Summer Learning Loss

Summer learning loss, also called the summer slide, is the loss of academic skills and knowledge that students experience over the course of summer vacation, in countries with lengthy school breaks such as the United States and Canada. Schools detect it by comparing standardized test results taken before the break against results taken again when students return in the autumn. A 2017 review found that students typically lose about one month of academic progress over the summer, with mathematics skills declining more than reading ability and older students losing more ground than younger ones, and that the loss falls unevenly by family income: students from low-income families tended to lose reading skills over the summer, while middle- and higher-income students actually gained skills over the same break.