Kids Losing Reading Skills in Summertime
According to a thought-provoking study about summer reading called, ‘Read for Success’ by RIF (Reading is Fundamental):
“During the summer, low-income students lose more than two months of reading achievement”
The Reading for Success’ research study sought to address the socioeconomic disparity and its relationship with reading levels in economically disadvantaged children compared to their peers who have access to more resources. Children in poorer communities were behind in their reading skills.
Once a child reaches third grade, playing catch up with their peers becomes more difficult resulting in the child becoming more frustrated and therefore more likely to drop out of school. RIF study’s goal was to understand the issue and seek a way to bridge the reading level gap, allowing all children to succeed.
80% of low income students lose reading skills over the course of the summer. This does not have to be the case. Summer can be a make or break time for children in economically disadvantaged household; they can either fall further behind or use the few months to catch up and even excel in reading proficiency.
RIF’s new model seeks to decrease the summer reading loss in low income communities. Research shows three key factors vital to reading achievement:
- Access to a lot of good, high quality books
- Book ownership
- Child’s choice in book selection
This program cut summer reading loss in half (from 80% to only 40%) in these children. The statistically significant findings showed stunning gains in the study participants who applied themselves over the summer. The Read for Success Mode contains six components that are vital in combating reading loss, one of which is to provide schools, libraries, and centers with high quality STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) enrichment activities. See page eight for more info on six components.
Check out RIF’s ‘Read for Success’ research study on the importance of summer learning.
