What is Summer Slide? “Summer slide” is the tendency for students to lose some of the achievement gains they made during the previous school year. Research shows that students that do not read over the summer fall behind an average of 2 months in reading during the summer. And, summer slide is cumulative, with these learning losses building up each summer. Reading just 4 to 6 books over the summer has the potential to prevent a decline in reading achievement scores from the spring to the...