Research shows that economically disadvantaged students are disproportionately effected by the summer reading slide - a phenomenon which causes students to have a drop in reading proficiency when they return from summer break. However, when middle school students read as few as 5 books over the summer, the positive impact on reading proficiency has been shown to be even greater than the effect of attending summer school!

The goal of the Martin Summer Soar campaign is to send every student home with 5 books over the summer. We believe this mission is crucial, as research also shows that children who grew up with books in their homes reached a higher level of education than those who did not. (Family Scholarly Culture and Educational Success).

One study also found that in middle income neighborhoods the ratio is 13 books per child; in low-income neighborhoods, the ratio is one book for every 300 children. (Neuman, Susan B. and David K. Dickinson, ed. Handbook of Early Literacy Research, Volume 2. New York, NY: 2006).

By providing our students with 5 books to read over the summer, we will give our students the opportunity to improve their reading levels, we will increase the chance that our students and their siblings will have access to reading material, and we will begin to convert the summer slide into the summer soar!