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Email TopicEvery classroom teacher has experienced it: students who leave for summer vacation meeting all grade level standards, but struggle to remember what they learned in the fall. We've even given it a name: Summer Slide.
The research is mixed on how significant the impact is on students - but a study from the Brookings Institute found that students' scores declined by one month of school year's learning over the summer. Other studies have found that summer learning loss disproportionately impacts students from low income communities, contributing to the achievement gap.
Identifying specific students who have experienced summer slide can be useful for teachers because it allows them to more strategically target their instruction and intervention. In some cases, it can help distinguish between students who need a refresher on content they had previously mastered from students who never learned the material to begin with.
For school leaders, summer slide might be part of the story of flat or declining state test scores. Identifying trends early in the school year gives leaders time to plan and budget for high impact summer programming and to make content during the school year more sticky.
Watch the video below to learn more about how to use Schoolzilla to identify students who may have experienced summer slide.