|
This is just one
example of ways that communities across the country are trying to combat a
phenomenon
called "summer learning loss." This loss of learning over the summer
can mean an academic setback for
some children that will take weeks, and in some
cases months, to remedy in the fall.
"One
hundred years of research confirms that all young people are at risk
of losing ground academically
over the summer months," says Ron
Fairchild, Executive Director of the Center for Summer Learning at
Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.
According to Dr. Harris Cooper, Professor of Psychology at Duke
University and the director of the program
in education, test scores
were, on average, at least one month lower when students returned to
school in
the fall than when they left in the spring.
In other
words, students who may have finished third grade at a 3.9 level
(3rd grade, ninth month), returned
to school in the fall, on
average, at a 3.8 level.
"The
areas that kids most forget are the things that they learn through
repetition and practice, such as
spelling words and math
computation," says Cooper.
Research
points to the fact that all young people are at risk of losing more
than two months in math
computation skills, regardless of where they
are in the socioeconomic spectrum.
However,
when it comes to reading skills, lower income students are more
negatively affected during
the summer.
According to Fairchild, "While middle and upper income students
typically do not lose reading skills, and
in some cases may
experience a slight gain in reading performance over the summer,
lower income kids
typically experience a setback of over two
months."
Though
there have been few studies to show the cumulative effect of those
learning losses during
elementary school, experts fear that without
quality summer programming, a growth in the achievement
gap between
lower and upper income students will accelerate significantly.
"By the
time that kids reach fifth grade," says Fairchild, "on average, low
income kids are close to two years
behind their higher income peers
in reading performance as a result of their experiencing summer
learning
And with
teachers spending between two and six weeks at the beginning of each
school year re-teaching
material that students have forgotten over
the summer, the ramifications of summer learning loss might
affect
all students.
Why the
learning loss?
One of
the reasons for the losses in reading and math skills over the
summer may have to do with how
embedded the practice of these skills
are in the child's environment.
"Parents
who know the importance of reading will make sure that their kids
read over the summer -- and it
is not unusual for kids to find
things to read," says Cooper. "Math is less naturally embedded in
children's
environment, so they are more likely to forget math
skills over the summer."
While
such learning losses have caused some to question the fragility of
the information that students are
learning throughout the school
year, Fairchild offers a different explanation for the learning
loss.
"If
professional athletes or musicians took a three-month break from any
type of training or practice, you
would expect them to come back to
their sport or to their orchestra experiencing a lag in their
performance,
and it would take a while to get back into performance
shape."
And
while many parents lament the loss of the lazy days of summer,
experts emphasize that learning
doesn't stop just because the school
year ends.
"Forgetting things is something that all humans do," Cooper says.
"Kids have active minds and they are
learning all the time. So it
doesn't make much sense to ignore what they are being exposed to for
three
months of the year."
Summer
learning can be fun
Does the
threat of losing ground over the summer mean the end of summertime
fun?
Not
according to experts in the field of summer learning loss. "High
quality summer programs can close
achievement gaps and make sure
that kids can go back to schools in the fall ready to learn,"
explains
Fairchild.
For
students who have an academic weakness, summer can be a perfect time
to address it. But as school
districts across the country reinvent
the concept of summer school, more and more children are attending
summer enrichment programs that combine a real focus on academics
with a fun-filled recreational
experience.
Building
Educated Leaders for Life (BELL) is a nonprofit group that runs
full-day academic enrichment
programs targeted at low income
populations and communities where kids are most at risk for
experiencing
summer learning loss. The organization provides kids
academic instruction, educational, cultural, artistic
and
recreational activities, guest speakers, community service and field
trips.
In
addition to enrolling children in organized summer programs, parents
can also turn to at-home materials
such as the Summer Bridge
Activities workbook series, created by Michele Van Leeuwen, a
mother of three.
The
workbooks provide daily activities in reading, writing, arithmetic
and language arts, and they offer parents
suggestions for how to
motivate their children to engage in the academic exercises. Van
Leeuwen recom-
mends that parents use the summer to gauge their
children's strengths and weaknesses.
"Many
times as parents, we don't know where our children's challenges are.
By going through the Summer
Bridge Activities, parents can
identify what their children know and don't know."
While
there are many summer learning materials available to parents,
Cooper stresses, "Variety is the spice
of life. Academic-related
activities shouldn't last all day, every day and neither should down
time. Kids are learn-
ing all the time, even during summer, no matter
what they're doing." |
