A Palisadian Perspective: The Summer Slide

By MARYAM ZAR | Contributing Writer

The following was contributed by former Pacific Palisades Community Council Chair Maryam Zar, who is raising three kids in the Palisades.

Have you heard about the summer slide? No, not that great inflatable slide in your backyard, but the summer learning loss that affects low-income kids each summer.

Have you heard of the achievement gap? Yes, the difference between the academic achievement of inner city kids and suburban kids when they graduate.

Put them together, and you have the tension of summer.

According to a report by the RAND Corporation, the average summer learning loss in math and reading for American students disproportionately affects low-income students who lose two months of academic skill, while their higher-income peers, who presumably engage in enriching summers, replete with camps and travel, make slight gains.

Those who can’t afford camps or summer learning programs cobble together care from family members or friends, or are forced to leave children home alone, often spending an average of 10 hours per week on their own.

Summers vacation is now acknowledged by the research community as one of the most important causes of underachievement in our schools. Decades of research confirm that summer learning loss is cumulative. That means they don’t gain it back.

Lower-income kids who experience sedentary summers without enriching experiences lose the equivalent of nearly three years of learning compared to their higher-income peers by the end of elementary school.

Researchers fault the “summer slide” for about half of the overall difference in academic achievement between lower and higher income students, by the time they are in high school.

So, what are your kids up to this summer?

In 2014, only 7 percent of inner city kids went to summer camp, compared to roughly 40 percent of suburban kids. Even for affluent working parents, this time of year can be challenging.

In my family, we think long and hard about how to piece together the summer. This year, my daughter got to travel to four of the most novel places on earth, my son experienced sports camp on two coasts and the other got to see one of the world’s seven wonders.

But that hasn’t come without challenges. We still have to feed and clothe them, while keeping expectations realistic and raising responsible kids who are engaged in the world around them, and not overly entitled.

According to the New York Times, for more than 70 percent of American parents, summer—“that beloved institution—is a financial and logistical nightmare.” True that!

Come September (well, August), kids will arrive at schools with large achievement gaps between those who experienced the enrichment of summer and those who stayed home. For every child that had an enriching summer, there will be thousands who will spend their long days unsupervised or unproductive.

Most kids will lose math and reading skills that may impact their confidence as they return to school.

According to studies, one of the other negative impacts of summer is weight gain. On average, weight gain is three times faster during the summer months. In low-income neighborhoods youth are more likely to experience negative health outcomes, such as obesity, by the close of summer.

So this August/September, when we all return to school, let’s be mindful of the diversity of experiences kids have had over the summer. If your summer included the slide in your backyard, think about donating some resources and time to the various inner city enrichment programs that allow low-income kids to experience summer enrichment.

If you are sending your kids to camp or experiences abroad, make sure they know they are engaged in an activity not enjoyed by many, and as they return to school, maybe they can lend a tutoring hand to some of the programs that help kids catch up in academics.

I hope the first assignment after summer break won’t be an essay about what kids did over summer. That only highlights the gaps in students’ experiences. Better to focus on the kernel of experience that can help unearth potential or define an interest, and kindle a dream or a path for the future.

By a stroke of biological luck (good or bad), my kids have parents that constantly remind them they need a path for their future and a plan for professional life. For many, that path is hard to find, unlit by a flashlight-holding parent.

I know I’ll volunteer at my kids’ local schools to tutor students who may need skills I can help with. Other schools also offer opportunities for parent-sponsored enrichment.

I hope everyone reading this can find a way to give a little of their good fortune to a kid that re-enters the academic year after a summer slide—and not the wet kind!