What do we mean by a ‘summer slide’?

The ‘summer slide’ refers to a loss of around 20% of the previous school year’s reading and learning gains over the long summer holidays that learners are experiencing. A lack of practice and a dip in consistent engagement are key causes, and more pronounced in those who are still acquiring literacy, although learners of all ages experience some skill erosion over summer.

We’ve known about it for a while: the first comprehensive research on the phenomenon came in the mid-1990s, and since then, preventing summer slide is acknowledged as a major hurdle for educators. But how does summer slide happen?

The summer slide isn’t just about the start of term

It all starts when learners head back to class and are confronted with more complex and demanding schoolwork. Here’s where the first demographic breakdown happens: those who have read enough to preserve their reading gains over summer and progress into the new year with ease, and those who haven’t.

Some of the second group will be able to put extra effort into learning to get back on track, but this requires a lot of self-motivation and a fairly complex understanding of the difficulties they’re facing. It often means having the confidence to approach teachers with a request for help, which isn’t so easy when you’re both new to each other.

This means that many learners who haven’t read over summer enter the new school year proper with an ongoing deficit. If that goes unchecked, it can put them weeks of skill growth behind their summer-reading classmates by the end of term. And as another summer goes by with another up to 20% skill erosion, that means that those lost weeks get doubled, and the deficit becomes entrenched.

This is why preventing summer slide is so important: it’s not just about the start of this new term, but about the start of the new term after that, and the term after that. 

Is preventing summer slide the same for every learner?

No. Research demonstrates that gaps in cognitive skills based on socio-economic status grow far faster when school is out for the summer than during the school year, indicating that schools are fulfilling an essential role in ‘filling in the gaps’ for learners who might struggle to find the space, motivation and materials to read and learn with as a result of their home environment.

Some sources (particularly noted educational theorists Doris Entwistle, Karl Alexander and Linda Steffel Olson in Children, School and Inequality) posit that children from low socio-economic status backgrounds’ skill growth essentially ceases when schools are not in session – which means that a vital element preventing summer slide depends on material factors, like book availability. We can observe something similar in those learners who have come to English from other language backgrounds who, like learners from low socio-economic backgrounds, experience a disproportionately large slide over summer – and are likely experiencing a dip in the availability of (and supportive access to) English reading materials, as well as a slip in practice. 

Environmental factors like these are why it’s essential educators take an enabling approach to preventing summer slide, rather than a prescriptive one: it’s a great start to tell learners and parents to make time for reading over summer, but when their situation doesn’t allow this, we may as well have said nothing at all.

That’s why the approach we take matters.

So I’m a teacher. What can I do about preventing summer slide?

The role of the educator in preventing the summer slide is quite a limited one: there isn’t a lot an educator can do when everyone is out of school for the summer. The second problem comes in the form of traditional year group structures, as it’s rare for an primary school teacher to be responsible for the same group of learners for two school years together – so it becomes almost impossible to collect on reading or challenges set the previous June.

One of the best ways that educators can help in preventing summer slide is to support those who might struggle to find access to books with strategies to help them access reading.

Summer Slide mantras to remember for teachers!

💪 I CAN… talk to learners about how local libraries work, or even invite library staff into class. I can also emphasize that these are free facilities, and that it’s not just a book check-out system: there’s internet access and places to sit and read, too, for those with busy or noisy homes. I can also link them up with summer reading challenges.

💪 I CAN… operate a summer loan system with my classroom library. It doesn’t have to be class-wide, if I’m worried about half of my books not coming back in fall: all I need to do is let learners know that it’s available, should they want to borrow something for the holidays, if they’re worried about access to books.

💪 I CAN… make sure that learners know that all reading is good reading. Far too many learners and parents think that the only reading that can work in preventing summer slide is a novel or textbook, but that’s not true. Anything from a comic to a joke book or a recipe book is reading, so I can advise learners to just let interest lead the way!

