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For the past six years, California’s Summer Matters campaign has been spreading the word about summer learning loss and the value of summer learning programs to keep kids thinking, playing and growing during the summer. The statistics are stark – low-income youth lose two to three months every summer in reading levels. The loss is cumulative so that by the fifth grade, these young people are two years behind their peers. The solution – creative, engaging summer programs – is gaining traction in districts and communities across the state. See the America After 3 report which documents the increased interest and enrollment in summer programs. It also documents the continued unmet high demand for summer programs. We’re finding a lot of districts (including 52 of 60 Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs) we analyzed in 2014) are using Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) dollars to restart their summer programs. It’s a great fit – as summer programs can be targeted to specific groups of students and have been shown to increase student achievement and engagement, improve school climate, and prepare students and teachers for the Common Core.
If your school or district isn’t doing summer learning, it’s an easy fit, particularly for schools that have already done some work to leverage community resources around their school site. Take a look at the summer learning resources here. You can also look at the handbook, “Summer Starts in September,” from the National Summer Learning Association.
If your school or district is already doing summer learning, we’d love to hear about your program and how it supports your community-schools work.
For more information, see these resources under Expanded Learning: America After 3 Report – California, Infographic – Summer Learning, LCFF Guide – Leveraging Summer for Student Success, Putting Summer to Work
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