The Promise of Hope

New Directions for Summer Learning Program

Research on summer learning tells us that students with low socioeconomic status (SES) enter school a bit behind peers of high SES. During the school year, all students make academic gains; however, during the summer, students of low SES lose some of what they “learned” while their high SES peers continue to make academic gains. The cumulative difference over the elementary school years represents a significant and measurable difference for students preparing for postsecondary experiences and adulthood (Alexander, Entwisle, & Olson, 2007). This change in academic standing is described as “summer learning loss” (Cooper, 2010) or “summer slide” (Denton, 2002). Even though the data about the connection between income and achievement is compelling support for the conclusion, the call to action that ends the Alexander et al. (2007) report is even more compelling, “How aggressively will we work at putting that knowledge to us?” (p. 27). In other words, what changes are educators willing to make based on what is known about the causes and consequences of summer learning loss?

The redesigned summer experience is one response to this call to action. It was developed with a focus on engaged pedagogy which hooks (2010) describes as an interactive community of thinkers where every student is valued and recognized as having an important contribution to make to the learning community. Rather than use the summer program for remediation to address the academic loss from the school year, the new goal is to build each student’s capacity to pose questions and seek answers and as such, be leaders in their own learning. The hope is to begin to plant the seeds of the idea that learning is not a passive activity where one sits to receive but is a process where the learner is invested in the learning. The school district has redesigned a program that previously had been focused on skill building centered on the content and not on the learner. The focus on content instead of the learner can be described as marginalizing in that it de-centers the learner in favor of knowledge and skills as the most important aspect of the summer program. The redesigned program is focused on empowering learners through enriching educational experiences that build knowledge and develop skills.

The enriched content includes literacy and fine arts as well as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) units, specifically, engineering projects such as robotics, and media arts. This is a departure from the traditional sole focus on literacy and mathematics that mirrors the choices some families seek in the summer. Consequently, once the program was announced, rather than distance themselves from summer school, some parents requested that their children be considered for enrollment. This is a dramatic departure from previous responses to summer enrollment. The curriculum elements were so attractive that parents did not hesitate to pay the small fee charged to families that were not identified as meeting the criteria for no-cost enrollment.

Even though the curriculum includes enriching experiences, the strengthening of essential skills is not neglected but is embedded in real-world problem solving. Nonfiction reading resources connected to the STEM units provide an opportunity for students to read texts related to the engineering problems they are seeking to solve, and focus is drawn to the mathematical thinking required and embedded in the problems students are solving. The reconstructed curriculum content contextualizes mathematics instead of extracting discreet mathematic skills. The intention is to integrate and not isolate the curriculum elements.

Community College Academic Support Program (CCASP)

The CCASP is offered by a 2-year, comprehensive community college located in Illinois. The CCASP is the primary postsecondary program serving students who are first generation and from low-income households within the county. In operation since 1992, this community college continues its long-standing and successful CCASP by serving 800 plus eligible student participants from its 4 target high schools in 4 school districts.

The CCASP is designed to assist students in completing their secondary education and enrolling in postsecondary education, training, or programming. The overall purpose of the CCASP is to assist participants in remaining in school, graduating from high school, enrolling in a postsecondary educational program, and completing the postsecondary program. The services are provided based on a comprehensive assessment of eligible participants’ needs and demonstrate the program’s comprehensive services approach by delineating specific and measurable activities, thus meeting the needs of the participants and target areas. In addition, whenever it is appropriate, activities are modified for students having limited English proficiency.

The CCASP is funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The program, as a curricular option, offers the following free services to students in 9th through 12th grades: (a) homework help/tutoring; (b) academic advising/mentoring; (c) college visits; (d) assistance in completing college admissions and financial aid applications; (e) personal, financial aid, and career counseling; (f) preparation for college entrance examinations; and (g) workshops for families of students in the program. The students in this case, largely African American and Latino, sought to pursue a postsecondary education. Two thirds of the students were also from low-income households and were first generation, meaning neither parent had graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree. The CCASP was selected for evaluation because it is a program that is making a positive impact on participants’ future plans and success. Each year, more than 800 students are served by specialists from a local community college.

