Effect of Summer Vacation on Learning Loss in Mathematics: A Meta-Analysis of the Findings

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to perform a meta-analysis to draw conclusions about the effect of summer vacation on learning loss of students in mathematics, and also to identify potential moderators of its effects based on the examination of research literature over the past twenty-five years. The research performed meta-analysis model to examine the effect of summer vacation on learning loss in mathematics. Based on the inclusion criteria, eight independent studies were taken into consideration in the research. To explore possible differential effects on the outcome measure, six moderators were extracted from the included studies. The research indicated that summer vacation influences students negatively, resulting in learning loss in mathematics. Also, the research found no significant effect within sub-group variation in terms of year of publication, publication type, setting, and sample size, but not the instructional level and country.

Children’s Health, Wellbeing and Academic Outcomes over the Summer Holidays: A Scoping Review

“…The decline in numeracy demonstrated here is congruent with findings from two recent review studies of academic outcomes over the summer (both published in 2023), which similarly found a decline in numeracy and mixed literacy results [ 107 , 108 ]. Numeracy is commonly measured using standardized tests of mathematics, which have been criticized for the emphasis on procedural knowledge over deeper conceptual knowledge [ 109 ].…”

Factors contributing to learning losses among primary school children: a scoping review

“…As for 2022, five articles [17], [18], [23], [26], [30] were related to the topic of the study. In 2023, four articles were found [13], [14], [16], [21] that discuss teacher's support, teacher performance competencies, summer vacation, and parental involvement respectively.…”

“…Meanwhile, nine countries, namely India [25], Nigeria [24], Malaysia [27], United Kingdom [28], Canada [12], Pakistan [29], Finland [26], China [23], and Mexico [30] were recorded with one study for each country. Meanwhile, countries such as Turkey [16], [22] and the United States [13], [17] have conducted two studies for each country. [12] Canada Observation, Interview Parental involvement Aukerman and Aiello [13] United States Literature review Teacher's support Setyowati et al [14] Indonesia Clinical supervision model Teacher performance competencies Visser et al [15] South Africa…”

“…Stepwise multiple regression analysis Parental involvement Baş [16] Turkey Meta-analysis model Summer vacation Sonnenschein et al [17] United States Exploratory study Learning environment Mufti [18] Indonesia Semi-structured, online interview Parents' consideration of book selection Vos and Fouché [19] South Africa Non-empirical research, literature review…”

“…In addition, n=8 studies [12], [17], [18], [20], [21], [24], [27], [30] used interviews and semi-structured interviews as part of the study pertaining to learning losses. Of the 17 qualitative studies, n=3 [13], [16], [19] were conducted using literature search and meta-analysis. Meanwhile, n=3 studies [19], [26], [31] were conducted using experimental research.…”