(TriceEdneyWire.com)—When schools let out for summer break, usually between mid-May and mid-June, millions of students will be disengaged from learning and will experience significant learning loss. In math, they may lose as many as three months’ worth of learning, which means when they come back to school in late August or early September, they are back to March in terms of their knowledge base. Studies suggest students experience the most learning loss in math, but losses in reading acumen are also significant—as many as two months unless students are engaged in supplemental education. Many are enrolled in summer school or other programs, but many of these programs cost, and those from the lowest-income families don’t have access to them. In some families, older children are charged with minding their younger siblings, preventing them from participating in summer programs.
The attack on the Department of Education and this president’s indifference to education affects some of the programs that the DoE has funded in the past. The so-called “Big Beautiful” (let’s just call it the Big Ugly) eliminates afterschool and summer learning, such as the 21st Century Community Learning Centers, which serves 1.4 million children. Black students are especially vulnerable to learning loss. They have less access to summer enrichment programs because of cost, transportation issues, and availability. According to the Afterschool Alliance, 2.3 million Black students would have enrolled in a summer program in 2019, if one were available. That’s pre-covid data. The need is likely much greater now.
Parents can’t depend on government to prevent learning loss. While one in seven students participated in summer enrichment programs last year 2024) there is significant unmet need. Bloomberg Philanthropies has a Summer Boost program that funded efforts in Baltimore, Memphis, and Washington DC, among other cities. Many school districts will have summer school programs, as well as recreation centers, and programs developed by civic organizations. In Washington, DC the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center has an absorbing summer program that includes reading and athletics. In Indiana, summer learning labs provided supplemental activities in English and Language Arts, as well as mathematics. Parents—talk to a teacher, get on the internet, and find a program for your child.
There aren’t enough opportunities for every child who needs one, but parents can put programs together for their young ‘uns. Young people should be exposed to museums, libraries, theater, concerts and reading opportunities. Can’t afford it? Why not come together with other parents to hire a teen or young adult to work with a group of young people one or two days a week. And why not, parents, read with your children, and allow them to read to you. The learning loss has major equity and civil rights implications. Learning loss widens the achievement gap, and affects high school graduation rates, college attendance rates, and long-term income and wealth.
Another activity Black parents should expose their young people to is water safety. There are reasons why many Black people don’t swim, many of them historical. White people closed pools (drained them or cemented them over) to prevent Black people from using pools. And some Black women avoided swimming in deference to their hair. But Beverly Iseghohi, an Atlanta-based triathlete and swimming coach, suggest you might prefer your life to your coif, and is passionate about getting more Black people to be aware about water safety and to swim. The data buttress her concern. Nearly two-thirds of Black children cannot swim, compared to 40 percent of White children. Black children 5-9 were 2.6 times more likely to drown than White children. Those 10-14 were 3.6 times more likely to drown. In pools, Black children were 7.6 times more likely to drown than White children. And Beverly Iseghohi says there is a connection between swimming and cognition. Perhaps swimming can be an antidote to learning loss.
We must take learning loss seriously, and the entire community must stand in the gap when government education programs drop the ball. Cuts at the Centers for Disease Control means we will get less data about swimming and drowning. The Big Ugly Bill means fewer supplemental education activities will be funded. But we know how to educate young people. The Children’s Defense Fund’s Freedom Schools have operated for decades in twenty-six states, including Washington, DC. They are combatting learning loss, and we all have a responsibility to do the same. Find a program or start one. Learning loss has long-term implications for our community.
(Dr. Julianne Malveaux is an economist, author, and educator. Juliannemalveaux.com)