What is the importance of students reading over the summer?
Reading over the summer is imperative for all students. Research shows that many of our students, particularly those from low-income households, lose ground over the summer months as compared to their higher-income classmates. In 2006, research conducted by Dr. Harris Cooper [professor of psychology and director of Duke Universitys Program in Education] concluded that low-income students face the greatest risk for summer loss, or summer fade as others have dubbed it. Many low-income students live in text-free homes, where there are either no books or the material is inappropriate for their reading abilities and personal interests. Summer break is the perfect time for students to connect with books and to continue building the reading skills they developed during the school year. How can we motivate students to read over the summer? There are a number of ways to promote the value and benefits of summer reading. A 2006 research experiment conducted by Dr. James Kim [assistant professor o