The CCASP offers experiential value to the participant to ensure that the program’s mandatory outcomes are achieved. The outcomes are largely dependent on two of the types of services offered, college visits and academic advising and mentoring. For the past 3 years, the effects of the program’s implementation have become evident. Of the 200–300 senior students enrolled in the 2009–2010 program period in the CCASP offered by one community college, 85% enrolled in a postsecondary institution.

The CCASP has filled and will continue to fill programmatic voids at specific high schools in Lake County, which were selected to receive student services. This will be accomplished by providing connections to educational services such as academic advising to low-income, potential first-generation college students as well as by providing direct academic assistance services, tutoring and test preparation, financial aid assistance and financial literacy services, career mentoring, help in applying to postsecondary institutions, college visits, technology instruction, and personal growth workshops and seminars. Parental involvement is also strongly emphasized throughout the program duration. The CCASP continues to foster student skills and provide a strong foundation that prepares them directly for enrollment, success, and degree attainment in postsecondary education.

Several factors continue to influence postsecondary enrollment for students of color. To create a college culture in high school, social support, smaller learning communities, and an ethic of knowledge and care are required. College culture should reflect:

environments that are accessible to all students and saturated with ever-present information and resources and on-going formal and informal conversations that help students to understand the various facets of preparing for, enrolling in, and graduating from postsecondary academic institutions as these experiences specifically pertain to the students’ current and future lives. (Corwin & Tierney, 2007, pp. 3–4)

A student’s ability and SES influence the student’s postsecondary education choice (Gilmore, Spire, & Dolich, 1981). Many African American and Latino students and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds continue to be underprepared for, and underrepresented in, 4-year colleges and universities (National Center for Education Statistics, 2008). Without the ability to access resources and guidance from their personal and community networks, students tend to rely upon their school networks to access social capital for college planning and guidance (Holland & Farmer-Hinton, 2009).

Transformative Attitudes, Policies, and Practices

The transformation from summer school to summer learning was demonstrated in the curriculum design, the intentional changes in the language used about the program, and in the efforts to change the way students, staff, and families think about the experience. The selection of curriculum materials was the easiest part of the process. There are a number of problem-based curricula available for review, although finding problem-based science materials in Spanish proved to be a significant challenge. Otherwise, the team reviewed the options and selected instructional resources for use in problem-based learning. Even though there were some concerns, these comments are representative of the sentiment of many staff members:

Drama and STEM definitely make an enormous impact on the students; they loved it. I do believe we could nudge them a bit more with more thoughtful planning and implementation. (English language learners [ELL] Teacher)

STEM worked much better than summer school curriculum in the past. We loved teaching the subject matter and the increased level of engagement was evident. We loved that this program taught the kids how to think like problem solvers and to explore multiple answers to the same problem. We also felt that it taught the kids that it’s okay to fail and to learn from their mistakes to make things better and stronger the next time around. (Elementary STEM Teacher)

I have taught summer school several years in this district. This is the FIRST time I have witnessed students actually owning their learning. [In] the Show and Share [where students showcase summer projects], I witnessed students’ use and explain lessons on parachutes and the engineering design process. This was not parroting what was heard in class. Total application. My thoughts at the time included four weeks—what could happen with more time. I can say that at least 75% of the students surprised me with their collaboration efforts and problem solving. (Middle School Teacher)

The reporting of such positive responses is not meant to mitigate some of the challenges such as supporting special services students with intense academic needs and coming to understand the developmental range of specific STEM units. Nevertheless, the changes allowed the summer staff to see something in students that was not previously noticed to a large degree.

A more challenging task was to transform long-standing practices associated with student enrollment. Previously, according to the district promotion and retention policy, students who did not meet standards by the end of the year were required to attend summer school or else face retention. This kind of policy leads teachers to threaten students with summer enrollment, implying that individuals who are required to attend can expect to have an unpleasant experience, or they have not earned the freedom to choose how they will spend summer. The policy has since been revised and summer learning is an option to support students rather than a punishment inflicted on students. Additionally, the summer learning team instituted new language to describe these students. If the student has an academic profile that indicates a need for summer support, instead of being placed on a retention list, the student is granted a “reserved space” in the course. The district still uses an academic profile to identify student participants; however, instead of labeling students as candidates for retention as they are referenced in the school board policy, we say they have a reserved spot in the summer learning program. A reservation carries the connotation of the privilege of admittance, whereas retention carries the connotation of punishment. Additionally, the announcement of the program also included new language. The district announced summer learning experiences in place of summer school.

