David Von Drehle writes in TIME's cover story entitled "The Case Against Summer Vacation":
"We romanticize it. But all that downtime is making our kids fall behind -- especially those who can least afford to." Social scientists call it "summer learning loss." Others simply call it "the summer slide." The argument: The three-month summer vacation is an anachronism that hurts America's global competitiveness but hurts low-income kids most of all -- kids who don't have a chance to go to camps or learning centers or take educational vacations with their families. Whereas low-income kids and high-income students start at relatively the same point in first grade, by 9th grade, low-income kids are three grades behind. During the year, they stay close to equal -- but each summer the distance between the groups gets wider. Opponents of extending the school year include teacher's unions and amusement-park industry.
"We associate the school year with oppression and the summer months with liberty ... But ... children around the world ... are in many cases spending four weeks longer in school each year ... Dull summers take a steep toll, as researchers have been documenting for more than a century. Deprived of healthy stimulation, millions of low-income kids lose a significant amount of what they learn during the school year. .... In places all over the country -- from inner cities to Appalachia, inside rec centers and church basements, on bumpy ball fields and pocked playgrounds -- kids are learning this summer ... If ever there was a movement suited to local experiments, informal innovations and seat-of-the-pants efforts, surely it's the campaign to squeeze more from summer." Read the full article.
(Via Mike Allen's Playbook)
6 Comments
I study policy analysis in my university and in our education economics class we learned about this issue.
An objection I have is to the following statement "During the year, they stay close to equal -- but each summer the distance between the groups gets wider." According to renown policy analyst Alan Krueger, the relative gains for both lower- and higher-income students were equal, not that they were academically equal (meaning they both improved the same amounts, not that they were actually academically equivalent.) In any case, education policy is not nearly as straightforward as is often portrayed to be.
www.ny.frb.org/research/epr/98v04n1/9803krue.pdf
:sigh: Summer vacation...
Yes... but all of us school teachers will shrivel up and die if you take away the summer vacation.
Interestingly enough, my special needs son made more progress between the end of the school year and the start of his summer program than he made all year long. And I think most active parents would say that their children benefit from the different kind of learning experiences their children get in the summer, many of which don't involve large expenses. So I don't think the answer is to get rid of summer. The answer is to promote active parenting and free/inexpensive community activities/resources so everyone benefits from summer.
I don't think that eliminating summer vacation will solve our learning problems in this country. The kids deserve a break. This is my take on this issue in 90 seconds:
http://preppedandpolished.com/school-summer-vacation-good-or-bad/
Alexis Avila
Founder/President
Prepped & Polished
Tutoring, College Counseling, Test Prep
www.preppedandpolished.com
What a completely ridiculous article. If our local school tried anything like this I would immediately begin the process of moving to another state, to homeschooling, or anywhere that would let them learn the ten million things they'll never learn in a modern school classroom.
I think summer vacations are needed. The other breaks during the school year are associated with holidays and families are all getting together and planning activities and get togethers and meals. summer gives time for casual outings and time to relax
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