SUMMER LEARNING LOSS

FACTS

“For many children in America, summer vacation means camp, trips to new or familiar destinations, visits to museums, parks and libraries, and a variety of enriching activities – either with families or as part of a summer learning program. But for millions of others, when schools close for the summer, safe and enriching learning environments are out of reach, replaced by boredom, lost opportunities and risk” (America After 3PM Special Report on Summer, 2010).

Part 1: National Facts about Summer Learning Loss

In the United States today, only 25 percent of school-age children (an estimated 14.3 million children) participate in summer learning programs.

• Based on parent interest in enrolling their child in a summer learning program, 56 percent of all non-participating children (an estimated 24 million children) would likely enroll in summer learning programs.


• Parents of only one-third of children show no interest in enrolling their children in summer learning programs.


• Low-income and ethnic minority children are more likely to attend summer learning programs than other children, but the unmet demand among low-income and minority families are also greatest.


• By an overwhelming margin, parents support public funding for summer learning programs, with the strongest level of support coming from low-income and ethnic minority parents (America After 3PM Special Report on Summer, 2010).

Part 2: Maryland Facts about Summer Learning

• Just 31 Percent of Maryland Children Attend Summer Learning Programs


• An Estimated 358,000 Maryland Kids Would Likely Participate in a Summer Learning Program, Based on Parent Interest

Part 3: Just The Facts and Nothing But The Facts

• All young people experience learning losses when they don't engage in educational activities during the summer.


• Students typically score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer vacation than they do on the same tests at the beginning of summer vacation (Reading Is Fundamental, 2011).


• Low-income children and youth experience greater summer learning losses than their higher-income peers (Reading Is Fundamental, 2011).


• On average, students lose approximately 2.6 months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months (Reading Is Fundamental, 2011).


• Low-income students experience an average summer learning loss in reading achievement of more than 2 months (Reading Is Fundamental, 2011).


• Studies show that out-of-school time is a dangerous time for unsupervised children and teens. They are more likely to:
  
  
  
  • Use alcohol, drugs, and tobacco
  
  
  • Engage in criminal and other high-risk behaviors
  
  
  • Receive poor grades; and drop out of school than those who have the opportunity to benefit from constructive activities supervised by responsible adults.
  
  
  • Without practice, students lose reading skills over the summer months and children from low-income families lose the most (The National Summer Learning Association’s Research website, 2011).

Part 4: An Interview with Dr. Kim James of Harvard University

• Here is a snippet of an interview between Dr. James and The National Summer Learning Association.

Q. So it’s not enough to just give a child a book and expect him or her to read it?

A. Access to reading materials is crucial, of course, but according to our research, that’s not enough, especially in the early elementary school years. Many people are aware that children lose reading skills over the summer and that low-income children fall behind, compared to their more advantaged classmates. We also know that kids who read a lot over the summertime sustain reading comprehension and vocabulary. Consequently, some people conclude that, in order to increase reading skills, we need to increase access to books—but the research indicates it’s not that simple. In fact, in one study, when we gave books to kids but did nothing else, they did no better than the kids who did nothing over the summer. There was no difference.

Part 5: Information, Tidbits, and Knowledge about Summer Learning Loss

• About two-thirds of the ninth-grade achievement gap between lower and higher income youth can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities during the elementary school years. As a result, low-income youth are less likely to graduate from high school or enter college (Alexander et al. 2007).


• Parents consistently cite summer as the most difficult time to ensure that their children have productive things to do (Duffett et al. 2004).

Adams unveils budget for St. Louis Public Schools

Under a budget plan unveiled last night by St. Louis Public Schools superintendent Kelvin Adams, historic Sumner High School may become a charter in the 2012 school year.
(Rachel Lippmann/St. Louis Public Radio)

Three schools would be closed, and several others would undergo vast transformations, under a $273 million dollar budget proposal unveiled last night by St. Louis Public Schools superintendent Kelvin Adams.

The proposed spending plan also marks a shift in budgeting philosophy for the district. Money in the past has been distributed to schools based on the number of people that work in the building.
Starting next year, the money would be allocated as a grant to schools based on several factors, including the percentage of special education and low-income students, average daily attendance, and whether the school is a magnet/choice school. Within reason - for example, they'll still have to meet state class size limits - principals will be able to set their own staffing plan.

"The whole challenge for a principal is to have ownership, and have control of the resources," said Adams, a former principal. "If I decide I want to have a larger third grade class - I have a great, dynamic third grade teacher, I'll put that teacher in that classroom," Adams said. "But I may have a smaller fourth grade class because maybe things aren't working as well in my fourth grade group."

More details are after the break.

The budget does not lay off any teachers, though some safety officers and other non-certified personnel will lose their jobs. The district is also shifting some nurses and social workers that were hired using federal stimulus dollars to its general operating budget, at a cost of several million dollars.

Transportation will take a sharp hit. More schools will share buses, and transportation for field trips and after-school activities will be curtailed. Adams says restoring the $3.4 million cut will be a priority as the district receives additional dollars.

Here are the various changes proposed to the district's schools:

Bunche and Stevens middle schools, and Big Picture Academy at Kottmeyer, will close. Bunche students will go to Compton-Drew Investigate Learning Center, though Adams says he will work to keep the language immersion education in place. Stevens students will go to Cole, L'Overture or Yeatman schools, and Big Picture students will go to schools throughout the city.

Stevens was closed partially for academic reasons. The Special Administrative Board adopted that policy at its last meeting. Beaumont High School will become a technical school serving grades 11-12. Students would attend a comprehensive high school for a half-day and Beaumont for a half-day. The school will not take ninth graders this year. The necessary capital improvements will cost about $500,000 Dr. Adams is exploring ways to turn Sumner High School - which he threatened to close last year - into a district-sponsored charter school in the 2012-2013 school year.

Cole School will get an Afro-centric curriculum. Woerner Elementary and Yeatman Middle will become gender-specific schools. Adams says parent organizations at those schools expressed an interest in having those programs in place. Students and staff would be able to transfer out of those three schools, but not transfer in. Adams says the district cannot afford to transport students from across the city.

The district will open 27 additional early childhood classrooms and expand a teen mother support program to all four high schools. Adams says funding for those programs will come from outside sources, not general revenue.

The district will do everything in its power to hang onto students who might not be happy with proposed changes at their school, Adams said.

"But parents have choices, and they have to make those choices," he said. "This whole piece is about choices. We want to try and create the best choice for them. But the parent may not feel that it is the best choice and so they'll obviously vote with their feet."

The district is projecting a K-12 enrollment of 23,072 next year. The K-12 enrollment in the 2006-2007 school year was 32,135. Enrollment in charter schools has more than doubled in that time frame.

The district will take public comment online from April 28 to May 16. On Monday, May 9 there will be a public forum at 6:30 p.m. at Vashon High School. Dr. Adams is hoping to take a final vote at the May 26 board meeting, which will start at 6 p.m.