Chabot Elementary School Principal Jonathan Mayer

Mr. Mayer's Monthly Memo - Summer 2009

For this last edition of the school year, I found a wonderful and insightful article by Al Adams, Ed.D., the Principal of Lick Wilmerdine High School in San Francisco.

According to Dr. Adams, kids either get the metaphorical “keys to the kingdom,” or they do not. And, while the keys are generally fabricated and dispensed in schools, supply is continually dwarfed by demand. Arguably, the most promising remedy to this national civil rights challenge is meaningful engagement of students during the summer. Johns Hopkins researcher, Karl Alexander, demonstrated that the degree of young people's summer engagement accounts for the bulk of the difference between high and low achievement in school. Author Malcolm Gladwell summarizes these findings in his most recent book, Outliers, by noting that all incoming first graders enter school with little disparity among their reading scores. However, by the fifth grade, the separation has more than doubled.

Most of us naturally assume that this worrisome discrepancy results from low-income students learning less than their more affluent peers during the academic year. Gladwell, however, reporting on Alexander's findings, reveals that this is not the case. In fact, in Alexander's sample of Baltimore public school students, he found that those from low-income families actually progressed a bit more than their affluent peers during the school year! It turns out that the big difference between these two groups is explained by how they spend their summers. Quoting Gladwell, "When it comes to reading skills, poor kids learn nothing when school is not in session…Virtually all of the advantage that wealthy students have over poor students is the result of differences in the way privileged kids learn while they are not in school.”

Both in recognition of this reality, and to research its validity more extensively, the Center for Summer Learning (CSL) was established at Johns Hopkins University. A research and public policy enterprise, The Center conducts longitudinal studies specifically to track the impact of summer programs on the lives of under-served students. Their findings jibe with Alexander's and, as a result, CSL has become a persuasive advocacy voice for effective summer programming, especially for low-income students. What all of this suggests, of course, is what we have known for a long time -- that the annual school calendar, originally designed to allow children to help on the family farm during the summers, is now little more than an historical artifact. There is no rational reason why students in the 21st Century need to have a three-month school hiatus each year.

Alexander's research demonstrates that, contrary to many people's assumptions, "schools work." As Gladwell further notes, "The only problem with school, for the kids who aren't achieving, is that there isn't enough of it." According to Alexander's calculation, “Poor kids and wealthy kids would, by the end of elementary school, be doing math and reading at almost the same level (if Baltimore went to year-round school)." (p. 259) Gladwell goes on to say, "Suddenly the causes of Asian math superiority become even more obvious. Students in Asian schools don't have long summer vacations. Why would they? Cultures that believe that the route to success lies in rising before dawn 360 days a year are scarcely going to give their children three straight months off in the summer. The school year in the United States is, on average, 180 days long. The South Korean school year is 220 days long. The Japanese school year is 243 days long."

As we head into summer break, I encourage you to help your sons and daughters make plans to be meaningfully engaged. Powerful learning can, and does, occur outside of the classroom, but it generally doesn't happen by chance; it needs to be planned for. There are many ways to support your child’s learning outside the classroom over the summer months, and here are a few of my suggestions:

• Get involved with local library reading programs. Most Oakland libraries offer these programs, which are free and offer prizes
• Take advantage of free days at local museums. These are usually posted on web sites.
• Start a reading club with friends…
• Have a turn off the TV week and use the time instead to play board games….
• With longer days, start a regular weekly evening of 4-square, kickball, jump rope in the neighborhood to keep bodies active and get neighbors together in a fun, playful way…

Finally, remember that we are good at what we practice. So, if your children are practicing reading and talking about books and authors and asking lots of questions, then you are preparing your children to be good at reading comprehension, which is the name of the game in school.

Have a safe, memorable and active summer break with lots of learning opportunities. Remember to tell your kids: learn a lot and have fun!

—Jonathan Mayer, Principal