Kid Space

Summer reading is critical for students to retain knowledge and skills learned in the previous school year. Students who don’t read are at risk of falling behind their classmates. Parents and teachers can avoid this by making sure kids take time to read.

The National Summer Learning Association offers a wealth of online resources, high-quality research,
and an excellent annual conference related to summer learning and preventing summer slide. The
Publications & Resources tab of the website particularly leads to excellent research and practical tips
for summer program providers.    https://www.summerlearning.org/

Research Findings on Summer Slide:
• Children in low-income households fall behind an average of 2 months in reading during the summer.
And, summer slide is cumulative, with these learning losses building up each summer.
• Summer learning loss accounts for two-thirds of the 9th grade achievement gap in reading between
students from low-income households and their higher-income peers.
• Students from low-income households with access to books over the summer see significantly more
gains in reading scores from spring to fall than students from high-income households with access to
books and those from low-income households without access to books.
• 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.
Addressing Summer Slide:
• Access to books is critical. The public library is an excellent free resource for families to have access to
books of a wide range of interests and reading levels, as well as librarians to guide children and
families in selecting great books.
• When children select reading materials themselves and read for enjoyment, they receive the most
gains in reading achievement, including better reading comprehension, writing style, vocabulary,
spelling, and grammatical development. Also, the longer that this free voluntary reading is practiced,
the more consistent and positive the results. Thus summer programs, such as those offered in public
libraries, that allow and encourage children to choose what they read are likely to be most successful.
• Children and teens tend to read more when adults in their lives encourage them to read, and also
when they see those adults reading often themselves.
• Children that feel that reading is fun tend to read more often, so summer programs that help make
reading enjoyable and social are most successful.
• Reading just 4 to 6 books over the summer has the potential to prevent a decline in reading
achievement scores from the spring to the fall, so even small steps are very beneficial.
• Preventing summer slide is most effective when community organizations—including schools, public
libraries, community centers, parent groups, social service agencies, and others—work together to
encourage kids to read, make reading fun, and to reach families about the importance of reading over the summer.
• Parents, caregivers, and other adults can help stem summer slide by reading themselves, as children
that see adults in their lives reading often tend to read more themselves.