Learning from summer : effects of voluntary summer learning programs on low-income urban youth / Catherine H. Augustine, Jennifer Sloan McCombs, John F. Pane, Heather L. Schwartz, Jonathan Schweig, Andrew McEachin, Kyle Siler-Evans.

Includes bibliographical references.

Preface -- Figures and Tables -- Summary -- Acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- 1. Introduction -- Why Focus on Summer? -- The National Summer Learning Project -- Students in the Study -- Research Questions and Publications -- Contributions of This Multifaceted, Longitudinal Research Approach -- Study Limitations -- Report Overview -- 2. Summer Programs in Practice: Implementation Findings -- Academic Instruction -- Enrichment Opportunities -- Site Climate -- Program Revenue and Costs -- Conclusions on Implementation -- 3. Attendance: A Critical Element of Summer Programming -- Overview -- District Attempts to Reduce No-Show Rates -- Attendance Patterns and Districts' Attempts to Increase Attendance -- Conclusions on Attendance -- 4. Outcomes After One and Two Summers of Programming: Causal Findings -- Overall Findings -- Effects of One Summer of Programming -- Effects of Two Summers of Programming -- Student Characteristics as Moderators of Treatment Effects -- Conclusions from Causal Analyses -- 5. Factors That Influence Outcomes: Insights from Correlational Analyses -- Effects of Attendance: Results After the First and Second Summer -- Effects of Two Consecutive Years of Attendance -- Effects of Academic Time on Task -- Effect of Language Arts Instructional Quality -- Conclusions from Correlational Analyses -- 6. Overall Conclusions and Implications -- Implementation Findings -- Attendance Findings -- Causal Findings on Program Effects -- Correlational Findings on Program Effects -- Implications for Summer Program Leaders -- Next Steps -- References.

"The National Summer Learning Project, launched by the Wallace Foundation in 2011, includes an assessment of the effectiveness of voluntary, district-led summer learning programs offered at no cost to low-income, urban elementary students. The study, conducted by RAND, uses a randomized controlled trial and other analytic methods to assess the effects of district-led programs on academic achievement, social-emotional competencies, and behavior over the near and long term. All students in the study were in the third grade as of spring 2013 and enrolled in a public school in one of five urban districts: Boston; Dallas; Duval County, Florida; Pittsburgh; or Rochester, New York. The study follows these students from third to seventh grade; this report describes outcomes through fifth grade. The primary focus is on academic outcomes but students' social-emotional outcomes are also examined, as well as behavior and attendance during the school year." --Publisher's website.