By Courtney Tsao

Staff Writer

  The phrase “summer slide” refers to the loss of reading and math skills a student may experience over the course of a summer, a possible explanation to America’s lagging academic achievement when compared to that of other countries, according to Pew Research Center. Although summer is revered to be the only time where students can fully relax, having school year long may increase national scores and maintain skill retention.

  America’s education system was originally created to accommodate the country’s agricultural society in which school would not occur in the three months of summer so that children can focus on farm work. However, since much of today’s students are not spending summer off harvesting, the three month hiatus becomes the limelight of concern.

  Unlike school in the United States, most education systems in Asia are year-round, with shorter school breaks in between. Summer vacation for most schools in Japan and China start on July 20 and end on Aug. 31 while schools in America start in early June and end mid August. The difference between most Asian countries having a two month summer break and America’s two and a half or three month vacation plays a role in the “well-documented phenomenon” of summer slide.

  According to the National Summer Learning Association, once a new school year begins, it takes around 13 weeks for teachers to refresh their students on older material to prep them for their current grade’s curriculum. By using almost three months to get students back on track, American schools are unable to provide students with the full brunt of the intended education meant for a school year.

  The lack of retention and lag of introducing new material ultimately results in lower test scores. In 2016, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a report that revealed that 12% (half a million) of America’s 15-year-old students perform “below the basic-proficiency level in reading, mathematics, and science.” However, only fewer than 5% students in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and South Korea didn’t meet the basic-proficiency threshold in those three subjects.

  “The United States cannot long operate a world-class economy if our workers are, as the OECD statistics show, among the worst-educated in the world,” said Marc Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy.

  With the average student’s academic performance falling below the OECD average, the risk of an unstable workforce in the future increases with workers without an adequate educational background and skill retention needed to complete certain tasks.

  However, with the implementation of having more school days, the United States may see a significant improvement in national score averages and improved remembrance of material. Instead of having a three month summer vacation, schools can have more but shorter breaks that can prevent summer slide. Furthermore, having more school days allow teachers to delve deeper into their material to give students a more enriching academic experience. With schools occuring year round, America can maximize learning and truly ensure that  “every child succeeds.”