Whole Child Education

The National Summer Learning Association’s Research in Brief series profiles key studies about summer learning and highlights the findings in easy-to-understand language. These briefs can help inform the choices that parents, program providers and policymakers make when selecting and designing summer programs for youth. This Research in Brief issue provides research findings on what children face once the school doors close for the summer. To succeed in school and life, children and young adults need ongoing opportunities to learn and practice essential skills. This is especially true during the summer months. All young people experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer. 

The National Summer Learning Association’s Research in Brief series profiles key studies about summer learning and highlights the findings in easy-to-understand language. These briefs can help inform the choices that parents, program providers and policymakers make when selecting and designing summer programs for youth. This Research in Brief issue provides research findings on what children face once the school doors close for the summer. For some, it’s a world of interesting vacations, music lessons, and library trips. For others without enriching summertime opportunities, the break can lead to serious academic consequences—and the disparity can be dramatic.

The National Summer Learning Association’s Research in Brief series profiles key studies about summer learning and highlights the findings in easy-to-understand language. These briefs can help inform the choices that parents, program providers and policymakers make when selecting and designing summer programs for youth. This Research in Brief issue provides research findings on summertime child weight gain and describes what this research means for children and society as a whole. 

The National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) has a funding resource titled Moving Summer Learning Forward: A Strategic Roadmap for Funding in Tough Times (PDF). Developed with the support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, this resource is designed to help state and local leaders identify the most promising funding streams to support summer learning and show how innovative states, districts, and communities have creatively developed and sustained high-quality summer programming. 

A recent study on the Freedom Schools summer program in Kansas City, Mo., for children in Kindergarten through 8th grade found that participants' reading skills and their attitudes toward learning improved during the school year.

Transcending the punitive and remedial model of summer school, summer learning’s new form is an artful blend of core academic learning, hands-on activities, 21st century skills, arts, sports and meaningful relationships.