lee can try to bring professionalism in the way he dressed up. In every organization, it is etiquette to come in formals. Here, Lee needs to come in formal apparel instead of casuals. Lee also needs to avoid using hair color. Developing ethical values: - Lee is hard worker. He continued to finish work as soon as possible and leave the office before time. But considering this from an organization point of view this is not ethical right. Lee needs to understand the ethical values (what is right or wrong) (Jondle, Ardichvili, and Mitchell, 2014). Developing Soft communication skills: - As the manager given the feedback to Lee that he is being rude. After Acknowledging the feedback Lee should develop soft skills of communication. Hence, this will help Lee to communicate with the colleagues (Levasseur, 2013). Communication with the employees will help him to understand colleague's perception for him. Team work spirit: - He needs to understand team work spirit is essential. As he finishes his work early he should help his colleagues. Lee needs to understand that the whole team is working for achieving organizational goals. It is not about completing individual work, to complete the organisational goal team need to work together (Nguyen, Mai, and Nguyen, 2014). Individualistic employee An Individualistic employee plays an important role in the organization. These employees take responsibility for their own work; they cannot rely on others. Individualism creates healthy competition in the organization. This makes the other employees demonstrate their skills and capabilities (Webb Day, L. Holladay, K. Johnson, and G. Barron, 2014). The employees display a great amount of innovation and creativity as they consist of unique skills. In the case study, lee accomplished the task with his skills and capabilities in the short span of time. The way Korean manager should deal with the Individualistic employees Korean manager needs to build some skills to deal with more individualistic employees without losing the competitive advantage of a talented workforce. HR plays an important role in hiring a talented workforce. Further, it totally depends on how an employee feels in the organization. Nowadays individualistic employees are increasing in the organization. To retain those talented employees Korean manager needs to implement some activities (Hussain, and Rehman, 2013). Team Building Activities: - Manager needs to conduct team building activities in the organization which helps in enhancing the team building. Due to the emergence of the individualistic work atmosphere, colleagues don't communicate with each other. If these employees work together they will achieve goals effectively and efficiently. Motivation: - Motivation refers to as the set of forces that change the behavior of the employees towards the work. The manager needs to motivate the employees to increase the efficiency of the employees. Motivation can be done in the terms of monetary and not- monetary. Motivated employees always want to work outside of their specific job (Heathfield, 2017). Acknowledgement and resolution of problems of the employees: - Manager should acknowledge the problems of the employees and help them out. In every organization, HR makes sure that the manager is taking care of the employee's problem. The disputes may occur among the colleagues in the organization. The manager should try to solve the disputes. Implementation and acknowledgment of employee's suggestion: - The only source to interact with the customers is employees. Employees are the one who can give a new and innovative suggestion for enhancing the customer service. They have to deal with the customers on a daily basis which makes them understand the requirement of the customers. The manager should acknowledge the given suggestions and try to implement those suggestions. This enhances the morale of the employees. This makes them realize that they are valuable for the organizations. No discrimination should be done among the employees: - Manager should treat each and every employee equally and fairly. In the organization, the manager has to take many decisions either in favor or in against of the employee but the manager doesn't need to be biased (Ford, 2014). The ethical values should be followed by the manager. This will enhance the trust of the employees. Rewards, recognitions, appreciation, and promotions are effective ways to retain the talented workforce. The manager should acknowledge and appreciate the work of the employees. Above discussed are few points that talk about the activities that need to be conducted by the manager to retain the talented employees (Alias, Nor, and Hassan, 2016). Talented employees are becoming the competitive advantage as there is a shortage of skilled and talented workforce in Korea. These activities will help the employees to build a strong relationship with their colleagues. Through these activities, managers will also get to know more about their employees. Conclusion The above report is based on the analysis of the case study, in which Lee faced issues in the organization. Lee situation is explained in the document considering the Hofstedes culture dimension theory. It also includes the steps that need to be followed by Lee to retain in the organization. Further, there is a brief description of the activities that need to be followed by the company. References Alias, N.E., Nor, N.M. and