[Ohiogift] School is as effective as summer vacation for high-achievers in reading

[Margaret DeLacy]

Friends:

Below is a link to and excerpt from a summary of an article posted on a list for NAGC members.  I have not yet checked out the full article, but the summary is intriguing.  

My conclusion, assuming the research is sound, is that schools are wasting our tax dollars by babysitting advanced students instead of teaching them something.

Margaret

Summer Vacation Is as Effective as School for Improving High-Achievers’ Reading Comprehension

Summary of research by Karen Rambo-Hernandez and Betsy McCoach. By Amy August on June 5, 2015

The “summer slide” affects some kids more than others.  How far groups slide over the summer also helps for figuring out how much of their learning during the school year is actually due to school.

...  high-achievers showed almost no change in the rate of reading level improvement between the school year and the summer. Average-achievers, conversely, showed substantial growth during the school year, but almost none during the summer. This suggests that school is benefiting average-achieving students, but that whatever high-achievers are doing during the summer is as beneficial as their time spent in school.

The slower improvement of high-achieving students during the school year is often written off as a ceiling effect of the assessment: there’s no way for students who get 100% on the pre-test to demonstrate increased knowledge. The researchers hypothesized another explanation that may also be playing a role, namely that the curriculum may not be sufficiently challenging. ... Because many were initially reading at least three grade-levels ahead of their peers, advanced curricula may not have been advanced enough. In addition, this may be the result of using models of teacher accountability that encourage teachers to get all students to reach a proficiency threshold, as opposed to using value-added models that emphasize moving all students forward.

You can find an abstract and link to the full article here: 

Rambo-Hernandez, K. E., & McCoach, D. B. (2015). High-Achieving and Average Students’ Reading Growth: Contrasting School and Summer Trajectories. The Journal of Educational Research, 108:2, 112-129.

http://thesocietypages.org/edsociety/2015/06/05/summer-vacation-is-as-effective-as-school-for-improving-high-achievers-reading-comprehension/

There is a steep charge for downloading the full article. I'll wait until it reaches my library.

Margaret