Summer learning loss could be alleviated by community schools, expert says

Summer learning loss is a huge issue across K-12 education, and it's especially concerning for youth from low-income families, who don't benefit from summer enrichment activities, and fall behind as a result.

Laura Bronstein, founding director of Binghamton University Community Schools and a scholar who studies the outcomes of community schools that include summer programming, has seen the profound potential that community schools have in creating a more equitable school environment and increasing attendance, achievement and graduation rates.

"Community schools build bridges among community resources, placing the school at the core of the community, to support youth, families and neighborhoods within and beyond the doors of the classroom," says Bronstein. "They are among the most effective means to promote equity so that all students have the support they need to graduate and succeed."

While middle-class homes can often provide for summer enrichment, children from low-income families can lack quality summer activities, says Bronstein. As a result, it is not unusual for them to lose months of reading and math skills over the summer, widening the achievement gap between children from more well-to-do families and those from families with fewer means.

This is not only an issue year to year, but learning loss for youth in low-income communities adds up dramatically over the years. By ninth grade, about two-thirds of the academic achievement gap between disadvantaged youth and their more advantaged peers can largely be explained by how they spend their summers.

"When summer programs are components of community schools, they assure students from low-income families have the necessary support to continue learning through the summers," says Bronstein. "This occurs through enriched activities including music, dance, crafts, athletics, outdoor experiences, and academics. With students more plugged into summer learning, teachers in high-poverty neighborhoods can begin teaching new content at the start of the school year, without spending valuable time backtracking over content forgotten from the prior year."

When more school districts implement the community school model and offer summer programs, we can reduce learning loss across the country, lessen the academic gap that low-income students face when they return to school in the fall, support our teachers’ focus on grade-level academics, and lead all students, families and communities toward a brighter future, says Bronstein.