Summer Learning Loss among Elementary School Children with Reading Disabilities

Abstract

This study investigated whether students with reading disabilities (RD) showed greater regression in reading skills than did non-RD students over the summer vacation. The RD group consisted of 30 students in grades 4 to 6 from a private school for students with learning disabilities and a comparison group of 30 average readers in grades 4 to 6 attending a public school. All students were tested in May/June and September on measures of reading achievement, phonological processing, and oral receptive vocabulary. Significant regression in the RD group’s scores was found on speed of sight word reading, speeded phonological decoding, and untimed sight word reading. These results suggested that students with RD tend to decline in areas that require automatic reading skills. Implications for students with RD in relation to periods of extended absence from formal literacy instruction are discussed.