Summer Learning Meets The LIAS Principles

Source: Learning in Afterschool & Summer

From the LIAS Archives

By Guest Blogger, Katie Brackenridge, Glen Price Group

A child’s need for meaningful learning and enrichment experiences does not end in June when the school doors close for summer vacation. All children need to be engaged and active during the summer months in order to be on track when they return to school in the fall. Whether these needs are being met may boil down to a child’s neighborhood or family income level. Without summer learning opportunities, children—especially children in low-income communities— can fall dramatically behind academically. 

More than 100 years of research about this phenomenon – known as summer learning loss –paints a clear and compelling picture. A longitudinal study from Johns Hopkins University found that low-income children lose about 2 months in their reading levels each summer. By 5th grade, the cumulative learning loss puts them nearly three grade level equivalents behind their more affluent peers. [1] Unequal summer learning opportunities during elementary school years are responsible for about two-thirds of the ninth-grade achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth. As a result, low-income youth are less likely to graduate from high school or enter college. [2]

Given this data, communities across the country are working hard to build high quality summer learning opportunities. They are quickly discovering that summer is the perfect time to put the Learning in Afterschool and Summer principles into action. Children don’t need or want more traditional school time during the summer. In fact, because summer programming is often voluntary, many children and youth won’t participate unless their experience is fun and engaging. In Making Summer Count, researchers from the RAND Corporation found – not surprisingly – that consistent attendance is a key indicator of a program’s ability to impact participant learning. [3] Summer learning programs have to inspire and motivate in order to succeed.

Besides the imperative around attendance, the time and flexibility in summer programming also lends itself well to the LIAS principles.

• Learning that is Active - Summer curriculum can involve long-term projects that allow students to experiment, explore and discover. Projects that might take too much time or are too complicated for the school year become possible during the summer.
• Learning that is Collaborative – Quality summer learning programs encourage participants to experiment, explore and discover together. Throughout a summer, participants can be placed in a whole variety of different groupings that allow them to learn from each other, practice communication and negotiation skills and feel ownership for their work.
• Learning that is Meaningful - While quality programs plan their schedule and curriculum before summer begins, well-trained staff know how and when to adjust lessons and schedules to respond to participants’ interests and to allow deeper inquiry and the expression of youth voice. This flexibility ensures that activities and projects are meaningful to participants.
• Learning that Promotes Mastery – More time means more opportunity to support participants in building skills, particularly around projects that they want to be doing. Quality programs provide opportunities for participants to showcase their skills and accomplishments.
• Learning that Expands Horizons – Summer is also a natural time for programs to expose participants to new people and places. Visiting artists, lecturers and teachers offer different perspectives, ideas and experiences. Field trips allow participants to visit places – even in their own communities – that they may never have seen and where they are able to return after the program ends. Many summer programs take young people on their first overnight camping trips, which is invariably an awe-inspiring, bonding experience for participants. 

END NOTES:
[1] National Summer Learning Association, 2009.                 
[2] Alexander, et al, 2007.
[3] Sloan, Jennifer McComb, Making Summer Count, RAND Corporation, 2010.
___________________________

MORE ABOUT...

Katie Brackenridge

Katie Brackenridge has worked in and with schools, school districts and community organizations for her entire career. As a consultant affiliated with the Glen Price Group, Katie focuses on creating equitable learning conditions for students by integrating whole-child practices, structures and systems into the education system, including schools, districts, county offices of education and statewide organizations. She is particularly

interested in building coherence across education initiatives by helping educators at all levels of the system understand their shared purpose and work through a whole-child lens.

Katie was previously a Partnership Director at Turnaround for Children (now the Center for Whole-Child Education at Arizona State University) where she designed and delivered strategic projects and presentations about the science of learning and development and whole-child design. For the 14 years before Turnaround, Katie was the Vice President of Programs at the Partnership for Children & Youth, a non-profit intermediary organization focused on improving practice and policy for expanded learning and community school initiatives in public education. Katie’s work is grounded in her 9-year experience as Co-Executive Director for the Jamestown Community Center, a grassroots youth organization in the Mission District of San Francisco.

