COVID-19 Crisis: Articles by Dr. Shawn Ginwright (SFSU) and Jennifer Peck (PCY)

Shawn Ginwright and Jennifer Peck are important leaders in the afterschool and youth development movements. They have both been frequent contributors to our blogs and conferences. Below are articles they recently published during the COVID-19 crisis.

Coronavirus Underscores Need for Healing America's Racial Divisions 

By Dr. Shawn Ginwright

A history of policies that exclude and inflict harm have led to higher rates of persistent traumatic stress environment, leaving African Americans and Lations more vulnerable in the fight against COVID-19.

Now is the time to shape a new world and remedy past injustices. The reports of racial disparities among COVID-19 victims should not surprise us. African Americans and Latinos have typically experienced disproportionate exposure to a range of health issues. (Read the full article published in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 14, 2020.)

Source: Getty Images/ iStockphoto

Summer Matters More Than Ever

By Jennifer Peck

There are some unique challenges in front of us as we think about this coming summer, when learning loss, social disconnection and mental health challenges will be as intense as ever.

We should be doubling down on supports for kids over the summer, but there are a lot of unknowns. We don’t yet know to what extent we will be allowed to congregate in groups and when. We don’t know what the resource picture will look like. We don’t know how we can staff programs. The barriers seem immense, and feel overwhelming while our system is still trying to implement distance learning at scale.

What we cannot do is become paralyzed. There is too much at stake. Right now, we must be planning for different scenarios so that we can be ready to serve as many students as possible with various combinations of virtual and small group in-person time, including creative, project-based activities for students. (Read the full article published on Ed100.org on April 24, 2020.)

Source: Partnership for Children & Youth (PCY)

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Shawn Ginwright is professor of Education, and African American Studies at San Francisco State University and chairman of the Board of Directors for the California Endowment. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Pivot: A Dramatic Shift Toward a Healing Centered Society. Dr. Ginwright has been a frequent contributor and speaker for Temescal Associates and The How Kids Learn Foundation.

Jennifer Peck, Executive Director of the Partnership for Children & Youth (PCY), has led the organization since its founding in 2001.  During this time, she has grown PCY to be the leading California intermediary building access to high quality expanded learning opportunities for students living in our state’s lowest-income communities. Jennifer led the creation of the California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance, the California Summer Matters Campaign, the California Community Schools Network, and HousED which builds on-site learning supports for students living in public and affordable housing.

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.