PANHANDLE, Texas (KFDA) – Schools in the Panhandle region helped students avoid “summer backsliding” by supporting them in staying behind during the summer months.

“At the end of the year, I gave each child a special summer reading list to take home; things I think they would like, different novels and things like that that I think they would like,” said Melodee Reagan, a fifth-grade English teacher in Panhandle ISD.

Educational assessments show that students may forget up to three months of learning material during the break due to a lack of resources.

“In our experience, when they experience this decline, they are often worse than they were the year before and it can take months for us to get them back to their original reading level,” says Joy Gray, librarian at Panhandle ISD.

Panhandle ISD supported students and parents in participating in the Carson County Library reading program, which included incentives such as crafts and prizes.

The school district is also part of the Harrington Library Consortium, which provides free online access to digital books and audiobooks to all Panhandle ISD students.

“It’s been shown that audiobooks still stimulate the mind and keep reading at the same level because students are still being exposed to new vocabulary and they can access these books online for free. Plus, we have a lot of digital books,” Gray said.

School officials say there has been a sharp decline in school attendance rates after summer vacation in recent years due to the increasing prevalence of technology.

All rights reserved.