Six School Districts to Participate in Major Project to Test Whether Summer Learning Programs Produce Lasting Academic Gains for Low-Income Students July 6, 2011
Contact: Jessica Schwartz The Wallace Foundation 212-251-9711
Angie Cannon The Hatcher Group 301-656-0348
Children in low-income communities in six cities will take part in improved summer learning programs, beginning this summer. Through 2014, these school district-based programs will provide much-needed experience and evidence on how schools can end the damage from summer learning loss, which leaves many students several years behind by the time they enter high school. This project launches a major new phase of The Wallace Foundation’s multi-year, $50 million summer learning initiative.
New research has arrived from Rand Education, commissioned by the Wallace Foundation. This study found that summer learning programs can prevent the loss of knowledge and skills that occurs over the summer for many students and especially low-income students. Included below are key recommendations the researchers devised for school districts, providers, policy-makers, and funders, as well as an extended research brief. Both the brief and the full Rand report can be downloaded on this page.
From Rand Education's "Making Summer Count" Research Brief:
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