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.

Introducing 50 Strategies for Summer School Engagement, the latest addition to the highly acclaimed 50 Strategies series. Designed to provide K-8 educators with practical, research-backed ideas to enhance the summer school experience, this book is an invaluable resource for teachers seeking innovative and engaging approaches to summer learning. Summer school offers a unique opportunity for students to accomplish grade-level learning objectives in a more relaxed environment, often with smaller class sizes. 50 Strategies for Summer School Engagement is specifically tailored to make summer learning, enjoyable, and engaging. The book is your ultimate guide to infusing your summer school sessions with creative, effective teaching strategies. This strategy book is divided into five main sections, each offering a diverse set of innovative approaches. Outdoor and Community Building: Explore strategies that take learning beyond the classroom and into the great outdoors, fostering a sense of community among students. Performing Arts: Discover creative techniques that utilize performing arts to make learning both fun and educational, encouraging students to express themselves. Culture Studies: Dive into strategies that explore different cultures, helping students gain a broader perspective of the world around them. Playful Learning: Infuse a sense of play and creativity into your summer school curriculum, ensuring students AND teachers remain engaged and motivated. Differentiating for Summer: Tailor your teaching to meet the unique needs of your summer school students, making sure that every learner can thrive. With 50 Strategies for Summer School Engagement, you have access to a treasure trove of educational ideas that can be swiftly integrated into your summer school program. Whether you are a seasoned educator or just beginning your teaching journey, this book is designed to help you create an engaging, enriching summer school experience for your students. Get ready to transform your summer school sessions into a time of growth, exploration, and fun with this outstanding resource.

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.

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

For children and youth, summertime presents a unique break from the traditional structure, resources, and support systems that exist during the school year. For some students, this time involves opportunities to engage in fun and enriching activities and programs, while others face additional challenges as they lose a variety of supports, including healthy meals, medical care, supervision, and structured programs that enhance development. Children that are limited by their social, economic, or physical environments during the summer months are at higher risk for worse academic, health, social and emotional, and safety outcomes. In contrast, structured summertime activities and programs support basic developmental needs and positive outcomes for children and youth who can access and afford these programs. These discrepancies in summertime experiences exacerbate pre-existing academic inequities. While further research is needed regarding the impact of summertime on developmental domains outside of the academic setting, extensive literature exists regarding the impact of summertime on academic development trajectories. However, this knowledge is not sufficiently applied to policy and practice, and it is important to address these inequalities. Shaping Summertime Experiences examines the impact of summertime experiences on the developmental trajectories of school-age children and youth across four areas of well-being, including academic learning, social and emotional development, physical and mental health, and health-promoting and safety behaviors. It also reviews the state of science and available literature regarding the impact of summertime experiences. In addition, this report provides recommendations to improve the experiences of children over the summertime regarding planning, access and equity, and opportunities for further research and data collection.