This paper provides educational and lay groups in the local community with background information and a good comprehensive review of the literature. The aim is to facilitate investigations into the complex issues involved in the consideration of extended school year scheduling. The review begins with a sketch of a simple model of the school calendar that emphasizes variables manipulated in creating options to the traditional 9-month calendar. A listing of the major issues that a local feasibility study should address and a discussion of the extent to which the existing literature illuminates those issues follows. Finally, a brief historical overview of this nation's experience with ESY is presented. A related document is EA 005 089. (Author/MLF)