Summer Learning Days

In collaboration with National Summer Learning Week, founded by the National Summer Learning Association, the Flint & Genesee Literacy Network is dedicated to reducing the summer learning gap. Summer learning loss or summer slide, is the loss of academic skills and knowledge over the course of summer vacation. Schools see evidence of this because students are often given a standardized test prior to the summer break and again when they return to school in the autumn. Most of our current understanding of summer learning loss (SLL) patterns relies on two recent data sources: the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–11 (ECLS-K:2011) and NWEA’s interim assessment, MAP® Growth™.

Prior studies using ECLS-K:2011 show that student learning slows down but does not drop over the summers after kindergarten and first grade. The results also indicate that summer may play a role in widening socioeconomic achievement gaps but does not play a large role in widening racial/ethnic achievement disparities, like Black-White gaps.

Researchers published two new studies using MAP Growth data to document student learning patterns during the summer. The first study, “School’s out: The role of summers in understanding achievement disparities,” was recently published in the American Educational Research Journal and examined the magnitude and variability in summer learning loss across grades 1–8. This study found that the average student lost 17–34% of the prior year’s learning gains during summer break, as well as that students who lose ground in one summer are more likely to also lose ground in subsequent summers.

The second study, “When does inequality grow? School, summer, and achievement gaps,” was published in Educational Researcher and examined the degree to which racial/ethnic achievement gaps widened during summer break. Following groups of students across grades K–8, the study found that Black-White achievement gaps widen during the school year and shrink slightly during the summer and that Asian students generally pull ahead of White students during the summer.

Here at the Network, we are committed to learning all summer long! We aim to keep kids learning, safe, and healthy every summer, ensuring they return to school in the fall ready to succeed in the year. Our team has developed a Summer Learning Guide which is an excellent resource for local and national summer programming.

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Who Participates in Summer Learning Days?

EVERYONE! Our work is based on the simple idea that summer—a time that is easily overlooked yet critical to educational development—is bursting with possibility, and instrumental in closing the achievement gaps that riddle our communities' more vulnerable children. By casting a spotlight on summer learning loss, and galvanizing parents, educators, legislators, and community organizations to embrace the power of summer learning, we have created a space for greater achievement and potential for all children.