The most significant challenge was to invite the staff members to think differently about how they would lead the summer experiences. During the staff professional development days prior to the start of student attendance, all staff members participated in a session entitled “Summer Learning vs. Summer School.” Staff members were asked to describe words associated with summer school and compare those to memories of great learning experiences. The goal of the session was to emphasize engaged pedagogy as the guiding philosophy of the summer experiences. Engaged pedagogy requires teachers to establish interactive learning environments where students think independently, work collaboratively, and everyone makes a contribution to the learning process (hooks, 2010).

Observers walking through the classrooms in the new summer learning program reported evidence of engaged pedagogy. One observer noted: “Students listened to five to seven minutes of directions then spent the rest of the time programming and running the robots.” Another observer wrote:

The students are examining the properties of materials; even though the student’s body is relaxed, his eyes are toward the item under discussion. Students freely make comments and respond to questions. As the materials are passed, students are testing to see which can be ripped.

There was also evidence that some classrooms were not experiencing this level of engagement, although there was evidence that the teacher was making an effort to engage students.

The majority of teachers, when comparing this experience to prior years, described a discernible difference in the classroom atmosphere. One teacher wrote, “I feel the summer students were more engaged in summer learning activities. Several students indicated this was fun.” While the transformation to engaged pedagogy is far from complete, the beginnings are promising. What was most encouraging were the student responses to the summer curriculum. Students in Grades 5, 6, and 7 responded to the prompt “What did you like the most about doing Engineering is Elementary lessons in your classroom?” in the following ways:

We had to build the postcards into a stand to hold the car. I like that because we got to work in groups and work together.

These responses capture the sense of enthusiasm and engagement the students’ experienced in these classes and how the experiences even reached beyond the school day for some students.

Rather than use the summer program to remediate and seek to address the academic loss from the school year, the goal is to build a learning environment where students are participants in the learning process. The hope is to move from the passive activity where one sits to receive, to a process where students are posing questions along with the teacher, and all search for and construct answers. The school district has redesigned the summer learning program into an enriching educational experience, attracting students throughout the district. The significance of this work is its aim to ignite new beginnings and thus give hope that what students experience in the summer learning program becomes more evident throughout the school year.

The CCASP’s practices have also been transformed to address the marginalized students’ need for college preparation and rigorous expectations. Such practices include the strengthening of support systems, for example, extended college campus tours, beyond the local, instate campus visits. These practices not only provide students with information on the college itself but also ensure that marginalized students can envision themselves on a campus and engaging in typical activities that will promote their academic career; facilitate the incorporation of interactive STEM programs that expose students to STEM opportunities; and offer work-readiness workshops and teen career fairs or job shadows, which provide a “real-world” look at careers versus jobs.

One element in Bandura’s (as cited in Schunk & Zimmerman, 2007) social cognitive theory is modeling, which promotes self-efficacy and self-regulation. Both of these skills are necessary for the student who is considering a postsecondary education. Self-efficacy and self-regulation have been shown to affect students’ learning and achievement (Schunk & Zimmerman, 2007). Since social environment has been shown to affect behavior, it has been critical for the Community College Access Program specialist to create a positive inquiry and learning environment during workshops, college and career visits as well as during academic coaching, advising, and mentoring sessions. The specialist serves as a model for the student through the sharing of her or his personal narratives based on real-life experiences, which may assist in transforming the student’s belief and efficacy to pursue and persist in a postsecondary environment.

The specialist also serves as a mentor role model of a college-going student. The student no longer has to only imagine, but now has a trusted advocate who will listen, support, advise, and question the student’s choices concerning academic or career needs to ensure pursuit and survival in both the secondary and postsecondary setting, which is the transformative objective (Tierney, Bailey, Constantine, Finkelstein, & Hurd, 2009).

The CCASP, as a postsecondary learning option for preparing students for college, serves to operate at the intersection of secondary and postsecondary education (Lerner & Brand, 2007). This creates strategic alignment of objectives and resources for all students, especially the marginalized student, resulting in the outcomes of successful high school graduation and college enrollment.

