Years of education research have documented that the long summer hiatus from the classroom eats into children’s academic gains from the previous year. Summer loss accumulates year after year and “contributes to a substantial portion of the achievement gap,” according to a 2011 RAND Corp. report, “Making Summer Count,” commissioned by The Wallace Foundation. The RAND report notes that research from a dozen studies suggests it is possible to mitigate summer slide through smart summertime programs. Features of promising efforts include small group sizes, engaging activities, strong instruction, sufficient duration (five to six weeks over the summer) and, crucially, strong attendance.
With this in mind, Wallace last year launched a $50-million initiative to see whether large school districts could successfully operate high-quality programs that replace summer learning loss with lasting learning gains, particularly for our least advantaged students. This summer marks the program’s second year with six participating districts — Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Duval County (Jacksonville, Fla.), Pittsburgh and Rochester, N.Y. The efforts vary in approach, but typically they offer children academic fare during the morning and enrichment, ranging from nature study to dance, later in the day. Some programs feature field trips or a big project such as a theatrical performance. One offers the occasional pizza or ice cream party.
Wallace chose the six in part because the superintendents and other district leaders already had launched programs to fight summer learning loss. The Wallace initiative seeks to help strengthen this programming, ...
Ensuring Summer Isn’t a Vacation From Learning BY WILL MILLER
With this in mind, Wallace last year launched a $50-million initiative to see whether large school districts could successfully operate high-quality programs that replace summer learning loss with lasting learning gains, particularly for our least advantaged students. This summer marks the program’s second year with six participating districts — Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas, Duval County (Jacksonville, Fla.), Pittsburgh and Rochester, N.Y. The efforts vary in approach, but typically they offer children academic fare during the morning and enrichment, ranging from nature study to dance, later in the day. Some programs feature field trips or a big project such as a theatrical performance. One offers the occasional pizza or ice cream party. American Association of School Administrators
School Administrator is AASA's award-winning monthly magazine. It is delivered to every public school superintendent in the United States and provides big-picture perspectives and collegial discussions on a broad range of topics in education, leadership, instructional materials and resources unique to the education community. Jay Goldman, editor. Current Issue Differentiated Instruction
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Escape the 'Slide'. Stop learning loss without missing out on summer fun. Summer learning loss happens with all subjects, but math and literacy are of the biggest cause for concern because they're the foundation for all future learning. Research shows that students lose 2-3 months of math skills every summer. TenMarks Summer Program Register for our Summer Math Program before 6/3 for 20% off!
How It Works
Students are guided through their personalized curriculum, one concept at a time. They receive "smart worksheets" on each topic, with the goal of helping them master that topic. Online Summer Math Program - Proven Results
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