Bill Ryan/The Gazette Sarah Solender, 4, of Urbana checks out books Tuesday for the Summer Reading program at the C. Burr Artz Public Library in Frederick. Visiting the library is one tip school officials have for preventing a possible "learning loss" during the summer months.

According to the center's Web site, "All young people experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer."

It is a fact recognized by Frederick County Public Schools.

"We do have Summer Academy, which really helps students maintain the gains they have made during the school year," said Shari Ostrow Scher, curriculum specialist for early childhood education at the school system.

Summer Academy focuses on improving reading and math skills, while the county's summer school program allows students to repeat classes for credit. Teachers and parents identify students who attend Summer Academy. Both programs are optional.

The problem

On average, students lose about 2 1/2 months of grade level equivalency in math skills, regardless of socioeconomic backgrounds, during summer break, said Brenda McLaughlin, the Center for Summer Learning's director for research and policy.

"Math skills across the board were lower at the end of the summer," McLaughlin said. "Reading skills painted another picture."

Reading results showed differences based on a family's income level. On average, middle-income students showed slight gains in reading performance during summer months, while low-income students showed a loss of more than two months in reading achievement.

McLaughlin said summer is one of the "largest contributing factors" to the gap in achievement between children from poverty and their more affluent peers. Children from families with low incomes do not have the same resources or opportunities as children from families with higher incomes.

She said she believes that retaining math skills is more difficult than reading skills because more community and home resources exist to support literacy.

"There are lots of opportunities to continue reading over the summer," McLaughlin said. "However, there are few organized attempts to promote math skills."

Parents need to think outside the box when it comes to learning, she said. "Learning doesn't just take place in school."

Solutions

Parents can minimize the effects of summer vacation on learning, Scher said. "They can ensure that their children are reading and visiting the library. And that doesn't cost any money."

Frederick County Public Schools elementary math specialist Nelson Palmer said parents should look for opportunities to reinforce a child's math skills all year long. "It really is just learning how to use math in their homes and in their lives."

Scher said children can enjoy spending time with friends and having fun, but added that many children spend too much time in front of the television or playing video games.

At the start of each school year, teachers review material from the previous year, she said. "It's not a total repeat of information. You never want to be in the position that you have to do so much review that it interferes with learning new material."

Bonnie Hain, secondary English and language arts curriculum specialist, agreed.

"We have a spiraling curriculum," Hain said. Each fall, "we review and build on ideas presented at the end of the previous year."

Ann Reever, South Frederick Elementary principal, said children are reassessed at the start of each school year so that any problems can be addressed immediately.

To minimize learning losses, Hain suggested parents encourage their children to read and keep journals of summer experiences.

Summer remedial programs, such as the county's summer academy programs, are useful tools to help students who are behind; however, the Center for Summer Learning states they should not be substitutes for effective instruction during the school year.

The school system's elementary math curriculum specialist agreed.

"There will always be some loss over the summer," Palmer said. He said he believes "that loss is going to occur, because [students] haven't developed a deep understanding during the school year."

The school system's goal is to help students retain math skills long-term, not just in the summer, he said.

Students need to have a "deeper" understanding of math, he added. They need to understand why they are doing something -- not just how to do it.

Revised school calendars

Changes to the school calendar have also been considered as ways to help students retain knowledge.

Frederick County Board of Education members have discussed the possibility of using a modified school-year calendar that would not add days to the school calendar, but would distribute vacation time more evenly throughout the year. Students would attend school for about 45 days followed by 15 days off.

Previous boards discussed the possibility of utilizing such a calendar on a school-by-school basis if a particular community was interested. However, Bonnie Borsa, board president, said the issue would have to be revisited since the board has new members.

"If staff thought it was worthwhile to investigate, I'd listen," she said. "But there's got to be evidence that this is a good way to retain learning."

Borsa added that to have her support, a modified calendar could not increase costs to the school system and it would need to have strong community support.

Other interventions mentioned by the Center for Summer Learning included adding instructional days to the school calendar so that students would attend more than the 180 days required by the state.

Borsa said the state would allow the school system to add days to its calendar, but "we really haven't had that discussion." The school system has extended the school day for struggling students at county schools with the highest levels of poverty.

One study included on the Center for Summer Learning Web site states some students are more successful because they participate in education-based activities rather than watching television -- not because of extra time spent in school.

Learning tips

Children can lose ground in school subjects during the summer when they do not engage in learning activities, according to Frederick County Public Schools staff. To minimize the loss, they suggest several tips for parents:

Visit the library.

Encourage children to keep a journal or write letters.

Plant a garden or window box together. Let your child pick the seeds or seedlings and read the instructions. Set up a chart for care of the plant.

Figure out mileage and travel expenses together for family trips.

Cook together from recipes. Plan a menu, and shop for ingredients together. Take advantage of chances to reinforce math skills like fractions and measurements.

Plan family game nights. Select games that require thinking skills and strategic moves.

Help children with summer jobs to develop a budget and savings plan for their earnings.