Summer slide, glide, or gain: The effects of socioeconomic status and reading disability on summer reading outcomes - 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.
