Summer Vacation Shows Drop in Test Scores

A review of 39 studies indicated that achievement test scores decline over summer vacation. The results of the 13 most recent studies were combined using meta-analytic procedures. The meta-analysis indicated that the summer loss equaled about one month on a grade-level equivalent scale, or one tenth of a standard deviation relative to spring test scores. The effect of summer break was more detrimental for math than for reading and most detrimental for math computation and spelling. Also, middle-class students appeared to gain on grade-level equivalent reading recognition tests over summer while lower-class students lost on them. There were no moderating effects for student gender or race, but the negative effect of summer did increase with increases in students’ grade levels. Suggested explanations for the findings include the differential availability of opportunities to practice different academic material over summer (with reading practice more available than math practice) and differences in the material’s susceptibility to memory decay (with fact- and procedure-based knowledge more easily forgotten than conceptual knowledge). The income differences also may be related to differences in opportunities to practice and learn. The results are examined for implications concerning summer school programs and proposals concerning school calendar changes.

Cooper, H., Nye, B., Charlton, K., Lindsay, J., & Greathouse, S. (1996). The effects of summer vacation on achievement test scores: A narrative and meta-analytic review. Review of Educational Research, 66(3), 227-268. https://dx.doi.org/10.3102/00346543066003227

NCES geography test scores

The National Center for Education Statistics, which administers the test, released results midmorning Tuesday for the 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress in geography. It found that 4th graders scored on average 213 out of a possible 500, an “all-time high” since the test started in 1994, but the rising scores have not translated to more students moving from “basic” to “proficient” performance on the test, and the percentage of students achieving at the “advanced” level has gone down in every grade.

National Center for Education Statistics 2010 Report
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/main2010/2011467.pdf

Library Spending Ups Test Scores

A review of studies in 22 U.S. states and one Canadian province found when spending for school libraries rises, better reading scores follow. Researchers examined and summarized the results of 23 U.S. and Canadian studies mostly done in the last decade and concluded that there are positive links between library support and learning. A 2008 California study, for example, established a strong positive relationship between school library budgets and test scores in language arts and history. The findings showed socioeconomic conditions could not explain away the impact of school library programs in the states studied.
Debra E. Kachel, Mansfield University (2011) More library spending ups test scores
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2011/05/10/More-library-spending-ups-test-scores/UPI-43741305084306/