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Parents worried summers will be too structured

Experts say teens are at risk of forgetting months of instruction — particularly in math and science — over the summer break, but some parents are worried that educational summer programs aimed at fighting the brain drain are only overloading students [1], according to U.S. News & World Report. Studies conducted by the National Summer Learning Association [2] suggest that this academic hiatus can amount to three months’ worth of learning loss in the aforementioned subjects — and the decline is even greater in low-income communities. Students regress in reading and spelling skills, widening the achievement gap between disadvantaged teens and their middle-class counterparts, according to the association [3], which is the nonprofit behind National Summer Learning Day on June 21 [4]. The organization maintains that schools should expand their summer school programs and students should commit a portion of their vacation to brushing up on their academics. And districts across the country are responding to greater demand for summer brush-ups. The Detroit Summer Learning Connection just launched to promote summertime educational activities [5], and teachers in Georgia’s Gwinnett County have opted to work for free over the summer to offer reading classes [6] to students…

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