Seasonal Learning Loss

 

I was doing some deep diving into the learning loss students experienced during COVID and ran across seasonal learning loss which is also known as summer learning loss. Researchers have been looking at this phenonium since 1906. Researchers concluded that students achievement scores dropped by one month of school learning by the end of summer holidays.  Specifically, students lose between 17 and 34 percent of the previous school's gains. It is also noted that if a student loses ground over one summer, they are more likely to loose more ground is subsequent summers. In addition, math scores drop more than reading scores, and there is more loss experienced in the upper grades.

Research also indicates loss and gain cannot be predicted by socioeconomic, gender, race, or location. There has been a theory proposed where students who are socioeconomically disadvantaged tend to lose ground over the summer because they do not have the same access to resources students belonging to a higher socioeconomic group has.  This slows down their retention.

Seasonal learning loss occurs because students do not usually practice their reading and math skills over summer holidays.  Traditionally schools have used summer schools to help slow down or prevent learning loss but there are indications that middle income students had better results than lower income students. In addition, the programs with the best results for any income group were programs that followed research based programs and where students attended consistently.  

Furthermore, the cost of running an effective summer program are sometimes not as economically viable as those in the regular school year.  Often school districts find it difficult to engage the number of teachers needed to run the problems and to convince parents to send their children to these programs.  Sometimes it makes more sense to utilize programs that send work home via the mail to have students complete and mail back. If the work is not sent back, teachers contact the home to check on students.

Fortunately, there are some things parents can do to help their students.  One is to set aside 15 to 30 minutes a day to have their children read.  If the child is reading below level, parents can read with them to help and to provide an audience.  As for math, if children work three to four problems a day, it can keep a student's skills from getting rusty.  One can buy workbooks, use packets sent home from school, or visit online to find them.  

If parents knew that investing just an hour a day on doing reading and math can help their child retain more and that they'll be better prepared for the new school year, they might be willing to take time to work with their children.  I think this is a bit of the "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" and would be awesome.  This might just help students make up some of the learning loss experienced during COVID.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.