Summer Learning
Over 80% of students’ waking hours are spent outside of school. Summer accounts for a large portion of this time and, if intentionally planned, provides a significant opportunity to impact learning. Summer programs have proven to support traditionally underserved student populations in making academic gains during the summer months. Here is a video of what summer learning looks like in one rural Oklahoma community.
The focus of school and community partnerships should attend to providing traditionally underserved students with equitable access to high-quality summer learning experiences that assist them in gaining the content and skills that support learning on grade level. Horizons National in partnership with NBC news provides this informational video to illustrate the impact fewer summer opportunities have on our traditionally underserved student populations.
Engage Your Community for Intentional Summer Learning
Review the Oklahoma Family Engagement Framework to gain strategies and guidance for school and community partnerships to meet the needs of the whole child in support of learning.
Consider developing a community partnership asset map and map existing summer program offerings prior to planning for the summer.
Establish a community vision for summer learning that includes a shared mission, jointly developed, and includes common goals and shared responsibility for obtaining those goals. Ensure that summer programming is aligned to school-year standards and student needs.
Implement a Memorandum of Understanding to identify mission, purpose, scope and responsibilities of school staff and community partners and design intentional summer learning experiences through joint program planning and staff development.
Collaborate with community partners on a student recruitment plan that removes barriers to participation (i.e., food, transportation, language, etc.).
Establish a plan to jointly assess the quality of summer program offerings and show appreciation for program partners.
Summer Learning: A Continuous Improvement Process
Plan: It is important to dedicate time to explore and connect with existing summer programs within the community. Working together, identify opportunities for partnership, innovation and improvement.
Do: Develop a plan, remembering to include student recruitment, joint professional development, engaging programming and equitable access that meets the unique needs of summer learners.
Review: Schedule time to reflect on what worked well, what could be changed and how to move forward with community partners to continue to support students during their out-of-school time.
Where do I go to learn more about Summer Learning?
There are several nationally recognized resources that may be helpful as you develop summer learning. These trusted resources provide a strong body of evidence about the value of summer learning as well as real-world examples, tools, and resources to launch equitable summer learning programs.
The National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) is a national, non-profit organization focused on the powerful impact of one achievable goal: investing in summer learning to help close the achievement gap. NCLA’s vision is that every child, regardless of zip code, grows and thrives every summer.
https://www.summerlearning.org/
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.
https://www.rand.org/topics/summer-learning.html
Based in New York City, The Wallace Foundation is a philanthropy working nationally to answer important questions that, if solved, could help strengthen practices and policies within a field. Their mission is to foster equity and improvements in learning and enrichment for young people, and in the arts for everyone.
https://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/summer-learning/pages/default.aspx
The David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality empowers education and human service leaders to adapt, implement, and scale best-in-class, research validated quality improvement systems to advance child and youth development. The Forum for Youth Investment and the National Summer Learning Association in collaboration with the David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality identify key areas to plan and assess the quality of summer programs.
https://forumfyi.org/weikartcenter/
Y4Y focuses on learning for every staff member at every level of a 21st Century Community Learning Centers program, and for every young person you work with. The Y4Y Mission: To build a community of caring and competent professionals who nurture, motivate, and engage children and youth in 21st CCLC programs.