President Calls for Elimination of Afterschool and Summer Funding

Source: www.pexels.com

According to Google AI, “Here's a breakdown of President Trump's afterschool policies, particularly his budget proposals, have had a significant impact on afterschool programs, primarily through proposed cuts and changes to federal funding streams. Here's a breakdown of the key impacts:

• Proposed Elimination of 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) Funding: The 21st CCLC program is the largest federal funding source specifically for afterschool and summer learning programs. President Trump's administration repeatedly proposed eliminating 21st CCLC funding, arguing the program lacked evidence of effectiveness. These proposals, if enacted, would have led to the loss of afterschool and summer programs serving millions of children and families, particularly in high-poverty areas. 


• Proposed Cuts to Other Education Programs Supporting Afterschool: Trump's budget proposals also included cuts to other federal programs that indirectly support afterschool, such as Title II (Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants) and Title IV Part A (Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants). These cuts would have further reduced resources available to states and localities for afterschool and related enrichment activities. 

• Consolidation and Block Granting Proposals: Some proposals aimed to consolidate various K-12 programs, including afterschool and summer learning funding, into a single block grant. This approach raised concerns about the potential for reduced funding for afterschool specifically and a loss of focus on the unique needs of these programs. 

• Impact of Overall Education Budget Cuts: President Trump's budget proposals generally sought to reduce the overall budget for the Department of Education. This could have resulted in reduced capacity for federal oversight, technical assistance, and innovation in afterschool programming.  

• Bipartisan Opposition and Congressional Action: While the Trump administration proposed these cuts, afterschool programs generally enjoyed strong bipartisan support in Congress. Congress often rejected the proposed cuts and maintained or even increased funding for programs like 21st CCLC.  

In Summary: President Trump's policies towards afterschool programs were largely characterized by proposed funding cuts and shifts in federal education policy. While some proposals were not enacted due to Congressional opposition, they created uncertainty and challenges for afterschool programs relying on federal support.” [i]

Source: Boost Cafe

According to Afterschool Alliance, “The President’s proposed ‘skinny’ budget for 2026 puts funding for afterschool and summer programs via 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) at risk. The proposal appears to eliminate entirely or collapse 21st CCLC into a consolidated grant program, lumping 18 programs together without enough funding for them all. Please urge your representatives in Congress to sustain this funding! [See Erik Peterson, Senior Vice President of Policy, Afterschool Alliance Afterschool Snack Blog here.]



21st CCLC supports nearly 1.4 million youth in programs in every state. Remind them of the importance of local afterschool and summer learning programs.

It supports 10,000 local programs serving nearly 1.4 million across the nation. The President’s proposal appears to eliminate entirely or collapse 21st CCLC into a consolidated grant program, lumping 18 programs into a fund to be sent to states without enough money to pay for them. With $12 billion in cuts to education programs overall, the consolidation effectively eliminates 21st CCLC afterschool and summer program grants. 

The need for afterschool has never been greater: for every child in a program, 4 are waiting to get in. Help make sure those doors stay open. Ask our leaders to act.
 

Please take a minute to make a phone call to your elected officials. A phone call helps show how much this issue matters to you! Don’t stop there:

- To help get the word out, use the tools at 3to6.co/Challenge. 
 

- See how the proposed cut could affect your state at AfterschoolWorksforAmerica.org

Federal support is essential to help the nearly 25 million children and youth who would be in an afterschool program if one were available. Increased program costs are making it harder for afterschool providers to serve families and children. In communities nationwide the need cannot be greater for math and reading enrichment, healthy activity and nutritious snacks, and hands-on, engaging activities that help children learn and grow.



Please take two minutes to send a message to Congress in support of afterschool and summer learning programs." [ii]

END NOTE:

[i] Google AI, How Have Trump’s Policies Impact Afterschool Programs?

