IGNITE Summer 2018 | Page 14

5 ACTIVITIES FOR PREVENTING SUMMER BRAIN DRAIN PROVIDED BY ZIFT “Summer learning loss.” “Summer setback.” “Summer slide.” Call it what you want, but every teacher knows its aftermath: the bell rings in a new school year, and somehow students have forgotten a big chunk of last year’s lessons over summer break. In its 2017 study, the Brookings Institute found that summer learning loss is a real issue, with its impact varying across geographies, grade levels, and subjects. THE FACTS ON SUMMER LEARNING LOSS On average, students’ achievement scores decline by one month’s worth of school-year learning over the course of one summer break. Declines are greater in math than in reading. Higher grade levels see greater learning loss. Source: Brookings Institution 14