Addressing Summer Learning Loss

By Dr. Bethany Ziss, AHN Pediatrics Bloomfield, Developmental Pediatrics.

The first day of school, the sixth graders get a math assessment to

see how much they remember. Next week, the first graders will take the DIBELS to evaluate early reading skills. Perhaps you spent the summer trying to get your kindergartener to practice writing letters or your teen to read a book, any book. Perhaps you decided your child needed a summer of running around after a year of school on screen.

Every year, parents and educators worry about “summer learning loss.” This year, the fears are larger as many students struggled to make expected academic progress last year under the uncertainty and changes due to COVID.

Summer learning loss has been studied extensively for several decades. On average, students tend to lose about a month of skills over the summer. Math skills drop more than reading skills. Students with more socioeconomic challenges tend to lose more. Older students tend to lose more. Summer reading programs might help. Or not. One study found that sending text messages to parents over the summer reminding them about reading improved test scores of third and fourth graders but not younger children. Students receiving special education services are known to be at increased risk of losing skills over the summer, and children with a history of skill loss or regression over school breaks can be eligible for Extended School Year services over the summer as part of their IEPs.

Some newer studies show less of a loss than older ones, perhaps not much of a loss at all, depending on which tests were used. Often children would be given the same test in the fall and spring, and then a different, harder test the following fall. Newer testing methods are different, often using a computer to adjust the questions during the test. Everything we all thought we knew about summer learning loss may not be quite as worrisome as we thought.

Enter COVID.

What do we know about children’s learning progress during the era of COVID?

We know that COVID affected us all, but not to the same extent. Some schools and districts struggled more than others when switching to remote learning, and some districts resumed in-person learning much sooner in the 2020-2021 academic year than others. Access to needed devices and reliable internet access also varied widely.

Some children struggled more than others when learning remotely compared to being in the classroom. (A few students thrived.)

Early data about COVID learning suggests students were an average of 1-2 months behind at the start of the 20202021 year, compared to usual test scores.

But if everyone, or nearly everyone is 2 months “behind,” then maybe we can all worry a little less, and just accept that students are in a slightly different place than usual. Children, already under the usual stresses of growth and the unusual stresses of the pandemic, are not likely