The role of language in students' reading trajectory: exploring a summer reading enrichment program

Studies have consistently found high levels of reading loss among Spanish-dominant students during the summer months as compared to English-dominant students who are enrolled in mainstream programs. But few studies have looked at reading achievement for students enrolled in dual language programs. The purpose of this study was to explore whether reading books during summer vacation improved reading levels for Spanish-dominant and English-dominant students enrolled in the same dual language program, and whether access to books increased the reading level for these groups. The results from the multivariate regression analyses suggest that the effect of reading during the summer increased reading levels for Spanish-dominant children in Spanish and is potentially large enough to prevent a decline in Spanish reading achievement scores during the summer. Findings also reported a decline in Spanish reading for English-dominant children who were part of the summer reading program. The findings have implications for designing and implementing summer reading programs and for conducting future experiments that confirm the correlational findings for students enrolled in dual language programs. Finally, this study reaffirms the need for summer reading books and programs for children enrolled in dual language programs.