Mentoring and Guidance Facilitating Positive Student Responses

Central to the success of the reconstructed program is the summer learning teacher. Although some researchers show that SES has an impact on student achievement, “the quality of teachers can have an effect at least as large” (Darling-Hammond, Bransford, LePage, & Hammerness, 2007, p. 14). Even though the summer positions are open to certified staff, the number of staff who apply may not greatly exceed the number of positions available. The program administrators may desire to place teachers who are experienced in leading engaged pedagogy in every class, but the reality is there may not be enough of these kinds of applicants to fill the positions. The planning team recognized the need to hire teachers who would understand and commit to the goals of the program and not merely individuals who are looking to have a summer paycheck; therefore, the staffing plan included incentives and supports for all staff involved in leading students in a high quality curriculum. The incentives included reducing the number of student contact days and reallocating those hours for collaborative planning.

The emphasis on engaged pedagogy was familiar to some staff members and new to others. Therefore, the teachers not only were leading students in learning experiences but also collaborated with one another to plan ways to build and maintain an atmosphere in the classroom where students would be comfortable participating as contributors to learning and not just receivers of information. One intermediate teacher wrote:

The praise we gave the students was genuine; it focused on their effort and accomplishment. Because the students were sincerely praised, they were confident to be able to focus deeply on the lessons. Mistakes were not reflections on who the child was, but problems to be looked at and retested.

The program design invited staff members to be continually reflective about what happens in the class each day and use that information to adjust instruction the next day. Therefore, while students are exploring problems related to content, the teachers are exploring how to balance instruction and exploration. The teacher needs to determine when to provide input or feedback to an individual student or group of students and when to let the students struggle.

One Bilingual teacher wrote:

I have learned to become a guide and allow errors to occur so that the students can use their group skills to solve the problem. I have learned that students have ways of figuring out things if they are given the appropriate wait time. This also allows students to seek other peers for help in solving the problem.

While some teachers are developing their capacity to sustain a collaborative learning environment, classroom observations show that some teachers still have much room for growth. However, establishing engaged pedagogy as the focus of the program and addressing this goal during planning time supports the teachers’ capacity to enhance this important element of the summer learning experience. In this way, the summer learning is a beneficial experience for students and also serves as a kind of professional development experience for teachers, a beginning step in what can be the kind of transformation that extends into the school year.

The mentorship introduced and practiced in the CCASP also has a strong potential for transformative effect. The foundation of mentoring is based upon building a relationship with the student, that is one of trust and openness. This allows students an opportunity to ask questions, without penalty or embarrassment; thus, the student is able to seek out more information and resources. This, in turn, results in a culture of academic practice, one that promotes inquiry, engagement, and affirmation for the student (Murrell, 2007).

The CCASP affords students an opportunity to engage in scholarship through participation in academic advising, coaching, and/or mentoring by a program specialist who is trained in effective techniques and information which serve to empower the marginalized student. Within the framework of the college-going process, the academic coach, mentor, or advisor may help to construct knowledge for the student through the provision of appropriate information, guidance, and preparation. As a result of working with a program specialist, the marginalized students were able to use meaningful information and strategies that stimulated interest and guided the students through the process of applying for and enrolling into a college of the students’ choice.

Specialists employed by the CCASP provide career, academic, personal development and mentoring support to student participants; provide consultation/mentoring and guidance to parents; consult with school personnel regarding student needs, interventions, and progress; arrange workshops, presentations, and field trips for students and parents; document and monitor student progress; assist with the evaluation of the project; coordinate free tutorial services for participants; interview and recommend tutors for hire; provide training for tutors; assist in identifying mentors and participants; and assist with providing training for mentors.

The caring relationship that is built between the CCASP specialist and the student is the foundation for participation and the student’s adherence to academic advice and follow-through. The CCASP provides a trusting relationship that is a necessary part of the network. Such a relationship is meaningful and transformative to both the student and the mentor.

I love helping my students. I have heard from both parents and students that this program [Community College Academic Support Program] made the difference for them. I look forward to coaching and mentoring students through the college selection and application process, but more importantly, I build relationships with the students. In those relationships, students learn to trust the information I provide about the process for college enrollment. Overall, the student walks away feeling confident and empowered. My students know that they can trust the information, since it is based on my first-hand experience as someone who didn’t have much money and was the first in my family to attend and graduate from college. I have walked in their shoes so I am able to share my stories of challenge and triumph, as well (CCASP specialist).

