After School Programs

Today is National Summer Learning Day, a day established to raise awareness of the significance summer learning plays in educational achievement.

When kids go on summer vacation, their knowledge and skills suffer, with their performance dropping off, on average, one month from where they were when they left school in the spring. Such losses do not affect all kids equally, having the greatest effect on low-income students. The losses are cumulative over the years, contributing to a growing difference between lower- and higher-income kids and contributing to the achievement gap.

The RAND Corporation has assessed both the need for summer learning programs and the existing evidence on effective, viable, and sustainable programs in urban districts.

In the United States, racial and ethnic disparities exist across an array of domains. That such disparities exist should surprise no one. Nor should the fact that such disparities diminish the life chances of those affected. A vast body of literature documents such disparities and shows that they have developed and persisted over time in the context of historical and structural racism in ways that may influence policies, practices and programs.

Boys and men of color—in particular, young African American men—are particularly vulnerable to such disparities. For example, they tend to have lower high school graduation rates, a greater likelihood of going to prison and higher mortality rates from homicide.