[ii] Afterschool Alliance, Don't Eliminate Afterschool and Summer Funding in FY 2026

An Interview with Outgoing PCY Founder, Jennifer Peck

By Sam Piha

“After 21 years of incredible service, Jennifer Peck, Partnership for Children & Youth (PCY) founding CEO, will step down from her leadership role in the organization on June 30th." - Partnership for Children & Youth

I've had the pleasure of working with Jennifer on promoting access to quality afterschool programs for over 20 years. She has partnered with Temescal Associates on several projects throughout the years and has proved to be an incredible leader and innovator. I interviewed Jennifer recently about her career and accomplishments and we share her responses below. To read comments from afterschool leaders who share their thoughts on Jennifer's impact on the field of afterschool, click here.

Q: What has influenced you to focus your energies on young people’s well-being?  

A: It’s been multiple things – one is that I came from a family of educators so that was sort of ingrained in me, though my career path was very unplanned and really a series of opportunities that I took advantage of at different moments. I started my career in politics and after working on a presidential campaign, found myself at the U.S. Department of Education which was an incredible learning experience and where I became inspired to pursue the career I’ve had.

Q: Why did you think it was necessary to found a new non-profit organization to promote this mission?  

A: When the federal government and California first began investing in afterschool, a lot of communities in great need for these resources couldn’t or didn’t access them, because the funding and policies didn’t  reflect the realities of running programs on the ground. There was a need for an entity to better communicate those realities and improve how public funding and policies served kids, so we dove in.

Q: What accomplishment are you most proud of? 

A: It’s such a hard question to answer, there’s a lot I’m proud of, but right now I’m feeling immensely proud that there’s so much more attention to and investment in summer learning. PCY’s staff and partners over a lot of years did so much to raise up summer as a critical time and opportunity for young people, and it feels like it’s really arrived.

Q: What accomplishment was the most difficult? 

A: Also hard to answer, a lot of things were difficult! But I’d say winning an increase to the daily rate for ASES and 21st CCLC -- it’s a tough sell in a political environment to be fighting for more money to serve the same number of kids, but that’s what was needed.

Q: What do you see as the greatest challenge for the afterschool movement? 

A: The biggest challenges on my mind, are figuring out how to build systems to recruit, train and adequately pay the workforce, and how to sustain the positive attention on afterschool and summer right now. Both will take really focused and smart policy, communications and system-building work – and PCY’s new leadership is ready and able to take these things on!

Q: Looking ahead, what do you see as the greatest opportunities for the afterschool movement? 

A: The big one in my opinion, is to really solidify a change in the public education mindset from one that saw learning as happening primarily from 8-3 and between September and June, to one that sees learning as happening all day and all year, with a diverse set of adults facilitating. I also can’t help but be really, really excited about summer and the opportunity to expose so many more kids to amazing, fun, life-changing summer experiences.

Q: Looking back, what do you think you will treasure most? 

A: Most definitely the people and the relationships I’ve developed over all these years. There’s so many amazing people in this work – like my old friend Sam Piha. 

Q: What did you learn most from being a parent to Emilia?  

A: Wow – so many things, and an interesting moment to think about it as Emilia is headed off to college in a month. If I had to pick one thing, it’s that you have to meet kids where they are – my daughter is really different from me in some ways, and I had to learn how to adjust my parenting over time to support her in the way that best helped her grow. It has made me think a lot about the work of educators and how important it is to know and care about every kid -- at the end of the day, it’s the most important thing.

Jennifer Peck

MORE ABOUT... Jennifer Peck led Partnership for Children & Youth since its founding in 2001. During her tenure she developed and implemented initiatives to build high-quality afterschool and summer learning programs, access to meals and health care for students, and integration of social and emotional learning in the education system across the state. Prior to forming PCY, Jennifer spent eight years as an appointee of President Bill Clinton at the United States Department of Education, where she supported implementation of initiatives including student loan reform, School-to-Work, and 21st Century Community Learning Centers. Jennifer is the proud mother of Emilia.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Families

By Sam Piha

Many of the young people we serve in afterschool come from low-income communities, in both urban and rural settings. Many of these are communities of color. These communities have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Afterschool and summer learning programs were a lifeline for underserved communities before the pandemic and now they are more important than ever as families with limited resources struggle to adapt to newly designed school days and years. 

Source: www.hrw.org

Expanded learning opportunities that complement the school day will be key to helping all young people and their families through this crisis. In preparing for young people to return to our programs, it is important that we have a snapshot of how our children and families have been impacted by the pandemic.

 

“One of the certainties as we navigate through this pandemic is that all children will benefit from being well known, well cared for, and well prepared. Afterschool programs have a long history of designing programs based on what young people need in order to help them be healthier and more ready to learn. Together schools and community organizations can co-design the future of learning in ways that interrupt historic inequities and help all young people emerge from this crisis strong, resilient and hopeful.” - Tony Smith, former Illinois State Superintendent and Oakland Unified School District Superintendent 

“The Impact of Coronavirus”, a five-part poll conducted by NPR, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, offers a national look at the problems emerging from the pandemic relating to household finances, jobs, health care, housing, transportation, caregiving, and well-being. Below are some of their key findings and you can learn more here.

Source: Getty Images

Key Findings 

• At least half of households in the four largest U.S. cities—New York City (53%), Los Angeles (56%), Chicago (50%), and Houston (63%)—report serious financial problems including depleted savings, and trouble paying bills or affording medical care. 
• Many of these experiences are concentrated among Black and Latino households; households with annual incomes below $100,000; and households experiencing job or wage losses since the start of the outbreak. 
• At least four in ten Latino, Black, and Native American households report using up all or most of their household savings during this time. 
• One in five households in the United States (20%) report household members unable to get medical care for serious problems. A majority unable to get care when needed (57%) report negative health consequences as a result. 

Source: www.nationalnews.com

• More than 1 in 3 households that include anyone with a disability report facing serious financial problems, many experiencing difficulty affording utilities and food. 
• More than one in three (36%) households with children face serious problems keeping their children’s education going, and among working households, nearly one in five (18%) report serious problems getting childcare when adults need to work. 
• About one in three households with children (34%) either do not have a high-speed internet connection at home or report serious problems with their connection while doing schoolwork or their jobs during the pandemic. 
• 43 percent of rural households report adult household members have lost their jobs, been furloughed, or had wages or hours reduced since the start of the outbreak, with two- thirds of these households (66%) reporting serious financial problems. 

The next step is considering what we need to do in afterschool to address the stresses related to these findings. To this end, we are sponsoring a webinar on Monday, March 29, 2021 entitled, “Helping Youth Thrive When They Return to Afterschool Programs Post COVID.” This webinar will be facilitated by Stu Semigran (EduCare Foundation) and features panelists Dr. Gil Noam (Harvard), Gloria Halley (Butte County Office of Education), Jose Luis Navarro IV (Principal and former California Teacher of the Year), and Autrilla Gillis (Director of Expanded Learning, ISANA Academies). You can click here to learn more about the webinar. 

Navigating Summertime Experiences in 2020

By Guest Blogger Dr. Deborah Moroney, AIR

Dr. Deborah Moroney, AIR

Last summer was pretty great. My 13-year-old son took a math class and attended a soccer camp at the local high school, led by the high school team players. My younger son, then age 12, worked stage crew on a youth-led production. Then, in July and August, they went to their favorite place on earth, a YMCA camp in northern Michigan, where they forged lifelong friendships. As the world continues to experience the coronavirus pandemic, this summer will likely be very different, and not just for my children.

As a researcher who has studied out-of-school time experiences, I know just how important these opportunities are for my children and children and youth around the country. Summer is a great time for children and youth to develop and explore their interests—and have fun.

Summertime experiences usually include both structured and unstructured time for learning and development. Structured opportunities include day and residential camps, such as district-led summer learning programs, and specialty camps like the ones offered by the Serious Fun Children’s Network. Children and youth also participate in programs on nature and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM); summer school, where they catch up on or dive deeper into core subjects; and sports and recreation programs for physical activities. For older youth, Summer Youth Employment Programs provide practical experience that they can draw on as adults.

Source: AIR

In a typical summer, the demand for structured summertime experiences far outweighs the availability. For youth who live in poverty and/or in rural areas, these issues of access are even greater. This year, when the coronavirus has had a significant effect on our daily lives, summertime programming is a question mark both for families and program providers.

Whether summertime programs can open and operate this summer depends on where they are located, the policies of their parent organizations, and their budgets, which dictate not only what they can offer but also their staffing and other operational necessities. Seasonal hiring by organizations operating summertime programs is risky at best this year.

Many organizations offering summertime programming are dependent on fees or per-participant reimbursements and have been experiencing financial uncertainty during this time. Some organizations have faced the challenge of having to keep select programs open for children of essential workers, while also furloughing significant numbers of staff. Public agencies’ budgets are also tight, and many major jurisdictions have proposed funding cuts to Summer Youth Employment Programs. One bright spot is that corporate sector philanthropic investors—like JP Morgan Chase, a longtime supporter of summer youth employment programs—remain committed financially to quality summertime offerings.

Source: www.clickorlando.com

Support and Resources for Summertime Program Providers
In the midst of these challenges and the general flux of what this summer might be like across the country, here are some resources for those who intend to provide summertime programs in-person, online, or in a digital format.

• Federal re-opening guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. All summertime programs should adhere to these standards.
• Tip sheets on summertime programs and camps from national organizations like the National Summer Learning Association and the American Camp Association.
• Evidenced based-strategies, such as those included in this toolkit, so that both summertime programs and schools can ensure all young people have opportunities to learn and develop. Summertime is a critical time for learning and development, now more than ever, and partnerships between summer programs and schools are key. 
• A list of hands-on activities for children and youth included in this toolkit from 4-H, which is aimed at helping both parents and summertime program providers.
• State level guidance on summer programs through your local Statewide Afterschool Network. For example, the Georgia Statewide Afterschool Network is leading a multi-state project to create a toolkit that will help afterschool professionals support participants’ learning and development.
• Various resources and support at the city level, such as through organizations like Boston Afterschool and Beyond. In a webinar, Chris Smith, president and executive director of that organization, and I shared findings from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Math report on summertime experiences. We also had a candid conversation about how COVID-19 will affect summertime experiences in Boston.

...........................................
Dr. Deborah Moroney is the Managing Director, American Institutes of Research (AIR). She specializes in bridging research and practice, having worked as a staff member for out-of-school programs early in her career. She's written practitioner and organizational guides; co-authored the fourth edition of “Beyond the Bell®, A Toolkit for Creating High-Quality Afterschool and Expanded Learning Programs,” a seminal afterschool resource; and co-edited Creating Safe, Equitable, Engaging Schools: A Comprehensive, Evidence-Based Approach to Supporting Students and Social and Emotional Learning in Out-of-School Time Foundations and Futures.  Presently, Dr. Moroney serves as the principal investigator on national studies of afterschool initiatives.

Closing the Communication Gap and Finding Time

Katie Brackenridge

Katie Brackenridge is the vice president for programs for the Partnership for Children and Youth (PCY) and a leading member of the Expanded Learning 360°/365 project. At PCY, she oversees initiatives to improve the quality of and access to after-school, summer and community schools efforts in California. She also makes recommendations and advises decision-makers about policies related to the expanded learning field.

Katie is very active in promoting social emotional learning in classroom, afterschool, and summer learning settings. Below are two articles that she has published around these issues. 

—————

Closing the Communication Gap Between School‑day and After‑school Teams

By Katie Brackenridge, originally published by Youth Today 

As a 23-year-old after-school worker in Brooklyn, New York, my “teacher” role was deeply intertwined with the personalities and interests of my kids. I wanted to know everything about what sparked the interests of each child in my room — what was funny, irritating, intriguing, intimidating.

