Typically, during the summer, it’s important for kids to have less structure than usual, so they can relax and recharge. This year, in the face of a pandemic, the needs of our students may be a little different. They’ll need routines & structured learning opportunities in a way they didn’t in years past.
Furthermore, parents are experiencing a lot of uncertainty regarding their existing summer plans, including face-to-face summer camps, programs, and sports. Our online summer programs provide safe alternatives that allow students to keep learning and potentially even earn school credit.
As a result, many Michigan schools are exploring online summer learning options as a way to offer students opportunities to earn grade-based credits and provide additional means for learning continuity.
Even in average years, it is predicted that students lose about one month’s worth of learning over the summer. In math and reading, these predictions are even more drastic, with an estimated two months of learning loss in some studies.
This atrophy wastes valuable time in school at the beginning of the next Fall when students have to relearn much of what was lost over the summer. Some estimates suggest that teachers spend up to six weeks each Fall re-teaching old material.
The worst part? Research shows that the summer slide has its greatest impact on students of low socioeconomic status, whose parents are not able to provide the same summer learning opportunities as wealthier parents. Though we’re currently in an unusual situation, in normal years, this might include summer camps, educational trips to museums and zoos, or the purchase of books and other school supplies.
In fact, some even claim that summer learning explains up to two-thirds of the income-based achievement gap.
Together, these statistics ought to inspire us to act.
When it comes to summer learning, most school administrators would love to provide families in their districts with summer learning options, but there are many logistical challenges involved with the creation of a sustainable summer school model (e.g., budgeting and staffing).
There are a few distinct benefits to setting up an online summer learning program. In particular, this path allows you to: