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Summer Learning

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Research shows that summertime can widen the achievement gap between students from low-income families and their more-affluent peers. Summer learning programs are a promising way to narrow the gap. RAND researchers examine approaches and strategies for summer learning initiatives and their effects on student outcomes.

Commentary

Commit Now to Get Summer Programming Right

Apr 15, 2021

When summer programs are targeted to needs, intentionally designed, and well attended, they produce positive outcomes in math and reading. But these programs need federal support, and they require early planning.
Commentary

Teachers Have Lost Out on Professional Development. Summer Programs Could Help

Mar 5, 2021

For thousands of teachers across the United States, 2020 was a year of uncertainty. Many lacked access to their usual professional learning activities. Summer programs for students that also offer learning opportunities for teachers might help make up for lost time.

Explore Summer Learning

Journal Article

The Impact of Summer Learning Loss on Measures of School Performance

State and federal accountability policies are predicated on the ability to estimate valid and reliable measures of school impacts on student learning. Results raise questions about the design of performance-based education policies, as well as schools' role in the production of students' achievement.

Jun 1, 2016
Blog

Summer Learning Day: Stopping the Summer Slide

RAND is conducting the first-ever assessment of large-scale, voluntary, district-run, summer learning programs serving low-income elementary students. The results may help districts, educators, and policymakers make better decisions about funding and implementing programs to stop summer learning loss.

Jun 19, 2015
Research Brief

First Outcomes from the National Summer Learning Study

Five urban school districts are offering voluntary summer learning programs free of charge to struggling elementary students as part of a project to determine whether these kinds of programs improve low-income student outcomes.

Feb 13, 2015
News Release

Students Attending Summer Learning Programs Returned to School in the Fall with an Advantage in Math

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 the programs.

Dec 16, 2014
Report

Students Who Attended Summer Learning Programs Gained an Advantage in Math

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.

Dec 16, 2014
Blog

Ask Me Anything: Catherine Augustine on Summer Learning

With summer now underway, RAND's Catherine Augustine hosted an "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit, answering questions about year-round schooling, how to get the most out of summer learning programs, and more.

Jul 3, 2014
Report

Early and School-Age Care in Santa Monica: Current System, Policy Options, and Recommendations: Executive Summary

In July 2012, the City of Santa Monica Human Services Division and the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District contracted with the RAND Corporation to conduct an assessment of child care programs in Santa Monica.

Apr 25, 2014
Report

Early and School-Age Care in Santa Monica

Researchers examine how well Santa Monica's child care programs meet the needs of families, including child care and early education programs before kindergarten, as well as care for school-aged children, both during the school year and the summer.

Apr 25, 2014
Blog

Early Planning Key to Effective Summer Learning Programs

RAND education experts Jennifer McCombs and Catherine Augustine hosted a news media conference call to discuss the best steps school districts can take to provide the most effective and rewarding summer learning programs.

Aug 14, 2013
News Release

Early Planning Is One of Several Steps Crucial to Successful Summer Learning Programs

The most important steps school districts can take to implement an effective summer learning program are to begin planning at least six months in advance and to include both district and summer site leaders in the process.

Aug 13, 2013
Research Brief

How to Get the Most out of a Summer Learning Program

Summer learning programs may help close the achievement gap between low- and higher-income children if done well, but they are sometimes an afterthought or not offered at all, especially when education budgets are tight. Starting the planning process early, hiring the right teachers, and other best practices can help ensure success.

Aug 13, 2013
Report

Early Planning Is One of Several Steps Crucial to Successful Summer Learning Programs

The most important steps school districts can take to implement an effective summer learning program are to begin planning at least six months in advance and to include both district and summer site leaders in the process.

Aug 13, 2013
Solution

Developing Strategies for Summer Learning

RAND education experts conducted extensive literature reviews, examined summer program cost data, interviewed numerous providers of summer programs, and visited a diverse range of U.S. cities to interview summer learning leaders and observe summer learning directly.

Aug 10, 2013
Multimedia

Media Conference Call on Getting to Work on Summer Learning

RAND education experts Jennifer McCombs and Catherine Augustine hosted a news media conference call to discuss the best steps school districts can take to provide the most effective and rewarding summer learning programs. Ann Stone, who leads the summer learning initiatives at The Wallace Foundation, which funded the study, also participated. The call was moderated by RAND Media Relations Officer Joe Dougherty.

Aug 9, 2013
Multimedia

Media Conference Call on Summer Learning Programs

RAND education expert Catherine Augustine co-hosted a news media conference call to discuss "summer slide," the education loss some students experience due to the lack of learning programs available during the summer months. Participating in the call were Gary Huggins, chief executive officer of the National Summer Learning Association, and Lauren Gilbert, vice president of program, Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL). Media Relations Officer Joe Dougherty moderated the call.

Jun 18, 2013
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 13, 2013
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

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 20, 2012
Multimedia

Making Summer Count

RAND experts Catherine Augustine and Jennifer McCombs discuss the loss of knowledge and educational skills during summer, how summer programs can disrupt this loss, and how students who attend these programs perform better than peers who do not.

Dec 16, 2011

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RAND Education and Labor