I weaved this knowledge into the content of units and lessons, adapting as quickly as possible when they let me know that the activities were boring, easy or stupid. I used my relationships to understand when kids weren’t doing what I hoped they’d do.

Rather than enforcing what might have seemed like arbitrary rules, I circled back constantly to talk about how the rules did or did not support their needs or the needs of the group to get work done or to have fun. These practices were instinctual as a young adult with energy and optimism about the intrinsic ability of every child, and these practices were embedded in the youth development trainings I received.

Unfortunately, when teachers at the school saw my class in action, they often had concerns: Why are the children lying on the floor? Who will clean up this mess? What’s all this noise? These interactions intimidated me because I didn’t have the vocabulary to explain what I was doing. I couldn’t affirm confidently that by creating a safe space, listening to students’ voices, offering authentic learning opportunities, I was helping them self-manage, be socially aware, have self-efficacy. In short, I couldn’t translate the youth development practices into school-day language.

READ MORE.

—————

Photo Credit: Edutopia

Finding Time: Leveraging After School And Summer Programs’ Social And Emotional Expertise

By Katie Brackenridge, originally published by Transforming Education

Because they understand the importance of out-of-school activities, families with resources pay for classes, sports, and camps so their children continue to advance in the 80 percent of time they are not in school. They know the exposure, skills, and experiences are essential for their children’s academic, social and emotional development. In fact, over the last 40 years, upper-income parents have increased the amount they spend on their children’s enrichment activities, like tutoring and extracurricular programs, by 10 times the amount of their lower-income peers. Students from low-income families have increasingly less access to engaging activities, new experiences, and caring adults outside their families, and fewer opportunities to build social and emotional skills. This unequal access has contributed to a widening opportunity gap, with immediate consequences for academic achievement and long-term consequences for success in work and life.

Fortunately, there is a resource—though often overlooked—to address this opportunity gap. Free or low-cost expanded learning programs (that take place after school and in the summer) can offer an additional 690 hours (or 115 days) of learning time.

READ MORE.

School’s Starting: Are Students Ready? The Benefits of Summer Learning for Kids’ Physical and Academic Fitness

By Guest Bloggers Patrice Chamberlain, Director of the California Summer Meal Coalition & Jennifer Peck, Summer Matters Campaign Co-Chair   

Patrice Chamberlain

It’s almost time to head back to school– but are students ready? One telling sign of a student’s physical health and academic readiness for the year ahead is whether they had access to a high quality summer learning program.

It is well documented that a lack of summer learning opportunities leads to “summer learning loss” – the loss of skills and knowledge that causes teachers to spend valuable fall classroom time re-teaching students who need catching up. 

According to the National Summer Learning Association, the cost of re-teaching material that students forget due to summer learning loss is four to six weeks of school time, or $1,500 per student. 

Jennifer Peck

It's not just academics that suffer when students miss out on summer learning, but their physical health may suffer as well. Low-income and rural communities often have fewer supermarkets and retail outlets offering healthy food; they may also lack safe places to play. For many children living in those neighborhoods, school’s summer closure means disrupted access to a consistent source of healthy food and fewer opportunities for physical activity. Without that access, children may become sedentary and eat junk food or skip meals. 

A UC Irvine study found that low-income children are more likely to fall into these unhealthy habits due to a lack of opportunity to participate in organized activities. Without access to summer learning activities, students may gain weight two to three times faster during the summer than during the school year. 

As part of a nationwide effort to prevent summer learning loss, a growing number of school districts are recognizing the need to make providing equal access to high-quality summer learning programs a priority because they offer an unparalleled opportunity for children to learn while having fun, with nutritious meals and health and wellness education blended into engaging projects and activities.

In addition to the summer learning activities taking place in schools, there are also community-based organizations across California that are partnering in new and innovative ways – and opening their doors to students and their families – to make sure summer matters. 

In Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego, for example, local libraries have joined the efforts to keep kids healthy by jointly launching Summer Lunch at the Library programs to combat summer learning loss and summer hunger – offering summer reading programs along with free, healthy lunches through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s summer nutrition programs.

Summertime is an untapped resource; when students are free from homework and other stresses associated with the school year, they are free to learn and participate in new ways. In addition, summer programs can help promote healthy eating and active living by incorporating physical activity and nutrition education. Introducing students to summer’s agricultural abundance through summer programs is a great way to increase consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables (not to mention it helps California farmers too). 

Although the onset of the school year will soon leave summer as a distant memory, we must continue to advocate for a coordinated and year-round approach to student health and learning that includes summer—it’s an investment in our students’ future. Parents, government agencies, community organizations, businesses, and school districts all play a role in setting students up for success. They are, after all, our future leaders and workforce that will help sustain our communities. 

How Summer Learning Strengthens Students' Success

By Sam Piha

Sam Piha

We know from research that summer learning loss suffered by kids who do not have access to engaging summer programs is significant. Public Profit, an evaluation and technical assistance firm, has just released their findings on the benefits that children accrued by participating in pilot summer programs across the state. This publication also identified features of quality programs, which are well-aligned with the learning principles promoted by the Learning in Afterschool & Summer project. 

Below is a partial list of benefits that were found and a citing of quality program features. As positive evidence about the effectiveness of summer learning programs mount, so must our advocacy efforts to increase young people's access to these programs. To read a full copy of the executive summary, click here. To access the full report, click here. 

Key findings include:

• Students ended the summer with vocabulary skills much closer to their grade level, increasing their instructional grade level by over 1/3 of a grade. 

• English language learners demonstrated significant increases in their grade-level vocabulary, a gateway to English language fluency. 

• Parents reported that their kids improved their attitude towards reading (68%) and reading ability (62%). 

• Overall, 86% of parents reported the summer programs gave their kids opportunities to develop leadership skills. 

• Parents and educators emphasized summer learning programs’ critical role in providing students with new experiences and opportunities – such as field trips and community service projects – that they do not have during the school year. 

• Students in Fresno and Los Angeles summer learning programs reported improved academic work habits and reading efficacy, both key contributors to academic achievement. 

Elements of high quality summer learning:

• Broadens kids’ horizons – by exposing them to new adventures, skills and ideas. These could be activities like going on a nature walking, using a new computer program, giving a presentation, visiting a museum or attending a live performance.  

• Includes a wide variety of activities – such as reading, writing, math, science, arts and public service projects – in ways that are fun and engaging. 

• Helps kids build skills – by helping them improve at doing something they enjoy and care about. This could be anything from creating a neighborhood garden, to writing a healthy snacks cookbook to operating a robot. 

• Fosters cooperative learning – by working with their friends on team projects and group activities such as a neighborhood clean-up, group presentation or canned food drive. 

• Promotes healthy habits – by providing nutritious food, physical recreation and outdoor activities. 

• Lasts at least one month – giving kids enough time to benefit from their summer learning experiences. 

To learn more about the Summer Matters initiative, click here.

June 21st is National Summer Learning Day

By Sam Piha

In our last blog post, we featured two LIAS Youth Ambassadors from Azusa High School who talked about their experience at the CalSAC Afterschool Challenge. They traveled to Sacramento to advocate for afterschool programs by offering training to other youth participants, hosting an evening youth social event, and sharing their personal stories with California Legislators. 

June 21st is National Summer Learning Day. Please consider allowing staff and youth to travel to Sacramento to support and celebrate summer learning opportunities. Summer Matters will host a rally on the North Capitol steps beginning at 10:00am, followed by science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) student activities on the Capitol lawn. Picnic lunch begins at noon. Participants include State Superintendent Tom Torlakson, students, teachers, education officials, policymakers and more. 

