A SUMMER READING AWARENESS GAP FOR PARENTS
At first glance, parents seem aware of the importance of summer reading, as 94% agree reading over the summer can help their child during the school year. And yet, nearly half of parents with school-age children are unaware of the “summer slide” (47%), the loss of academic skills that occurs when school is not in session and which is attributed largely to the lack of reading. This is of critical importance as the effects of the summer slide are cumulative. Researchers estimate that by the time a struggling reader reaches middle school, summer reading loss has accumulated to a two-year lag in reading achievement1. A case can be made that we can begin to address this contributing factor to the reading achievement gap by addressing an information gap. The Kids & Family Reading Report reveals that when parents are aware of the summer slide, both children and parents are more engaged in summer reading.
It’s encouraging that awareness of the summer slide has increased five points since 2016 (48% vs. 53%). However, there are significant disparities around awareness among certain subsets. Similar to other reading habit trends, parents of frequent readers (kids who read books for fun 5–7 days a week) are far more likely to have the summer slide on their radar than are parents of infrequent readers (kids who read for fun less than one day a week). Lower-income families, as was the case in 2016, remain less likely to be aware (See figure 1).This is of notable concern as the summer slide is a primary contributor to the reading achievement gap between lower- and higher-income students2. What's more, out-of-school experiences, particularly unequal summer learning during early formative years, have been shown to account for the majority of achievement differences among socio-economic statuses by the time students reach ninth grade3. All heightening a need for greater communication around summer reading for lower-income families.
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1 Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Olson, L. S. (2007). Lasting consequences of the summer learning gap. American Sociological Review, 72(2), 167–180.; Cooper, H., Charlton, K., Valentine, J. C., & Muhlenbruck, L. (2000). Making the Most of Summer School: A Meta-Analytic and Narrative Review. Society for Research in Child Development, vol. 65, no. 1. Allington, R. L., & McGill-Franzen, A. M. (2003). The impact of summer setback on the reading achievement gap. Phi Delta Kappan, 85(1), 68–75.
2National Summer Learning Association, (2017). State of summer learning: 2017 state policy snapshot.
3Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Olson, L. S. (2007). Lasting consequences of the summer learning gap. American Sociological Review, 72(2), 167–180.
