WINTER SETBACK - THE RACIAL COMPOSITION OF SCHOOLS AND LEARNING TO READ

This is a longitudinal study of the growth in reading comprehension over the first two years of school among a mixed-race random sample of children in Baltimore, Maryland. African-Americans in integrated schools made less progress in reading comprehension in winter when school was in session than did their counterparts in segregated schools. In summers, however when they were not in school, the African-American children who attended integrated schools gained considerably more than their counterparts who attended segregated schools. White children made about the same progress in reading in integrated and segregated schools in winters and summers, even though the whites in integrated schools came from more educationally advantaged families. Thus, children of both races in integrated schools, who generally came from more educated families, did not make the expected gains in reading comprehension when school was open. In summers, however; students whose parents had more education forged ahead of those whose parents were high school dropouts. We consider several explanations for the relatively slow growth in reading comprehension we observed for children in integrated schools. It is most likely that acquisition of reading skills is harder for youngsters of both races in integrated schools because their language backgrounds differ Early reading development depends heavily on a child's knowledge of spoken language, which for Baltimore children reflects their experience in segregated neighborhoods. At the same time, schools seem to help the children from economically disadvantaged homes-the ones who need help the most.