1st Edition

Summer Learning Research, Policies, and Programs

Edited By Geoffrey D. Borman, Matthew Boulay Copyright 2004
    310 Pages
    by Routledge

    310 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book brings together up-to-date, research-based evidence concerning summer learning and provides descriptions and analyses of a range of summer school programs. The chapters present theory and data that explain both the phenomenon of summer learning loss and the potential for effective summer programs to mitigate loss and increase student achievement.

    Summer Learning: Research, Policies, and Programs:
    *presents evidence describing variations in summer learning loss and how these learning differences affect equality of educational opportunity and outcomes in the United States;
    *discusses the development, characteristics, and effects of the most recent wave of summer programs which are designed to play key roles in the recent standards movement and related efforts to end social promotion;
    *examines the impact of three of the most widespread, replicable summer school programs serving students across the United States; and
    *considers the characteristics and effects of alternative programs and practices that are designed to combat the problem of summer learning loss head on.

    Intended for education researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and graduate students, this volume is particularly relevant to those interested in social stratification, equity-minded policies, implications of the current standards movement and high stakes testing, and the development of programs and practices for improving education.

    Contents: Preface. Part I: Summer Learning, Schooling, and the Achievement Gap: Setting the Context. H. Cooper, Is the School Calendar Dated? Education, Economics, and the Politics of Time. K.L. Alexander, D.R. Entwisle, L.S. Olson, Schools, Achievement, and Inequality: A Seasonal Perspective. A.W. Wiseman, D.P. Baker, The American Summer Learning Gap From an International Perspective. Part II: Summer School and the Standards Movement. M. Roderick, B.A. Jacob, A.S. Bryk, Summer in the City: Achievement Gains in Chicago's Summer Bridge Program. J. Portz, Summer School 2000 and 2001: The Boston Public Schools Transition Services Program. S.G. Paris, P.D. Pearson, G. Cervetti, R. Carpenter, A.H. Paris, J. DeGroot, M. Mercer, K. Schnabel, J. Martineau, E. Papanastasiou, J. Flukes, K. Humphrey, T. Bashore-Berg, Assessing the Effectiveness of Summer Reading Programs. Part III: The Implementation and Effects of Nationally Replicated Summer School Programs. G. Roberts, J. Nowakowski, Addressing the Summer Learning Loss: An Evaluation of the Voyager Summer Reading Intervention Program. M.T. Moore, D.E. Myers, Translating Results From Impact Studies Into Changes in Operating Programs: Improving Upward Bound Through Targeting More At-Risk Students. J.A. Laird, S.S. Feldman, Evaluation of the Summerbridge Intervention Program: Design and Preliminary Findings. Part IV: Combating Summer Learning Loss Head on: Programs and Practices. G.D. Borman, L.T. Overman, R. Fairchild, M. Boulay, J. Kaplan, Can a Multiyear Summer Program Prevent the Accumulation of Summer Learning Losses? M. Phillips, T. Chin, How Families, Children, and Teachers Contribute to Summer Learning and Loss. C. Ballinger, Why Wait for Summer? Quicker Intervention, Better Results.

    Biography

    Geoffrey D. Borman, Matthew Boulay

    "The publication of Summer Learning represents a timely opportunity to consider issues surrounding the school calendar....this book provides a good, solid overview, and its strength lies in its examples of current summer learning research. It does not provide the answers to contemporary questions about summer learning--those answers are a long way off--but it does raise and discuss the important questions. For this, it deserves to be read by researchers and policymakers concerned with this important issue."

    TCRecord

    "This book is the most comprehensive treatment of summer learning opportunities and their impact on students...no other comparable book has appeared in years."
    Gary Natriello
    Teachers College Columbia University

    "This book fills an important gap in understanding the current design and the implementation of an increasingly popular instructional strategy in urban districts across our nation. Many of the authors in the volume are national figures in this area of research...clearly one would not have assembled a stronger group of researchers to address this emerging issue."
    Kenneth Wong
    Vanderbilt University