Reimagine Summer To Accelerate Learning

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Reimagine summer to accelerate learning

By Risa Sackman and Nancy Gannon

Categories: Collaboration, Improvement science/networks, Learning systems/planning

June 2023

Most people associate summer with activities that have nothing to do with school, or, if they do, summer school comes to mind — the remediation variety. Historically, summer school is for struggling students who need to relearn and firm up skills from prior years or for those required to retake a class. With this type of remediation, teachers review content a student may not have mastered from the previous year before moving on to grade-level work. But what if we could reimagine how to use the summer months to provide effective, engaging learning opportunities for students, especially those who were hit hardest by the pandemic? Some districts are shifting to evidence-based summer programs that move from remediation to acceleration in a climate that prioritizes equity

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References

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North, A. (2021, April 23). The debate over how to handle kids’ “lost year” of learning. Vox. www.vox.com/22380650/school-remote-distance-learning-pandemic-covid-19

TNTP. (2018). The opportunity myth. Author. tntp.org/assets/documents/TNTP_The-Opportunity-Myth_Web.pdf

TNTP. (2021, May). Accelerate, don’t remediate. Author. tntp.org/assets/documents/TNTP_Accelerate_Dont_Remediate_FINAL.pdf

Risa Sackman

Director, U.S. Education at FHI 360 | + posts

Risa Sackman (rsackman@fhi360.org) is director of U.S. education at FHI 360.

Nancy Gannon

+ posts

Nancy Gannon (ngannon@fhi360.org) has 30 years of experience as a teacher, coach, principal, and district administrator. As Senior Advisor of Teaching and Learning for US Education at FHI 360, she leads the District Summer Learning Network (DSLN) funded by the Wallace Foundation, where, in partnership with her team, she has designed and implemented a strategy that will reshape summer learning for over 2.2 million students. In addition to DSLN, she directs a range of projects designed to build state and school districts’ leadership capacity to transform learning environments and ensure educational equity and whole child development are essential parts of academic programming.