Newsletter #145 for Internationally Adopting Parents
April 14, 2011
PAL Center Inc.

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Extended School Year

According to Summer Learning Association at Johns Hopkins University, a typical student will lose about one month of learning over the summer time, with disadvantaged and struggling students losing even more.

It is known from research and clinical experience that internationally adopted children tend to regress during the summer vacation much faster and deeper than their typically developing peers. Having an uninterrupted school year is crucial for them in order to avoid spending the fall semester of the next school year restoring skills learned during the previous semester and losing valuable educational time.

In the case of international adoptees of school age, due to their weakened "learning base", possible learning disability, Cumulative Cognitive Deficit (CCD) or negative experience with learning, it would take them longer than other students to regain learning skills and knowledge after summer break.

The existing research in cognitive psychology and remediation, as well as the best practice in special education, point to "incessant input" and "regular reviewing" as two basic conditions for remediation of learners with learning characteristics typical for internationally adopted post-institutionalized children.

The "Predictive Factor" (used in some states to award ESY) is a clear-cut matter in cases of international adoptees: the nature of their educational needs requires continuous instructional input and repetition to ensure progress with the educational goals.

It is my appeal to all adoptive parents to ensure that their children will not regress during the summer break. Summer school, summer tutoring, specialized summer camps, and summer remedial programs present a range of possibilities to prevent such regression.

B. Gindis Ph.D.

Notional Summer Learning Association
More Than a Hunch: Kids Lose Learning Skills Over the Summer Months
A personal experience can spark a theory that, in turn, prompts important research. That’s what happened when Harris Cooper, then a professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia, served on the Columbia, Missouri, school board. In the early ‘90s, the board was asked to discuss the local implications of a proposed federal cut in summer programming. Cooper, who suspected that the cutback was not a good idea, was unwilling to rubber-stamp the summer programming cut. He launched some research into summer learning, willing to follow wherever it led, and arrived at the overwhelming conclusion that his hunch was spot on. Summer learning loss is very real and has important repercussions in the lives of students, especially those with fewer financial resources.

Writeslaw
Will Your Child Need ESY This Summer?
Extended School Year (ESY) services are designed to help your child maintain his skills rather than lose ground when school is not in session. ESY is not designed to teach of new skills or behaviors. ESY is not summer school, summer remedial programs, or child care. ESY is not limited to the summer months.

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