FEATURE FOCUS: SUMMER LEARNING LOSS
Bridging the summer learning gap
taking children away from the classroom and then trying to catch up once they returned to in-person learning. While this change in learning was challenging and unavoidable, the “summer slide” has been a regular occurrence for school- aged children for decades. This is a period of time in which students regress academically during the summer months. Not only will a child return to school unprepared to learn new material, but the loss can be cumulative over the years, which can lead to lower school performance and a decline in confidence.
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n our second feature this month looking at summer learning loss, we hear from Becky Ward, Education Experience Specialist at Tutor Doctor. Becky has over two decades of experience in education and shares her tips for ensuring students return to the classroom ready to learn.
Students have experienced a chaotic past couple of years in school with the pandemic
The average student loses between 17-34% of the prior year’s learning gains each summer. In just maths alone, students forget about 25% of the skills they learned from the previous school year. It has never been more critical for parents and teachers to provide resources to help bridge the summer learning gap. Thankfully, there are now many ways to supplement learning for free during the summer and a myriad of tutoring programmes to reach every student. In the US, the Wallace Foundation spent 50 million dollars to fund the National Summer Learning Project*, a complex study that examined whether voluntary summer learning programmes actually helped students. The study examined over 3,000 individuals and found that students who attended summer learning programmes outperformed students that did not attend these
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programmes when starting school again. Even more impressively, the study cited a 25 percent gain in competency for students that attended such programmes.
There’s no doubt about it – summer learning really helps and thankfully, there are many ways you can make sure students keep up with what they’ve learned in the classroom. Below is a list of tips to help bridge the summer learning gap:
Keep a routine – Students are quick to fall into a routine of watching television or playing video games during summer, but it’s important to limit this time and work in educational-based activities. Structured schedules also serve well for children and teens, and make it easier to return to school in September. Create a daily schedule that is similar to your school routine. Make sure to stand firm in wake-up times, bed times, and meal timing so your child isn’t thrown off. It is summer, so alongside the chores and the learning time you schedule, make sure to carve out some time for fun activities. Keeping to a routine that is well balanced makes for an easier transition when school begins again.
Download learning apps – Meet your child where they are at. Some kids respond well to digital learning that is engaging and interactive, so these kinds of apps could prove beneficial. It
July/August 2023
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