A national summer program that grew out of the Civil Rights Movement helps low-income African-American and Latino students build their literacy skills, understand their history and become leaders in their schools and communities.
A summer program in San Francisco drew students in by offering cold, hard cash, but it wasn’t long before what they were doing and learning overshadowed the stipend. The program offers a mix of academic tutoring and career preparation for 10th- and 11th-grade students who are behind on credits or failing classes.
Instability — multiple homes and multiple schools — is one of the biggest obstacles to academic success for foster children. But some high school students in foster care are benefiting from one constant in their lives: a program each summer offered at a number of universities throughout the country aimed at keeping them on track academically and preparing them for college.
The Annenberg Institute for School Reform has developed a set of indicators to measure the success of expanded learning efforts that aim to improve the academic achievement of low-income students.
Data from a national poll show that a third of families with school-age children enrolled at least one child in a summer program in 2013. That is an increase from five years earlier, when only a quarter of families had enrolled their children in summer programs.
Located on the bottom floor of a housing project in one of the wealthiest counties in the country, a small after-school program is helping low-income students flourish. The program was cited as a national model by the Afterschool Alliance, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., because of its alignment with the Common Core standards.
More hours in the school day for teachers as well as students can lead to improved academic achievement, according to a new report that studies 17 schools across the nation that give teachers more time for collaboration and professional development. The average American teacher spends about seven hours of the workweek outside the classroom, according to “Rethinking Teacher Time,” a report by the National Center on Time and Learning.
California has the largest investment in expanded learning programs in the nation, but there is still “a large, unmet need” for these programs, according to a recent report.
The concept of community schools is starting to gain ground across the country. Districts thinking of embracing this “whole child” approach to education might want to look to a nationally recognized model: Cincinnati, where every school aims to provide health, after-school, and counseling services.
One California school district is considering asking voters to pay for new college readiness programs. The $13 million estimate includes costs of rejiggering the school schedule to allow for eight periods, up from six; creating an associated summer school program; expanding support services for students; and hiring and training staff.