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Deconstructing Summer Learning Loss— Moving Away from Summer School and Toward Valuing Informal Learning

Summer— A Vacation from Learning? A Critical View 
July 2016
M. Nickie Coomer, Tiffany S. Kyser, Kathleen A. K. Thorius, and Seena M. Skelton

Some researchers posit that White, middle and upper middle class students continue to learn over summer break, while those from historically marginalized racial, ethnic, and class backgrounds cease learning during the summer, i.e., 'summer learning loss', widening the 'achievement gap'. This brief outlines this rhetorical history and rationale of summer learning loss; challenges traditional notions of 'summer learning loss'; and, discusses approaches toward centering students from working class, poor, and historically underserved racial and ethnic backgrounds in summer learning.

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