💪 I CAN… be open with learners about why I’m asking them to pick up a book over summer. To learners, summer feels like a reward: unfortunately, after a hard three terms of work, reading might be the last thing they want to do. That’s why it’s important to make sure learners, especially younger ones, know that they’re being asked to read because it’s good for them, and will make the next term easier, not because I’m trying to spoil their fun. 

But I’m a parent. What can I do about preventing summer slide?

Parents have more control over preventing summer slide than educators do as they’re on-hand over the summer, although it’s still not easy: in the holidays, reading is in competition with a lot of other activities that often offer a much higher entertainment value. There are, however, a number of ways that you can still support learners in reaching for books more often over summer.

Summer Slide mantras to remember for parents!

💪 I CAN… read more myself. Creating a culture of reading in the home starts with the adults, and learners are more likely to if they see me reading for pleasure.

💪 I CAN… set aside time for reading. This might be as simple as taking time after dinner to read a book together (or separate books in the same room), or heading to the library one morning when we’re both free. It’s important to try to establish a routine, because a reading routine can help curate a lifelong reading habit.

💪 I CAN… offer rewards, because bribery isn’t so morally reprehensible when it’s got the end goal of getting kids reading. Setting targets like ‘read 10 books this summer’ or ‘read 500 pages by the time you go back to school’ help learners visualise targets and associate reading with reward, as well as keep their skills ticking over for September. Rewards don’t have to be huge, either: it might be as simple as a favourite meal or day out.

💪 I CAN…Turn on the subtitles! You can turn TV-watching into a reading skill boost by flicking on the subtitles. All reading is good reading, and if the learners in my family are feeling particularly book-averse one day, it’s a great compromise between screen time and reading time.

💪 I CAN… have a device-free evening and get us reading together! Younger kids are mimics, especially if they’re young, and they’re likely to follow the behaviours and patterns that those closest to them exhibit. So if I’m scrolling all the time, the likelihood is that they will be too… but if I’m an enthusiastic reader and reading partner, then there’s all kinds of fun to be had!

💪 I CAN… get clever with screen time. If the young learners in my family are currently obsessed with vlog and influencer content, I can repurpose that to my advantage as a means of preventing summer slide. If they’re struggling to find the motivation to finish a book or even to get started, I can support them in creating influencer-style book reviews using phones and tablets, and get them talking about the book, what they liked and disliked, and how they feel about things like style and topic too.

A note on dyslexia, struggling readers, and reading support...

It’s important to remember that the biggest part of preventing summer slide is ensuring that there’s ongoing access to books for these learners. That can’t happen if there are things like undiagnosed or unsupported neurodiversities in play.

Statements to look out for that might suggest dyslexia

🧠 The letters look jumbled up

🧠 Words shift around on the page / ‘the letters are dancing’

🧠 It’s hard to see the spaces between words

🧠 I can’t see things well / things are blurry or foggy

🧠 I mix up letters like ‘b’ and ‘d’ a lot

🧠 I read much slower than everyone else in my class

🧠 I can’t remember much of what I read

🧠 I don’t understand most of what I read

…But not every struggling or reading-averse learner has dyslexia. Indeed, since the pandemic closed schools, millions of learners all over the world lost a lot of reading progress and might be feeling quite stressed and negative about books from their time in class, which is a huge hurdle for reading for pleasure over summer and preventing summer slide.

That’s why it’s so important to have an open, direct discussion about reading support. Solutions can come in all forms, from high-low reading books (for readers whose reading age is lower than their interest age) to text-to-speech reading pens (which let learners scan the page and listen to the words, boosting their understanding and comprehension and lowering their stress levels exponentially).

Join us in a summer reading challenge! 

💡 Need a hand getting your young readers back into books for summer? Why not take part in the Scanning Pens' Summer Reading Challenge: just follow the map and colour your adventure for the chance to win big!

Keep your eyes on the Scanning Pens LinkedIn and Insta page for more.