http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/opinion/28smink.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
We often joke during the school year that our students are just going to forget everything they learned over the summer. A New York Times article published last week explains that summer learning loss isn't just a joke: it happens every year, and it disproportionally affects low-income students. A Johns Hopkins Study of Baltimore students found that "about two-thirds of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income ninth graders could be explained by summer learning loss during the elementary school years" because they are exposed fewer opportunities for learning, reading, and thinking each summer. This is a scary thing.
The reality is that a 180-day school calendar is highly ineffective. It's based on an outdated agrarian calendar, which our country no longer has a need for. Many other countries (which surpass us in student achievement) have embraced year-round schooling. An alternative to converting to year-long schooling (which I honestly don't see happening in the near future) are good summer programs. However, very few districts offer this on a large scale. The article argues that high-need schools "should have at least six weeks of full-day summer school that is comprehensive and engaging." Perhaps summer learning will be the newest school reform craze.
2 comments:
Lindsay,
I had heard others talking about this article yesterday and was happy to read your post to see what others are thinking.
High quality summer learning programs in Baltimore city do seem scarce. I know the city offered a summer learning camp program, somehow connected to the upcoming Grand Prix, but I don't think this program was the six-week full-day summer program that article deems necessary.
With summer learning so closely connected to the achievement gap, according to the Johns Hopkins study, it really makes me wonder how we can make these opportunties for learning, reading, and thinking readily available to our students. This may be another piece of holistic reform we consider. Where to begin in Baltimore?
Great post Lindsay,
Summer learning loss is something that we discussed in other classes prior to the end of the school year. To me, the biggest challenge is changing the stigma attached to "summer school." While Baltimore offered the Grand Prix program, among others, I had a hard time getting my students excited about it. It took many conversations explaining that summer school wasn't just for "bad kids" or "dumb kids" like they tried to tell me, to get many to turn in their applications.
I'm with Molly in saying that Grand Prix is not the fix that we need (although according to the Baltimore Sun article published on Friday, they program will be in 10 more schools next summer). We absolutely need more, but I think first, we need some killer PR to get the kids and parents on board that summer school can be beneficial to all students, not just those at risk of being left back.
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