Re: summer reading learning gap

["GERALD BRACEY" <gbracey1@verizon.net>]

If Karl is answering "more school," he's changed his mind somewhat from when 
these kids were emerging from elementary school.  Then he pointed to things 
middle class kids do in the summer--attend fairs, go to libraries, museums, 
on trips and play structured sports.

See Kappan research column March 2002 for summary of Alexander's earlier 
work.  Also September 2002 for more summary of more general review from Dick 
Allington.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Monty Neill" <monty@fairtest.org>
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Sent: Friday, July 13, 2007 11:43 AM
Subject: [arn-l] summer reading learning gap


Article below worth a read. Note Haycock response - she is correct of course 
about the systemic inequities, but what she must really worry about is the 
damage this does to her and Ed Trusts incessant teacher bashing.

My own view is that standardized tests measure far too little of what is 
worth learning. They are missing things that upper class kids get that help 
them in college, etc. (aside from immediate wealth and connections). And any 
kinds of knowledge acquired in communities and families that are not tied as 
clearly to school learning is also not measured.

Still, this suggests that on some things that have been legislatively 
determined to be most important in schools - reading test scores - the 
educators serving poor kids are doing a good job. And that the impact of 
poverty, intertwined with racism, is (surprise, surprise) enormous.

Does not mean schools cannot be made better (not via tests and NCLB etc), 
and certainly not that the inequities in funding schools should not be 
addressed - but this report should be used to counter the claims that its 
all the schools fault. That claim has undergirded Republican (Reagan, Bush I 
and II) and Democracy (Clinton) presidential, legislative, gubernatorial, 
corporate, and other waves of so-called reform - and continues.

Monty


Published Online: July 12, 2007
Much of Achievement Gap Traced to 'Summer Slide'
By Scott J. Cech





It's been a truism for decades that students' learning slips during the 
summer, and that low-income children fall farther behind than their 
classmates, but no one had connected the longitudinal data dots to show just 
what the cumulative consequences of the summer slide might be. Until now.

A recent study by sociology professor Karl L. Alexander and colleagues at 
Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore concludes that two-thirds of the 
reading achievement gap between 9th graders of low and high socioeconomic 
standing in Baltimore public schools can be traced to what they learned-or 
failed to learn-over their childhood summers.

The study, which tracked data from about 325 Baltimore students from 1st 
grade to age 22, points out that various characteristics that depend heavily 
on reading ability-such as students' curriculum track in high school, their 
risk of dropping out, and their probability of pursuing higher education and 
landing higher-paying jobs-all diverge widely according to socioeconomic 
levels.

"I call this the Harry Potter divide," said Alan B. Krueger, a professor of 
economics and public policy at Princeton University, referring to a 2000 
poll by the Princeton, N.J.-based Gallup Organization that asked adults if 
any of their children were reading the wildly popular series of eponymous 
books. The poll results showed a wide gap in the responses, based on income.

"Children from low [socioeconomic-status] backgrounds don't get that reading 
enrichment," said Mr. Krueger, who was chief economist of the U.S. 
Department of Labor in the Clinton administration.

The study, which appeared in the April issue of the American Sociological 
Review, makes use of data from reading tests that were administered to the 
same students twice yearly, enabling researchers to isolate reading 
comprehension gains made during the school year with those made-or 
lost-during the summer.

Although the limited national data available on the subject had suggested 
that the gap between rich and poor would be wide, Mr. Alexander said the 
numbers on summer from his Baltimore study took him aback.

"What surprised me was the size of the summer learning difference," he said.

A Widening Gap
By the end of 5th grade, the differential in cumulative scores reflecting 
what students of high and low socioeconomic classes learned outside of 
school in the summer was stark.

The summer learning among students in relatively well-educated, economically 
secure homes had effectively added a total of about 47 points to their test 
scores by that point in their school careers. Students in relatively 
low-income, poorly educated families had been reduced by about 2 points over 
that period.

By contrast, in data covering five winters, when test scores reflect mostly 
classroom learning, the socioeconomically disadvantaged students kept pace 
with their more-advantaged classmates.

"Schools are in fact compensating for a shortfall of quality learning 
experiences outside of school," Mr. Alexander said. "I don't fault 
parents-parents by and large are the best advocates for their children-but 
the reality is that many parents lack the effective tools for helping."

Daria L. Hall, the assistant director for K-12 policy development for the 
Washington-based Education Trust, a nonprofit group that promotes high 
academic standards for disadvantaged children, worries that the findings 
will take policymakers' focus off the need to close a different kind of gap.

"We can't allow the problems of the out-of school inequities to overshadow 
the problems of the in-school inequities," she said. "However way you look 
at it, low-income kids and kids of color get less than their fair share of 
quality teaching, curriculum, and resources."

Federal Program Proposed
Mr. Alexander's research has also attracted interest outside of academia. 
Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois is 
co-sponsoring the Summer Term Education Programs for Upward Performance Act 
of 2007, a bill that cites Mr. Alexander's research.

The legislation would authorize $100 million to be divided among five states 
selected by the U.S. secretary of education for summer programs that combine 
fun and academics for children who are eligible for the federal free-lunch 
program. States would have to match the federal contribution of $1,600 per 
child per summer.

"That would be wonderful if the states would actually sponsor high-quality 
programs," said Meredith Phillips, a professor of public policy and 
sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

About the study itself, Ms. Phillips said the methodology is sound and the 
data depth is enviable, even if the sample size is small and all drawn from 
one place.

"This is the only data set available to study this question-we can't do any 
better than this," she said. "The one limitation is that we don't know how 
generalizable the results are from kids in Baltimore to kids nationally."

"There are limitations to our study," Mr. Alexander acknowledged, "but in 
broad terms, I'm as certain as I can be without having the numbers that 
you'd see much the same results in high-poverty school systems across the 
country."

Asked what would ameliorate the problem his study highlights, Mr. Alexander 
suggested two words: More school.

"Most advanced industrial countries have more schooling than we do-230-240 
days a year, some of them," he noted. "The key, though, is that whatever we 
do, it needs to be done well. You need a good plan on top of good 
intentions."

Vol. 26, Issue 43

Monty Neill, Ed.D.
Co-Executive Director
FairTest
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