Nearly 40 studies since 1906 document "summer slide" particularly for low-income students

Summer Learning and the Academic Achievement Gap

During the summer months, young people living in poverty often don’t have access to essential resources that support their academic performance and healthy development. As a result, they experience well-documented setbacks in academic skills that contribute to growth in the achievement gap. Since 1906, there have been 39 empirical studies that have found incontrovertible evidence of a pattern of “summer learning loss,” particularly for low-income youth. Together, these studies offer a compelling reason to focus education resources on providing summer opportunities in high-poverty communities.

SOURCE: Education Commission of the States' June 2009 edition of the Progress of Education Reform Newsletter.