Introduction

• Published in: Making Summer Count p. 1
• Main Authors: JENNIFER SLOAN MCCOMBS, CATHERINE H. AUGUSTINE, HEATHER L. SCHWARTZ, SUSAN J. BODILLY, BRIAN MCINNIS, DAHLIA S. LICHTER, AMANDA BROWN CROSS
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: RAND Corporation 13.06.2011
• Subjects: Academic achievement; Academic achievement gains; Academic aptitude; Academic education; Academic improvement; Academic learning; Applied psychology; Atmospheric sciences; Behavioral sciences; Cities; City districts; Climatology; Cognitive processes; Cognitive psychology; Education; Education politics; Educational activities; Educational administration; Educational institutions; Educational psychology; Environmental studies; Formal education; Human geography; Learning; Mathematical aptitude; Metropolitan areas; Numeracy; Pedagogy; Political geography; Psychology; School districts; School schedules; School year; Schools; Seasons; Social sciences; Summer; Summer schools
• ISBN: 0833052667; 9780833052667

Despite steady efforts to close the large achievement gap between disadvantaged and advantaged students over the past 40 years, significant discrepancies remain. In 2009, on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, 49 percent of low-income fourthgrade students scored at the “below basic” level in reading (the lowest proficiency level) compared with 20 percent of their higher-income students. Large achievement gaps exist for mathematics as well, with 30 percent of low-income students performing at the lowest performance level compared with only 9 percent of their higher-income peers. These trends also hold in the eighth grade, where the differences are 40 percent