PROJECT SUMMARY
Summer slump describes the regression of academic skills that can occur during summer vacation. The
proposed study investigates the risk for summer slump based on socioeconomic status (SES) and reading
disability (RD) status. Currently, limited work documents summer reading outcomes using recent datasets or
examines the potential protective impact of summer reading activities. There is no current research examining
the impact on summer reading of the common risk factors of SES and RD status to disambiguate independent
and combined effects or linking summer reading outcomes with academic year outcomes. Scientifically, this
effort is essential for disambiguating contributions of environmental circumstances via SES and/or RD status
during a high risk time period (summer) and for discovering the contribution of summer reading outcomes to
the reading achievement gap. Practically, this information is crucial for developing effective summer
recommendations, practices and policies, as readers at best may slow development and at worst regress,
contributing to a growing divide among students of different reading ability levels. Final datasets will include 65
typically developing readers (TD) and 65 students with RD, with the range of SES represented in both groups
(grades 4-6; ages 9-12), recruited through district partnerships. The objectives are to: (1) examine the potential
for, and amount of, reading summer slump; (2) characterize unique and shared contributions of SES and RD
status to summer reading outcomes; (3) indicate how type of and time spent on literacy activities contribute to
summer reading growth; and (4) explore summer reading trajectories as predictors of school year reading
outcomes. We predict that the TD group will show slowed but positive reading growth during the summer and
those with low SES and/or RD will show an exaggerated summer slump in reading; and, all groups will show
attenuated summer slump with increased participation in summer literacy activities. This study is novel in its
direct investigation of summer reading through the combined lens of SES and RD, consideration of summer
literacy activities as protective, disentangling the effects of instruction during the previous school year from
summer slump by partnering with districts and using nested analytic models, and for translational implications.
Findings will yield factors associated with failed summer reading growth and protective factors attenuating
summer slump, and will inform recommendations to maximize progress for readers of all ability levels. Despite
general agreement on the existence of summer slump, evidence for it has largely been derived from limited
research using dated datasets and anecdotal experiences. Understanding summer outcomes are crucial to
closing the achievement gap. These goals align with NIH CDBB's mission by examining the impact of learning
disabilities (LDs) on reading, focusing on early learning and SES factors, developing knowledge about the
developmental course of LDs during a neglected time period for research (the summer) and possible causal
roles of environmental factors (via literacy activities), and emphasizing prevention and early intervention.
