The Summer Learning Slide

Hour 2

Summer vacation used to be a time when kids could pack away their school books and calculators. It was a time for kids to run in the sun in the neighborhood or at camp, and maybe pick up a summer job to earn a little extra money. But today some education experts are questioning the value of summer vacation and wondering if, in fact, it does more damage than good. It turns out that children lose months of academic progress over the summer. Low-income kids who can’t afford stimulating summer programs are particularly at-risk for what’s called the “summer slide.” Today, we’ll talk about how the long summer vacation affects children’s learning and what to do about it. Also, should kids have homework all summer long? Our guests are HARRIS COOPER, an education researcher at Duke University and JEFF SMINK, Vice-President of Policy at the National Summer Learning Association.

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[audio: 072810_110630.mp3]