Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eSchool News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

How summer learning can save education

As the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) sets up to celebrate its 30-year anniversary next week in Washington DC during its annual Summer Learning Summit (sorry, sold out!), I had a chance to catch up with their CEO Aaron Dworkin, on what post-pandemic learning means from his perspective and how districts can solve a variety of current-day challenges with flexibility, communication, and inspiration. 

He emphasizes the importance of making summer learning feel different from the regular school experience, combining academic enrichment with experiential and fun activities. He highlights successful initiatives, such as the Camp School Partnership Project and Teachers in the Park, as examples of effective, low-cost approaches to preventing learning loss and ensuring a positive start to the school year. Looking forward, Aaron envisions the continued growth of quality summer programs for all low-income students across the United States through collaborative efforts and increased accountability. In 20 minutes, we run the gamut! Have a listen.

Key Takeaways:…Read More

4 ways to address learning gaps for underserved students

While it is now clear that the pandemic has had a significant impact on student learning – especially for historically underserved students – we are still discovering the most effective ways to help students recover. It turns out that summertime has the potential to be a big part of the solution for some of our most marginalized students. 

Recent findings from NWEA’s research team show the power of summer learning in changing academic trajectories for students. More specifically, the studies reveal that students with disabilities, rural students, and English learners make academic gains at rates equal to or faster than their peers during the academic year but experience greater learning loss when they’re out of school in the summer. The backsliding is so significant that it causes persistent or growing achievement gaps over the course of these students’ academic careers.

The lesson for pandemic recovery is clear. Summer learning provides an underutilized opportunity to help students regain lost ground due to COVID-19 and ensure that achievement gaps do not continue to widen. It should also be part of longer-term strategies to advance learning for historically underserved students. When summer learning is not part of the instructional strategy, the research suggests that it may lead to persistent opportunity gaps and diminished school-year gains over time.  …Read More

Transforming summer school with high-dosage tutoring

Summer school as we’ve traditionally known it hasn’t worked well for a long time, especially from an equity standpoint, but we all know that change tends to come slowly to educational institutions. I would submit that in 2022, after two years of extraordinary learning loss, a transformation shouldn’t wait any longer.

Today’s students have different summer learning needs, and we have better tools and methods to teach them. It’s time to start using them.

The old model of summer classes in school buildings every day from 9 a.m. to noon stopped being convenient decades ago, when stay-at-home parenting stopped being the norm. Even if families manage to find transportation for their kids to and from school at those hours, there remains the question of filling in the remaining hours with part-time child care — never a cost-effective option even when it is available.…Read More

4 steps to maximize summer learning

As we emerge from the darkness of closed school buildings, several studies have come out about the effect of the pandemic on student learning. “Learning loss” and “unfinished learning” are the main topics of conversation among educators, along with summer school programs and tutoring.

Research points toward the importance of maintaining on-grade-level instruction in the coming school year, as opposed to remediation. As such, providing access to on-grade material and instruction is paramount to helping students close gaps and move forward.

Areas of need…Read More

7 ways to support summer learning–right now

The summer slide doesn’t have to be an obstacle

summer-learningSchool’s out for summer! But learning doesn’t have to stop. By now, you’re probably familiar with the term “summer slide,” and with efforts to keep students engaged in learning experiences throughout the summer break.

Seventy-six percent of teachers have said it is “extremely important” to practice skills and keep learning over the summer, and 84 percent of teachers said that students forget or “lose” grade-level equivalency, skills, and knowledge over the summer.

But 90 percent of teachers note that if kids remain involved in learning during the summer months, they’ll see more academic success.…Read More