Effective Summer Programs: Practical Guidance for District Leaders. Brief

School districts have historically operated summer programs to give students extra learning and enrichment opportunities to promote positive academic and behavioral outcomes. Despite the potential benefits and policymakers' endorsement of summer programming, recent research suggests that summer programs have a limited impact on post-pandemic academic recovery, with modest gains in math test scores and no impact in reading. This may be partly due to the challenges districts face in implementing academic recovery programs at the scale needed to impact student outcomes. This brief highlights the efficacy of summer programs for literacy, math and social-emotional learning (SEL) outcomes, showing that well-designed summer programs can meaningfully boost student achievement. The report also provides recommendations for district leaders to use as a framework for planning and implementing effective summer programming.