The DOI matches its Crossref record; 8 of the 8 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Surprising new evidence on summer learning loss
Abstract
It has been common knowledge for decades that poor and working-class students tend to experience “summer learning loss,” a drop in performance between spring and fall that serves to widen the gap between students. However, new research shows that the reality of summer learning loss is more complex. Megan Kuhfeld draws on data from the 3.4 million students who took the NWEA MAP Growth assessments to find that summer slide is common, but not inevitable. According to the data, the students who experienced the greatest loss were those who made the greatest gains during the previous school year. The research also calls into question about the usual explanations for learning loss, such as access to summer programs and length of the school year.
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“Although early influential studies also found that summer is a time when socioeconomic learning gaps widen, this finding has failed to replicate in more recent studies (8, 9) or in European samples (48, 49).”
From Learning loss due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021) · cites this paper as [9]
In the citing paper
“prior research indicated student achievement slows down or even declines over the summer breaks (e.g., von Hippel et al., 2018;Kuhfeld, 2019).”
From Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Student Learning and Opportunity Gaps Across the 2020–2021 School Year: A National Survey of Teachers (2022) · cites this paper as Kuhfeld, 2019
Citations
Cites
The Effects of Summer Vacation on Achievement Test Scores: A Narrative and Meta-Analytic Review
Cooper, H., Nye, B., Charlton, K., Lindsay, J., & Greathouse, S. (1996) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/00346543066003227 · Cited by 991
Lasting Consequences of the Summer Learning Gap
Alexander, K. L., Entwisle, D. R., & Olson, L. S. (2007) · American Sociological Review · doi:10.1177/000312240707200202 · Cited by 763
von Hippel, P. T., Workman, J., & Downey, D. B. (2018) · Sociology of Education · doi:10.1177/0038040718801760 · Cited by 214
Kim, J. S., & Quinn, D. M. (2013) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/0034654313483906 · Cited by 213 · cited 1×
“Other studies have found summer reading programs to be effective, particularly for low-income students (see Kim & Quinn, 2013, for a review), but these programs tend to be costly and often struggle to recruit and retain students and high-quality teachers.”
BackgroundExtending the School Day or School Year
Patall, E. A., Cooper, H. M., & Allen, A. B. (2010) · Review of Educational Research · doi:10.3102/0034654310377086 · Cited by 197
von Hippel, P., & Hamrock, C. (2019) · Sociological Science · doi:10.15195/v6.a3 · Cited by 149 · cited 1×
“Further, recent research (von Hippel & Hamrock, 2019) points out flaws in the testing and scaling procedures used V101 N1 kappanonline.org 27 has been in school prior to testing.”
MethodThe Summer Slide: What We Know and Can Do about Summer Learning Loss.
Alexander, K. L., Pitcock, S., & Boulay, M. (2016) · Teachers College Press eBooks · Cited by 78
Learning from Summer: Effects of Voluntary Summer Learning Programs on Low-Income Urban Youth
Augustine, C. H., McCombs, J. S., Pane, J. F., Schwartz, H. L., Schweig, J. D., McEachin, A. J., & Siler-Evans, K. (2016) · RAND Corporation eBooks · doi:10.7249/rr1557 · Cited by 53
Research works printed but not linked: 4
- Entwisle D.R., 2000, A nation at risk: Preserving public education as an engine for social mobility, 9
- Kuhfeld M., Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness
- Redford J., 2018, The summer after kindergarten: Children’s experiences by socioeconomic characteristics
- Quinn D., 2017, Summer learning loss: What is it, and what can we do about it?
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Learning loss due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic
Engzell, P., Frey, A., & Verhagen, M. D. (2021) · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · doi:10.1073/pnas.2022376118 · Cited by 1,848
“∗ Although early influential studies also found that summer is a time when socioeconomic learning gaps widen, this finding has failed to replicate in more recent studies (8, 9) or in European samples (48, 49).”
Projecting the Potential Impact of COVID-19 School Closures on Academic Achievement
Kuhfeld, M., Soland, J., Tarasawa, B., Johnson, A., Ruzek, E., & Liu, J. (2020) · Educational Researcher · doi:10.3102/0013189x20965918 · Cited by 997
Self-citationLearning loss due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic
Engzell, P., Frey, A., & Verhagen, M. D. (2020) · doi:10.31235/osf.io/ve4z7 · Cited by 1,739
Hevia, F. J., Vergara-Lope, S., Velásquez-Durán, A., & Calderón, D. (2022) · International Journal of Educational Development · doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102515 · Cited by 158
Harmey, S. J., & Moss, G. (2021) · Educational Review · doi:10.1080/00131911.2021.1966389 · Cited by 165
Metadata
- Authors
- Kuhfeld, M.
- Corresponding author
- Kuhfeld, Megan
- ORCID
- Kuhfeld, Megan
- Venue
- Phi Delta Kappan
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2019-08-26
- Volume
- 101
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 25-29
- ISSN
- 0031-7217 (ISSN-L)
- 1940-6487
- OpenAlex
- W2971276239
- Cited by
- 93
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 23 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 13 · 2020: 8
- FWCI
- 23.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Phi Delta Kappan (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
- Social Sciences › Education › Educational Outcomes and Influences
- Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
- Keywords
- summer learning loss, achievement gap, low-income students, working-class students, summer programs, school year length, student performance
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