Summer Learning Loss in Reading Achievement: Effects of Demographic Variables and Summer Activity

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation was to determine if there was a statistically and practically significant effect of summer learning loss in reading in primary grades, and to determine whether or not that loss varied by demographic variables and/or summer activity. The first study examined if demographic variables such as free or reduced lunch status, special education status, eligibility for English Language Learner services, or race influenced summer learning loss. The second study controlled for significant demographic variables and determined if summer literacy activities at home, as measured by a survey, or summer program attendance were associated with differential summer learning loss. Based on recommendations in previous literature, intervening instructional time was minimized and students were tested within the last 10 days of school in the spring and the first 10 days in the fall. There was a significant effect of summer learning loss in reading in four of the six grades studied, and in those grades, the effect size of the loss was medium to large in magnitude (i.e., d = .52 – 1.37). Demographic variables and summer activity, as measured by the present study, accounted for a small proportion of the variance in summer change.