Although summer learning programs are not new, their popularity has increased in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing learning loss, and gaps in student success.
A new study on the efficiency of summer programs in preventing learning loss, also known as the “summer slide,” and accelerating academic recovery following pandemic-related learning interruptions was released today by NWEA, a K–12 evaluation and research organization. The research on summer programs, their implementation and design, and their effectiveness for achieving literacy, math, and social-emotional learning (SEL) outcomes are all covered in detail in this paper.
“The pandemic’s disruption of education is still having an effect on learning. According to our most recent data, pupils would require an extra 4.5 months of arithmetic teaching and 4.1 months of reading instruction on average to make up for their deficiencies in these two disciplines. Summer programs are becoming a popular recovery tactic for many districts, and if they are well-planned and well-attended, they offer a lot of promise, according to Dr. Miles Davison, Research Scientist at NWEA and one of the report’s authors. “It is especially important that school districts have information on how to maximize the effectiveness of these programs, especially with the ESSER funding sunsetting.”
Due to the increased use of summer programs, NWEA researchers assessed the available research and found ten suggestions that district officials should take into account when designing and implementing these programs:
- Districts ought to provide summer programs that run for at least four weeks.
- Targeted education and small class sizes should be features of summer programming.
- Summer teaching ought to be given by professionals in the field.
- Employees should come to summer programs equipped with well-known teaching resources.
- Developing relationships ought to be a major focus of summer programming.
- Diverse resource enrichment should be a part of summer programs.
- Districts ought to include summertime culturally appropriate activities.
- Summer activities ought to be free and include meals and transportation.
- To encourage student involvement, summer programs should place a high priority on family contact.
The new report also highlights the positive outcomes that have been seen in other studies, such as raising mathematics across student characteristics and ability levels, enhancing early-grade literacy for low-income students, and potentially improving student participation in multiple summer sessions and SEL outcomes.
Summer programs can be a very effective tool in reducing learning loss and assisting students in making up for lost learning opportunities during the semester if they concentrate on these targeted aims and incorporate the essential design elements.
