This book brings together up-to-date, research-based evidence concerning summer learning and provides descriptions and analyses of a range of summer school programs. The chapters present theory and data that explain both the phenomenon of summer learning loss and the potential for effective summer programs to mitigate loss and increase student achievement. Summer Learning: Research, Policies, and Programs: *presents evidence describing variations in summer learning loss and how these learning differences affect equality of educational opportunity and outcomes in the United States; *discusses the development, characteristics, and effects of the most recent wave of summer programs which are designed to play key roles in the recent standards movement and related efforts to end social promotion; *examines the impact of three of the most widespread, replicable summer school programs serving students across the United States; and *considers the characteristics and effects of alternative programs and practices that are designed to combat the problem of summer learning loss head on. Intended for education researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and graduate students, this volume is particularly relevant to those interested in social stratification, equity-minded policies, implications of the current standards movement and high stakes testing, and the development of programs and practices for improving education.

Students typically lose knowledge and skills during the summer, particularly low-income students. Districts and private providers can benefit from the evidence on summer programming to maximize program effectiveness, quality, reach, and funding.

This book is an authoritative examination of summer learning loss, featuring original contributions by scholars and practitioners at the forefront of the movement to understand—and stem—the “summer slide.” The contributors provide an up-to-date account of what research has to say about summer learning loss, the conditions in low-income children’s homes and communities that impede learning over the summer months, and best practices in summer programming with lessons on how to strengthen program evaluations. The authors also show how information on program costs can be combined with student outcome data to inform future planning and establish program cost-effectiveness. This book will help policymakers, school administrators, and teachers in their efforts to close academic achievement gaps and improve outcomes for all students. Book Features: Empirical research on summer learning loss and efforts to counteract it. Original contributions by leading authorities. Practical guidance on best practices for implementing and evaluating strong summer programs. Recommendations for using program evaluations more effectively to inform policy. Contributors: Emily Ackman, Allison Atteberry, Catherine Augustine, Janice Aurini, Amy Bohnert, Geoffrey D. Borman, Claudia Buchmann, Judy B. Cheatham, Barbara Condliffe, Dennis J. Condron, Scott Davies, Douglas Downey, Ean Fonseca, Linda Goetze, Kathryn Grant, Amy Heard, Michelle K. Hosp, James S. Kim, Heather Marshall, Jennifer McCombs, Andrew McEachin, Dorothy McLeod, Joseph J. Merry, Emily Milne, Aaron M. Pallas, Sarah Pitcock, Alex Schmidt, Marc L. Stein, Paul von Hippel, Thomas G. White, Doris Terry Williams, Nicole Zarrett “A comprehensive look at what’s known about summer’s impact on learning and achievement. It is a wake-up call to policymakers and educators alike” —Jane Stoddard Williams, Chair, Horizons National “Provides the reader with everything they didn’t know about summer learning loss and also provides information on everything we do know about eliminating summer learning loss. Do your school a favor and read this book and then act upon what you have learned.” —Richard Allington, University of Tennessee

RAND researchers assess voluntary, district-led summer learning programs for low-income, urban elementary students. This third report in a series examines student outcomes after one and two summers of programming.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not there was any change in reading achievement level of elementary school children during the summer vacation, and whether or not identifiable factors existed that may have accounted for these changes. Children in the first through fifth grades in three elementary schools in Corvallis, Oregon were give-pi the Word Reading and Paragraph Meaning sub-tests of the Stanford Achievement Test during the week prior to the last week of school in the spring. Another form of the same test was administered to these same students during the second week of school in the fall. Scores from the two tests for 383 children were then analyzed to compare gain in reading achievement during the summer vacation in terms of the total group tested, boys as compared to girls, grade levels, reading ability (as indicated by pre-test score), and summer reading activities. A matched-pair study was conducted using the children who attended summer school as the experimental group and children who did not attend summer school as the control group. The scores obtained by these two groups were then analyzed to determine if there was a significant difference in reading gain or loss during the summer. A questionnaire was completed in the fall by the children regarding their participation in summer activities. The responses of the children making the most gain in reading achievement during the summer vacation were compared with the responses of the children who made the least gain to determine if there was a relationship between summer activity and reading achievement. Findings and Conclusions Application of the t statistic to the mean differences between pre-test and post-test reading scores showed that a statistically significant loss at the . 05 level of about one-tenth of a year in reading achievement occurred during the summer. No significant difference was found between the mean scores of the boys and the girls. Analysis of the mean difference scores for each of the five grade levels using the one-way F-ratio indicated no significant difference between grades. Students receiving the lowest scores on the pre-test appeared to make more gains than the students making the highest scores when the results of a chi-square test of independence were analyzed in all grade levels and both sub-tests except for grades two and three on the Word Reading sub-test. The chi- square test of independence that was applied to the responses on the questionnaire by the group making the most gains when compared to the group making the least gains indicated that more high-gain students had read more than ten books during the summer than the low-gain group. The tow-gain group had taken more extended trips than the high-gain group. The t statistic for small correlated samples used with the matched-pair study showed that there was no significant difference between the summer reading achievement loss of the experimental group that attended summer school and a control group that did not attend.

Summer schools serve multiple purposes for students, families, educators, and communities. The current demand for summer programs is driven by changes in American families and by calls for an educational system that is competitive globally and embodies higher academic standards. This monograph details a research synthesis that uses both meta-analytic and narrative procedures to integrate the results of 93 evaluations of summer schools. These and other findings are then examined for their implications for future research, public policy, and implementation of summer programs.