Students who struggle to get back into the academic mindset after a long summer break may spend more time trying to catch up, leaving less time to absorb new material. This constant game of catch-up can take a toll not only academically, but mentally. We see this reflected in assessments like the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP), where only 47.04% of students met or exceeded ELA standards and just 35.53% did so in math. These numbers underscore just how vital tutoring can be—especially before big tests like the SAT or ACT. While it may be unrealistic for students to retain everything they’ve learned, extra support can go a long way in easing the transition and reducing stress.
How is summer tutoring different from traditional tutoring?
The “summer slide” is a real challenge—and summer tutoring is one of the most effective ways to prevent it. Imagine a student over summer break as a marker. Without regular use, the marker starts to dry out. Similarly, when students stop practicing academic skills, their progress begins to fade. What keeps the marker from drying out? The cap. Summer tutoring acts like that cap—it helps preserve what a student has learned, preventing skills from slipping away during the break. With consistent practice, students stay sharp and return to school feeling confident and ready to learn.While summer tutoring is focused on maintaining and preserving what’s already been learned, traditional tutoring typically works alongside the school year, helping students reinforce current lessons. In essence, both types of tutoring support academic growth, but the timing and purpose create some key differences. We believe that taking a proactive approach can be a jump start into next year’s academic journey. That is why our programs have a future look, Math Advance, Writers of Tomorrow, Rising Readers, they are all a combination of reinforcing foundations along with introducing new concepts that will catapult the student into a fast start in the upcoming year.
What problem is summer tutoring solving?
The biggest threat summer tutoring addresses is learning loss—and the timing of that loss matters. Standardized tests like the SAT and ACT are often taken in the fall, shortly after summer ends. Students who haven’t kept their skills sharp over the break may find themselves unprepared. A research article titled “The Effects of Summer Vacation on Achievement Test Scores: A Narrative and Meta-Analytic Review,” looks into this loss in depth. From their data, they concluded that students have a loss equal to about a month of learning due to summer alone. It’s no surprise, then, that many first-time SAT takers end up scoring around the national average of 1050, according to the College Board.But summer learning loss isn’t just about test scores. It impacts overall academic confidence and progress. The National Center for Education Statistics reported that, in 2024, 44% of students were already behind in at least one subject. That’s nearly half.
Can summer tutoring reverse learning loss?
Yes—and the research backs it up. A study by John Z. Strong and Blythe E. Anderson from the University at Buffalo explored the impact of summer tutoring on reading skills. Their research tested multiple instructional methods and concluded that summer tutoring is highly effective—some methods even more than others. Just 15 hours of targeted tutoring can make a significant difference in combating the summer slide. This method of tutoring maintained the fluency, but enhanced it even more, utilizing measures of differentiated reading instruction (DRI) and interactive read-aloud (IRA) lessons. As such, the research showed that it only takes 15 hours for an instructor to implement both DRI and IRA lessons at an effective level. For both English and math, proactive lessons during the summer allowed students to aim high, surpass expectations, and counter learning loss altogether.While summer tutoring is different from in-year tutoring in timing, it still offers many of the same benefits. According to Momentum Tutoring, summer sessions provide the added perks of personalization, a stronger academic foundation, boosted confidence, and consistent engagement. High-dosage tutoring—an intensive, focused approach—can be especially effective in helping students master specific topics. (Check out our next blogs for more on this method.) More on this high-dosage tutoring, research from Andre Joshua Nickow, Philip Oreopoulos, and Vincent Quan dictates that this type of targeted and focused tutoring style is able to create a quicker learning environment. Accelerating student learning by a whole three months, high-dosage tutoring during the summer not only stops learning loss, but keeps the student prepared for any learning circumstances.
Furthermore, practice during the summer sharpens the academic skills so much that it forms confidence for students when taking tests. This confidence is evident in terms of something called self-efficacy, manifesting beliefs into results. A study compiled into an article called “Self-Efficacy, Stress, and Academic Success in College,” deems that a student’s self-efficacy correlates to their academic performance. How true is this? In simple terms, a confident student is able to look at questions on a test, keep calm, and think the question through instead of getting lost and panicking. This shows the manifestation of believing you can make the results happen.
Are there alternatives to summer tutoring?
Absolutely. Summer programs are widely available and often run through local school districts. In fact, summer school has become such a popular and strategic solution that districts across the country were awarded an estimated $5.8 billion in 2024 alone to support these programs, according to NWEA.These programs are designed to keep students active, engaged, and academically connected—even while enjoying their summer. The goal is to keep school from feeling like a distant memory once fall rolls around.
Conclusion
The infamous summer slide can put a student at risk of playing catch up as soon as school starts. While this can make standardized tests and benchmarks more difficult, it can easily be resolved with the usage of summer tutoring. As such, Tutor Zone provides concise one-on-one tutoring during the summer season in order to enhance the learning and maintenance of all of our students. We ensure that with countless hours of practice, our students are ready to tackle the academic year once again.Sources:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.3102/00346543066003227
https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/scores/what-scores-mean/what-is-good-score
https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/12_14_2023.asp#:~:text=Public%20school%20leaders%20estimated%20that,53%20percent%20behind%20grade%20level
https://caaspp-elpac.ets.org/caaspp/DashViewReportSB?ps=true&lstTestYear=2024&lstTestType=B&lstGroup=1&lstSubGroup=1&lstGrade=13&lstSchoolType=A&lstCounty=00&lstDistrict=00000&lstSchool=0000000&lstFocus=a
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10573569.2023.2266807
https://www.momentumtutoring.org/single-post/5-benefits-of-summer-tutoring
https://edworkingpapers.com/sites/default/files/ai20-267.pdf
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11162-004-4139-z
Summer learning loss: What we know and what we’re learning