Imagine that this coming summer, John continues to read 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week. He left school in a C reading group.
Ashley, however, does not read regularly in the summer. She also left school as a level C reader.
When the new teacher tests John and Ashley at the beginning of the of the new school year, John is still a level C reader, but Ashley has lost ground and is now a level B reader.
Ashley will learn at the same rate as John during the school year. But her consistent setbacks from summer learning losses will put her behind by up to 2 years for verbal skills and 1 1/2 years for math skills by 5th grade.
Ashley and John enter middle school, adjust to a much more complicated class schedule, and deal with all of the social and emotional challenges.
As Ashley and John leave middle school, they are tracked into high school classes. John is tracked as a high performing student, while Ashley is not. Ashley is now less likely to graduate from high school and enter college.
Story based on research by Alexander et al. 2007.
