• What the research says about reading...
     
    "While the statistics on summer reading loss seem discouraging, there are answers. Studies suggest that children who read as few as six books over the summer maintain the level of reading skills they achieved during the preceding school year.  Reading more books leads to even greater success.  When children are provided with 10 to 20 self-selected children's books at the end of the regular school year, as many as 50 percent not only maintain their skills, but actually make reading gains." McGill-Franzen, A., & Allington R. (2003 May/June) "Bridging the Summer Reading Gapexternal link opens in a new window." Instructor, 112 no. 8. 

    "In a 2003 study a group of children who had just completed fifth grade, J. Kim found that those who read more over the summer gained in reading comprehension.  Reading just five books over the summer caused a 3 percentile gain in reading comprehension."  Kan, Katharine. Sizzling Summer Reading Programs for Young Adults. American Library Association, 2006.

    "Does Summer Reading Matter?  The "summer effect" on student achievement is well-researched: "The long summer vacation breaks the rhythm of instruction, leads to forgetting, and requires a significant amount of review when students return to school in the fall" (Cooper 2003, 2). Research findings have consistently reported that: (1) student learning declines or remains the same during the summer months; and (2) the magnitude of the change differs by socio-economic status (Malach and Rutter 2003)."  Reading Takes You Places: A Study of a Web-based Summer Reading Program.
     
     
    Summer Learning Loss - a summary of research

    "Advise parents to set the expectations for their child to read every day.  Reading for 20-30 minutes a day keeps students' vocabulary and reading ability growing during the summer and can be a wonderful activity for rainy days, household errand running, and long waits in the car or the airport.”  Book Whisperer
Last Modified on July 6, 2017