Ministry-funded research investigates the impact of summer programs for primary students

Renfrew County’s Booster was one of 28 summer literacy-learning programs that ran throughout the province last summer. The Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat (LNS) has contracted Scott Davies, sociology professor at McMaster University and the Ontario Research Chair in Educational Achievement and At Risk Children, and Janice Aurini, sociology professor at the University of Waterloo, to investigate the effects of these programs on boosting literacy levels and limiting the so-called summer setback that many students experience.

“There is a body of American research,” Davies explains, “showing that summer setback impacts students from socio-economically disadvantaged homes to a greater degree than students from more affluent socio-economic backgrounds. The LNS wanted our help to see if Ontario students suffer from a similar setback, and whether summer programs can strengthen children’s literacy levels and help level the playing field.”

The online STAR Reading assessment program, Davies and Aurini tested all 1,200 children in summer programs as well as several thousand students who did not take part in any board-sponsored summer literacy program.

In 2009 and 2010, using the online STAR Reading assessment program, Davies and Aurini tested all 1,200 children in summer programs, as well as several thousand students who did not take part in any board-sponsored summer literacy program.