Hassan, R., 2016. The Relationships Between Talent Management Practices, Employee Engagement, and Employee Retention in the Information and Technology (IT) Organizations in Selangor. In Proceedings of the 1st AAGBS International Conference on Business Management 2014 (AiCoBM 2014) (pp. 101-115). Springer, Singapore. Ford, R.T., 2014. Bias in the Air: Rethinking Employment Discrimination Law. Stan. L. Rev., 66, p.1381. Heathfield, S.M., 2017, Top 10 Ways to Retain Your Great Employees, Viewed on 23rd August 2017, https://www.thebalance.com/top-ways-to-retain-your-great-employees-1919038 Hussain, T. and Rehman, S.S., 2013. Do Human Resource Management Practices Inspire Employees Retention. Research Journal of Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology, 6(19), pp.3625-3633. Johnson, M.W. and Leydesdorff, L., 2015. Beer's Viable System Model and Luhmann's Communication Theory:Organizations from the Perspective of Meta?Games. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 32(3), pp.266-282. Jondle, D., Ardichvili, A. and Mitchell, J., 2014. Modeling ethical business culture: Development of the ethical business culture survey and its use to validate the CEBC model of ethical business culture. Journal of Business Ethics, 119(1), pp.29-43. Levasseur, R.E., 2013. People skills: Developing soft skillsA change management perspective. Interfaces, 43(6), pp.566-571. Nash, M., 2015. Indulgence versus restraint: A discussion of embodied eating practices of pregnant Australian women. Journal of Sociology, 51(3), pp.478-491. Nguyen, T.N., Mai, K.N. and Nguyen, P.V., 2014. Factors Affecting Employees Organizational CommitmentA Study of Banking Staff in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Journal of Advanced Management Science Vol, 2(1), pp.7-11. Rinuastuti, H., Hadiwidjojo, D., Rohman, F. and Khusniyah, N., 2014. Measuring Hofstedes five cultural dimensions at individual level and its application to researchers in tourists behaviors. International Business Research, 7(12), p.143. Webb Day, J., L. Holladay, C., K. Johnson, S. and G. Barron, L., 2014. Organizational rewards: considering employee need in allocation. Personnel Review, 43(1), pp.74-95. Williams, D.K. and Scott, M.M., 2012, Five Ways to Retain Employees Forever, Viewed on 23rd August 2017, https://hbr.org/2012/11/five-ways-to-retain-employees

Reading Nightmares Essays - Education In The United States, Reading

Reading Nightmares Reading nightmares exist at many different levels. There are nightmares at the national and state levels. There are nightmares within the field of reading education, and with teachers across all subject areas. This is a key point in the article Exploring reading nightmares of middles and secondary school teachers by William P. Bintz. At the national and state levels, research indicates that students experience a declining interest and slowing development in reading from the seventh grade on (Farr, Fay, Myers , demonstrate gains in reading during the early years, these gains seem to taper off in the middle and upper grades, and decline during the high school years. (Chall 4) Many studies give strength to this argument that reading nightmares occur nationally. They show that students have difficulty with tasks requiring interpretations of what they read, that students do little, if any, reading in school and for homework, and that there is a decline in reading skills amongst 12th graders. (Bintz 13). Goodland (1984) believes that this problem may exist because of the relationship between time spent on reading instruction and the decline in reading abilities. He points out that reading occupies only approximately 6% of class time in elementary school, 3% in junior High school, and 2% in senior high school. (p 106-107). It is noted that 8th grade students watch TV, on average, almost 22 hours per week. They read for less than 2. (Humphrey 23). Reading instruction, as a field of study, is also ripe with nightmares. Too often, educators make assumptions about reading and its instruction. These include (a) Reading instruction is primarily, if not exclusively, the role of elementary, not middle and secondary school teachers; and (b) reading is an isolated skill; once mastered in the elementary grades students require no further instruction. (Bintz 14) As Burnett is keen to show, these attitudes are changing, but slowly. Teachers on the secondary level are still hesitant to get involved in reading instruction. They see themselves as teachers of content. But, perhaps, as Summers states, maybe the content area teachers are hesitant because they, along with many language arts teachers, arent properly trained to provide reading instruction. Regardless of content area, all teachers are seeing the same nightmares. Bintz categorizes these as either student based, teacher based, textbook based or someone elses problem. According to a cross section of teachers, students either cant read , or are passive and reluctant to read. Many teachers feel that other teachers are the teachers of reading, not themselves. Some also feel that textbooks are often written at levels that are too complex and that are strictly content driven, if not downright boring. If not that problem, many teachers feel that a single textbook cant accommodate students wide range of reading abilities. (Bintz 21) Although this article is ripe with the nightmares of reading, it is