If you hear teachers talking about the “summer slide,” they are, unfortunately, not referring to a fun amusement park ride. This term is what teachers call the learning loss many students experience over the summer, and addressing this loss is crucial for helping students start off strong for the new school year. Here are some strategies and resources to mitigate the effects of summer learning loss:
- Use Diagnostic Assessments
Just like everything in education, summer learning loss isn’t a one-size-fits-all problem. Where students may have fallen behind and how much they’ve forgotten depends on many factors, and it’s crucial to have this data before addressing the gaps. At the beginning of the year, use short, formative assessments to see how students score on the core concepts that you’ll be building upon during the year.
- Review and Reinforce
Based on the data from the assessments, create a review plan for the first month. You can even have students create the review games, activities, and presentations to increase their effectiveness. If students are having a hard time getting back into the swing of school, try implementing some engaging review strategies that are sure to boost their success.
- Small Group Instruction
Along with reviewing, you can address gaps by placing students in small groups geared toward what they missed on the formative assessments. Each small group works on specific material and receives targeted support. This way they’ll be less likely to get bored practicing skills they’ve already mastered. As a bonus, students will be working with and creating connections with classmates.
- Get Parents Involved
To extend learning beyond the classroom, loop in parents and guardians. Communicate early and often with adults in the home to let them know about their student’s progress. Provide resources for home activities that reinforce classroom learning and be clear why you are sending these resources home and how to use them. It’s important to remind parents and guardians that even 20 to 30 minutes of review can pay dividends in the classroom.
- Collaborate
The more people on the team to address learning loss, the better! Just as you need parents and guardians to assist in this effort, other teachers, administrators, and support staff also have an important role. Ideally, the school admin team would put in place a comprehensive approach to addressing learning loss. However, even working as a department or grade level is better than trying to solve this issue alone. Collaborate by sharing resources, ideas, best practices, etc.
- Prevention
While some learning loss may be unavoidable, teachers can push prevention strategies as much as possible before school lets out for the summer. We have little control over what our students do during their vacation, but we can incentivize them to keep learning by informing them and their adults about community programs. For example, many local libraries host reading challenges with prizes, and organizations such as the YMCA offer low- to no-cost enrichment activities.
By Kelli Drummer-Avendano
Also read:
3 Simple Solutions for Student Learning in the Summer
Summer Reading Recommendations for Elementary, Middle, and High School
