I recently attended a talk by Malcom Gladwell, author of the new book Outliers, which discusses factors that affect how people are able to reach their full potential or “succeed”. One of story that struck me is about Michael Oher who grew up in poverty before being adopted by a rich family and ended up attending the University of Mississippi and becoming a highly touted NFL prospect. Gladwell told us that author Michael Lewis who followed Oher asked the school district superintendent about how many people who are offered college scholarships actually attend college. The answer- about 1 in 4. There is no question that there is a major capitalization problem, meaning students are not reaching their full potential, which for many means not being able to earn a living wage.

One of the causes of of this capitalization problem in America is due to socioeconomic status. There is good evidence that kids who live in middle and upper class families are far more likely to finish high school than kids in lower class families. Gladwell reasons that one of the problems is summer vacation, which puts poorer children at a disadvantage and leads them to fall behind their peers. The reason is that during summer vacation, richer families are able to take their kids to experience thought stimulating activities or can pay for additional courses, while poorer kids do not and as a result are not learning or growing during the summer.

His conclusion is that abolishing summer vacation will help even the playing field and eliminate some of the barriers preventing poorer students from maximizing their potential. I agree with his idea and can’t think of a reason for why we should keep summer vacation, except due to funding limitations. It may not be favored by kids but I think it would significantly improve graduation rates and help American students compete better in a more competitive global environment.

What do you think? Should schools abolish summer vacation?