not barren of solution possibilities. To sum them up, Bintz points out that colleges and universities must rethink the role of reading education within the teacher curriculum. Elementary, junior and senior high schools need to help themselves by intentionally and systematically making reading a high priority with students and teachers. Also, they need to help students and teachers change their perceptions of reading in order to create a new reality that sees reading less as a nagging problem, and more as a tool for learning and thinking. As we had discussed in class the first week, it is evident that we all experience these nightmares. It seemed that our small group fit in very well with what Bintz is saying. We all have reading nightmares, and they are all similar. All of the comments in the article from teachers about their nightmares rang true with a lot of the things that people said in our discussions. Mr. Bintz did get into some detail about trying to solve this problem. He didnt, though, address what I feel are the two biggest obstacles to making reading instruction a priority. They are apathy and funding. It isnt necessary to go into details about the difficulties of providing funding for new programs. Apathy we can comment about. As a teacher in one of the poorest high schools in Brooklyn,

An Achievement Gap Created by the Summer Slide Before Grade 9

An Achievement Gap Created by the Summer Slide Before Grade 9 By the time students in the United States enter grade 12, they will have spent 96 weeks, or the rough equivalent of 2 out 13 required academic years, in time designated as summer vacation. Researchers have been bemoaning the loss of this collective time as they point to the negative consequences of summer vacation up to and including high school..   Negative Impact of Summer Vacation Research A meta-analysis of 138 influences or â€Å"what works in education† was published (2009)  in  Influences And Effect Sizes Related To Student Achievement  by John Hattie and Greg Yates. Their results are posted on their  Visible Learning  website.   They ranked the effects of completed studies (national and international), and using the data combined from these studies, they developed a rating where any influence greater than .04 was a contribution to student achievement. For their finding on summer vacation,  Ã‚  39 studies  were used  to rank the effect of summer vacation on student achievement. The findings using this data revealed summer vacation as having  a negative effect (  -.09 effect) on education. In other words, summer vacation ranked at the bottom of what works in education, a dismal 134 out of 138 influences.. Many researchers refer to the achievement damage done during these months off as summer learning loss or the â€Å"summer slide†Ã‚  as described on the US Department of Educations blog Homeroom. A similar finding came from  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"The Effects of Summer Vacation on Achievement Test Scores: A Narrative and Meta-Analytic Review†Ã‚  by  H. Cooper, et al. Their work updated the findings of a 1990 study that originally found: Summer learning loss is very real and has important repercussions in the lives of students, especially those with fewer financial resources. There were several key findings outlined in their updated 2004 report: At best, students showed little or no academic growth over the summer. At worst, students lost one to three months of learning.Summer learning loss was somewhat greater in math than reading.Summer learning loss was greatest in math computation and spelling.For disadvantaged students, reading scores were disproportionately affected and the achievement gap between rich and poor widened. This achievement gap between haves and have nots widens with summer learning loss. Socio-Economic Status and Summer Learning Loss Multiple studies have confirmed that  students in low-income households develop an average two month reading gap during the summer. This gap is cumulative, and each summers two month gap contributes to a sizable learning loss, especially in reading, by the time a student reaches grade 9. Research published in the article Lasting Consequences of the Summer Learning Gap   by  Karl L. Alexander, et al, charted how a students socio-economic status (SES) plays a role is summer learning loss: We find that cumulative achievement gains over the first nine years of childrens schooling mainly reflect school-year learning, whereas the high SES-low SES achievement gap at 9th grade mainly traces to differential summer learning over the elementary years. In addition, a  white paper commissioned by the Summer Reading Collective determined that  two-thirds of the 9th grade achievement gap in reading could be between students from low-income households and their higher-income peers. Other important findings findings pointed out that access to books was critical to slowing summer learning loss. Neighborhoods in low income areas with public libraries for student access to reading materials had  significantly more gains in reading scores from spring to fall than students from high-income households with access to books as well as those from low-income households without access to books at all. Finally, the Summer Reading Collective noted that socio-economic factors played a critical role in learning experiences (access to reading materials, travel, learning activities) stating: Differences in children’s summer learning experiences during their elementary school years can ultimately impact whether they earn a high school diploma and continue to college. With the considerable amount of research documenting the negative impact of summers off, one may wonder why the American public education system embraced summer vacation. History of Summer Vacation: The Agrarian Myth Dispelled Despite the widely held myth that the educational calendar followed farm calendars, the 178 day school year (national average) became standardized for an entirely different reason.  