Abstract:
The ‘summer learning effect’ (SLE) is known as a stall or drop in achievement over summer in schools which serve poor or ‘minority’ communities. There has been little research in Germany on the effect in general, and only limited research internationally on home literacy practices that influence the SLE. The present research employed a short-term longitudinal design to examine the extent and nature of the SLE in Germany. Firstly, the study sampled second grade classrooms from two primary schools, situated in contrasting socio-economic communities. Secondly, an ecological inquiry explored variables from students’ immediate environments, home and classroom, and aimed to identify literacy practices in these environments which could be associated with sustained learning over summer. The study employed a mixed method design, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative measures. Measures included: achievement tests at four time points before and after summer in reading comprehension (n = 77) and writing (n = 78), parents’ questionnaires (n = 53), student literacy logbooks (n = 49), student interviews (n = 16), parent interviews (n = 16), teacher logs (n = 5), teacher interviews (n = 5), and classroom environment observations (n = 6). The findings provide evidence of a summer learning effect in reading and writing in Germany. Repeated measures ANOVAs showed that students progressed considerably in their achievement over school periods, but made no statistically significant gains over summer. Overall, students stalled in reading comprehension and lost in writing over summer. Regression analysis did not support the hypothesis of a differential SLE moderated by socio-economic background. The data, however, indicated substantial variations in gain scores over summer across socio-economic lines. Through the qualitative analysis, specific family literacy practices could be identified that were associated with sustained learning over summer. Furthermore, in reading, classroom practices could be identified which were associated with sustained reading development over summer. However, writing development over summer seemed less susceptible to classroom teaching before summer. The findings have implications in terms of research on summer learning, teaching practice and policy and offer possible ways to design interventions which can result in sustained literacy learning for students at times when school is not in session.