New education technology services aim to stop the ‘summer slide’

Research suggests that students lose two to three months of grade-level equivalency in math skills over the summer, which affects their readiness for the new school year -- and this problem is more pronounced for students from low-income families.

This summer, students will have at least two new education technology services to offset summer learning loss -- and both will be offered to students at no cost.

AASA, the nation’s largest association for school superintendents, has partnered with TenMarks (an Amazon company) to reverse summer learning loss through an initiative called the TenMarks Summer Math Program. And EverFi, which offers online instruction on topics such as financial literacy and civic engagement to fill gaps in students’ education, has announced a new program called Verano Summer Learning. The program will deliver “bit-sized booster shots” of content to students during the summer months.

The low-income students who stand to benefit the most from online summer enrichment programs from companies such as EverFi and TenMarks are also the students who are least likely to have computers and Internet access at home -- a fact that Davidson readily acknowledges.

“We understand this issue and know that it [could] be an impediment to our success,” he said. “It is one of the reasons we are focusing on deploying low-bandwidth solutions for mobile phones, where the penetration is deeper for families in high-need communities. We are also building out our network of public facilities -- libraries, community-based organizations, and others that have the infrastructure [to serve these students].”