RAND > Topics >

Summer Learning

Featured

Loss of knowledge and educational skills during summer months is cumulative over the course of a student's career and further widens the achievement gap between low- and upper-income students. Many experts see summer learning programs as key to preventing the “summer slide” and closing the achievement gap. RAND researchers examine approaches and strategies for summer learning initiatives and their effect on student outcomes.

  • Fotolia_52158784_Subscription_Monthly_XXL

    Report

    Summer Learning Programs Benefit Low-Income Urban Students

    Sep 7, 2016

    Low-income students lose ground in the summer relative to their wealthier peers. High-quality voluntary summer learning programs can help disadvantaged students catch up and succeed in school, but consistent attendance is crucial.

  • Six children standing in front of a chalkboard during a math lesson, photo by Digital Vision/Thinkstock

    Report

    Students Who Attended Summer Learning Programs Gained an Advantage in Math

    Dec 16, 2014

    Summer learning loss disproportionately affects low-income students and therefore likely contributes to the achievement gap between these students and their higher-income peers. Students who attended voluntary, school district-led summer learning programs in five urban areas began the academic year with stronger math skills than their peers who did not attend.

Explore Summer Learning

  • A mother and daughter read a book while sitting in a hammock

    Blog

    Three Summer Learning Tips Parents Can Use

    There’s plenty that parents can do at home to help their kids stay sharp until the new school year begins.

    Jun 10, 2013

  • Blog

    At 65, RAND Continues to Make a Difference

    To celebrate our first 60 years, we created 60 Ways RAND Has Made a Difference, an online book to illustrate our most notable contributions. On our 65th birthday, we provide five of the most recent ways in which we at RAND are proud to have made a difference.

    May 14, 2013

  • Journal Article

    Journal Article

    The Academic Effects of Summer Instruction and Retention in New York City

    This article examines the impacts of summer instruction and test-based grade retention in New York City.

    Mar 1, 2013

  • Blog

    Blog

    Can Summer Learning Programs Prevent Skill and Knowledge Loss?

    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.

    Jun 21, 2012

  • A young female student writes in her notebook

    Project

    Summer Learning for Urban Students

    Summer learning activities can help children gain knowledge and retain skills.

    Jun 21, 2012

  • teacher and children outside

    Report

    Investment in Summer Learning Programs Can Help Stop the Summer Slide

    The loss of knowledge and educational skills during the summer is cumulative over the course of a student's career and further widens the achievement gap between low- and upper-income students. Those who attend summer programs can disrupt that loss and do better in school.

    Jun 13, 2011

  • Research Brief

    Research Brief

    Summer Counts: Making Summer Programs Part of the Learning Equation

    Summer learning programs can prevent the summertime loss of knowledge and skills that disproportionately affects low-income students. A study of existing programs resulted in targeted recommendations for school districts, policymakers, and funders.

    Jun 13, 2011

  • News Release

    News Release

    Investment in Summer Learning Programs Can Help Stop the 'Summer Slide'

    The loss of knowledge and educational skills during the summer months is cumulative over the course of a student's career and further widens the achievement gap between low- and upper-income students.

    Jun 13, 2011

  • Multimedia

    Making Summer Count

    Catherine Augustine and Jennifer McCombs, researchers at the RAND Corporation, spoke with RAND media relations officer Joseph Dougherty about the loss of knowledge and educational skills during the summer months and how students who attend summer programs can disrupt the educational loss and do better in school than peers who do not attend the same programs.

    Jun 13, 2011

  • Research Brief

    Research Brief

    Hours of Opportunity: How Cities Can Build Systems to Improve Out-of-School-Time Programs

    Five cities that received a grant from The Wallace Foundation to increase collaboration, access, quality, information sharing, and sustainability in their out-of-school-time systems used different planning approaches to meet the initiative's goals.

    Oct 18, 2010

  • Content

    Content

    Jennifer Sloan McCombs

    Director, Behavioral and Policy Sciences Department; Senior Policy Researcher; Professor, Pardee RAND Graduate School
    Education Ph.D. in public policy, The George Washington University; B.A. in East Asian studies, College of William and Mary

  • Content

    Content

    Andrew McEachin

    Policy Researcher
    Education PhD in education policy, University of Southern California; MA in economics, University of Southern California; AB in history, Cornell University

  • Periodical

    Periodical

    Perspectives: Time to Cram

    John Deasy, Superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), has plan to use the current economic slump to ''fundamentally reshape the LAUSD to serve students and parents.''