Summer Reading Programs Help Low-Income Students in Reading

According to a study by MIT, students from low-income families are more likely to benefit from summer reading programs. Researchers found that about half of 6- to 9-year-olds had higher test scores after participating in such a program -- with the majority coming from low-income families. Lower socioeconomic status (SES) was associated with both greater reading improvements and greater cortical thickening across broad, bilateral occipitotemporal and temporoparietal regions following the intervention. The findings also indicate that effective summer reading intervention is coupled with cortical growth, and is especially beneficial for children with RD who come from lower-SES home environments.

Romeo, R. R., Christodoulou, J. A., Halverson, K. K., Murtagh, J., Cyr, A. B., Schimmel, C., Chang, P., Hook, P. E., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2018). Socioeconomic status and reading disability: Neuroanatomy and plasticity in response to intervention. Cerebral Cortex, 28(7), 2297-2312. https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cercor/bhx131