New research shows that disparities between lower- and higher-income students’ tests scores increase significantly over summer vacations…

In “Lasting Consequences of the Summer Learning Gap,” Johns Hopkins University sociologists Karl Alexander, Doris Entwisle and Linda Steffel Olson document evidence that future academic success can be explained, to a significant degree, by experiences during summer vacations in the elementary school years…

Alexander said a more enriching family environment over the school break — if newspapers and magazines are around the house, if the parents are college-educated, if children are taken to the library and museums, if they’re in organized sports, for example — makes a quantifiable difference in academic achievement…

“We have to help them have experiences over the summer months that build academic skills, such as high-quality summer school programs, or begin to consider breaking up the school year or having year-round schooling,” Alexander said.

Source: The Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/a-642970~Summer_break_increases_achievement_gap.html