Please RSVP to Beth Zygielbaum at beth@partnerforchildren.org or 510.830.4200 x1602. 

For more information on California's Summer Matters Initiative, visit their website. For a video on the value of summer learning, click here.

Summer Learning Meets The LIAS Principles

By Guest Blogger, Katie Brackenridge, The Partnership for Children and Youth 

Katie Brackenridge

A child’s need for meaningful learning and enrichment experiences does not end in June when the school doors close for summer vacation. All children need to be engaged and active during the summer months in order to be on track when they return to school in the fall. Whether these needs are being met may boil down to a child’s neighborhood or family income level. Without summer learning opportunities, children—especially children in low-income communities— can fall dramatically behind academically. 

More than 100 years of research about this phenomenon – known as summer learning loss –paints a clear and compelling picture.  A longitudinal study from Johns Hopkins University found that low-income children lose about 2 months in their reading levels each summer.   By 5^th grade, the cumulative learning loss puts them nearly three grade level equivalents behind their more affluent peers.[1]   Unequal summer learning opportunities during elementary school years are responsible for about two-thirds of the ninth-grade achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth. As a result, low-income youth are less likely to graduate from high school or enter college.[2]

Given this data, communities across the country are working hard to build high quality summer learning opportunities.  They are quickly discovering that summer is the perfect time to put the Learning in Afterschool and Summer principles into action.  Children don’t need or want more traditional school time during the summer.  In fact, because summer programming is often voluntary, many children and youth won’t participate unless their experience is fun and engaging.  In Making Summer Count, researchers from the RAND Corporation found – not surprisingly – that consistent attendance is a key indicator of a program’s ability to impact participant learning.[3]  Summer learning programs have to inspire and motivate in order to succeed.

Besides the imperative around attendance, the time and flexibility in summer programming also lends itself well to the LIAS principles.

·       Learning that is Active - Summer curriculum can involve long-term projects that allow students to experiment, explore and discover.  Projects that might take too much time or are too complicated for the school year become possible during the summer.

·       Learning that is Collaborative – Quality summer learning programs encourage participants to experiment, explore and discover together.  Throughout a summer, participants can be placed in a whole variety of different groupings that allow them to learn from each other, practice communication and negotiation skills and feel ownership for their work.

·       Learning that is Meaningful - While quality programs plan their schedule and curriculum before summer begins, well-trained staff know how and when to adjust lessons and schedules to respond to participants’ interests and to allow deeper inquiry and the expression of youth voice.  This flexibility ensures that activities and projects are meaningful to participants.

·       Learning that Promotes Mastery – More time means more opportunity to support participants in building skills, particularly around projects that they want to be doing.  Quality programs provide opportunities for participants to showcase their skills and accomplishments.

·       Learning that Expands Horizons – Summer is also a natural time for programs to expose participants to new people and places.  Visiting artists, lecturers and teachers offer different perspectives, ideas and experiences.  Field trips allow participants to visit places – even in their own communities – that they may never have seen and where they are able to return after the program ends.  Many summer programs take young people on their first overnight camping trips, which is invariably an awe-inspiring, bonding experience for participants. 

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[1] National Summer Learning Association, 2009.                 

[2] Alexander, et al, 2007.

[3] Sloan, Jennifer McComb, Making Summer Count, RAND Corporation, 2010.

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Katie Brackenridge is Senior Director, Out of School Time Initiatives at the Partnership for Children and Youth. She joined the Partnership in 2004 and directs the Out of School Time initiatives. She has helped hundreds of school and community-based after school programs develop sustainability plans, plan and submit 21st CCLC and Prop 49/ASES grants, access additional funding sources and improve their program practices for after school and summer programming. 

Katie also supports the Partnership’s work to develop and improve policies that make out-of-school-time programming more accessible and effective. She serves as Co-Chair of the Quality Committee of the California Afterschool Network, working to advise and inform the Network, the California Department of Education and other stakeholders about systems and strategies to support quality programming across the state.