The adoption of summer vacation was the result of an industrial society that opted to let urban students out of the sweltering cities  during the summer months. Kenneth Gold, a professor of education at the College of Staten Island, debunked the myth of an agrarian school year in his 2002 book  School’s In: The History of Summer Education in American Public Schools.  Ã‚   In the opening chapter,Gold notes that if schools were following a true agrarian school year, students would be more available during the summer months while crops  were growing but unavailable during planting (late spring) and harvesting (early fall).   His research demonstrated  that before the standardized school year,  there were concerns that too much school was bad for the health of students and teachers: â€Å"There was a whole medical theory that [people would get sick] from too much schooling and teaching† (25). Summer vacation was the solution to these medical concerns during the  mid-19th Century.   As  cities expanded rapidly, concerns were raised about the moral and physical dangers that unsupervised summer posed to urban youth. Gold goes into great detail about the  Vacation Schools, urban opportunities that offered a wholesome alternative. The 1/2 day  sessions in these vacation schools were attractive to participants and teachers were allowed to be  creative and more lax, addressing the  fears of [mental] overtaxation (125). By the end of World War I,   these vacation schools had become more in line with a growing academic bureaucracy. Gold notes, ...summer schools adopted a regular academic focus and a credit-bearing function, and they soon bore little resemblance to the vacation programs that preceded them (142). These academic summer schools were geared to allow students to gain extra credits, either to catch up or to accelerate, however, the creativity and innovations of these vacation schools diminished as the funding and staffing were in the hands of the administrative progressives that were overseeing the urban districts   Gold traces the standardization of education noting the growing body of  research on the adverse impact of summer vacation, especially on economically disadvantaged students as a growing concern. His work on how American education served the needs of a  continuously growing â€Å"summer leisure economy† clearly demonstrates  the stark contrast of mid-19th Century’s academic standards with the growing demands of 21st Century academic standards with their emphasis on college and career readiness. Stepping Away from Traditional Summer Vacation Schools K-12, and post-secondary experiences, from community college to graduate universities, are now experimenting  with a burgeoning market of opportunities for online learning. The opportunities bear names such as   Synchronous Distributed Course,  Web-Enhanced Course,  Blended Program, and others; they are all  forms of e-learning.   E-learning is rapidly changing the design of the traditional school year as it can be made available beyond the walls of a classroom at varying times. These new opportunities may make learning available through multiple platforms throughout the year. In addition, experiments with year-round learning are already well into their third decade. Over 2 million students participated (by 2007), and the research (Worthen 1994,   Cooper 2003)  on the effects of year round schools explained in   What Research Says About Year-Round Schooling (compiled by  Tracy A. Huebner) shows a positive impact: Students in year-round schools do as well or slightly better in terms of academic achievement than students in traditional schools;Year-round education may be particularly beneficial for students from low-income families;Students, parents, and teachers who participate in a year-round school tend to have positive attitudes about the experience. On more than one follow-up to these studies, the explanation for the positive impact is simple: The loss of retention of information that occurs during the three-month summer vacation is lessened by the shorter, more frequent vacations that characterize year-round calendars. Unfortunately, for those students without intellectual stimulation, enrichment, or reinforcement-whether they are economically disadvantaged or not- the long span of summer will culminate in an achievement gap.    Conclusion The  artist Michelangelo is reputed to have said, I am still learning (Ancora Imparo)  at the age of 87, and while he never enjoyed the American public school summer vacation, it is unlikely he went for long periods without the intellectual stimulation that made him the man of the Renaissance. Perhaps his quote could inverted as a question if there are chances to change the design of school academic calendars. Educators could ask, Are they still learning during the summer?