One of the students remarked: “I decided to consider going to college, as a result of working with the specialist, through participation in this program [Community College Academic Support Program].” The specialist/mentor shared that the CCASP “provides individualized information to address specific needs of the students who are from low-income households and of the first generation in their families to attend college.” Through dialogue, it has been communicated time and again that both the marginalized student and the specialist/mentor may have experienced change as a result of the successful pedagogical strategies used to promote college and postsecondary enrollment, for example mentoring and knowledge sharing. Mentoring relationships in the CCASP illuminate Freire’s (1996) conceptions of “faith in humankind” as a cornerstone and a priori requirement for a dialogue between teacher and learner as equal cocreators of knowledge engaged in critical thinking. True dialogue always entails trust and hope. Without dialogue, “there is no communication, and without communication, there can be no true education” (pp. 71–74). Academic mentoring is the form of empowering dialogue and emancipatory knowledge.

Transformative Experiences and Practices Translate Into Student Empowerment

For the African American or Latino student, it has been observed that there is often a disconnection between a desired future lifestyle and the education preparation that must occur to make the future a reality. One curriculum tool that has been utilized in the CCASP allows the students to learn who they are, what they want, and how to develop goals to get what they want. This type of curriculum is designed to encourage students to assume responsibility for what they say they want with respect to a future lifestyle and to develop their 10-year plan, beginning in ninth grade, for accomplishing their goals. Curriculum enrollment patterns have been found to largely determine student success. This is important because gatekeeper mathematics courses in high school, such as algebra, have an influence on whether or not students are accepted into postsecondary institutions and may be a factor in whether they will achieve success there. Hence, sound academic advising is essential for the CCASP.

The underprepared students are less likely to be enrolled in rigorous academic courses or college preparatory paths (Adelman, 2006). College preparation with a strong support system of a personal college counselor and mentor became a living and effective proof throughout the study of the CCASP. As mentioned previously, the program heavily relies on the work of a specialist/mentor to assist students with academic advising and services that may often be overlooked by a college counselor. The very nature of relationships established between mentors and students can alter and transform potentially blind assumptions about the duties of the individuals who provide services to students, especially from an ethical standpoint.

According to Noddings (2012), the ethic of care, as it relates to education, signifies a caring and attentive relationship. The relationship built between the college preparatory contact and the minority student is one of care and is based on student needs. As a result, the CCASP study provides a heightened sense of necessity to build strong relational social networks of support involving school, parents, students, communities, and businesses. The combination of these factors enhances the minority students’ ability to successfully enroll in college and may increase the likelihood of the student making that choice.

Both college visits and mentoring/academic advising were viewed as the most important elements in helping participants make a decision to pursue postsecondary enrollment. These results were supported by the following Specialist/mentor statements:

Information provided through college visits and mentoring/academic advising was beneficial and the student gained knowledge about the college process and requirements. It also assisted the students in making decisions about the type of college that would best fit them. Students participate because they believe that someone [in this case the specialist/mentor] genuinely cares about them and their future.

A 2012 high school graduate, a former CCASP alumna, was quoted as saying:

The CCASP instilled many skills in me so I could complete my first year of college with a 3.8 GPA. This program offers students the opportunity to succeed, often beyond their expectations. It guides students in the right direction. The CCASP changed my perspective of what it truly means to use your gifts and talents beyond my own imagination. It is vital that the CCASP continues to receive funding, as it changes the lives of students who desire to graduate from college.

The student who spoke these words plans to attend medical school after college to become a cardiac surgeon. She has connected her academic strengths with her future desire to become a surgeon. Her father had heart health concerns during her high school years, and it is the student’s desire to seek approaches to solving those concerns through her education and future work.

Summer programs may not immediately be thought of as a means of empowering students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds; rather, summer programs are traditionally intended to prevent academic summer learning loss (Alexander et al., 2007). Consequently, it is reasonable to wonder what students might gain or lose in a redesigned program. If students are gaining, what is it that they are gaining? The redesigned summer learning program intends to support students in gaining control over their own capacity to learn. The program might give insight into what can happen if schools provide experiences in the summer that support this kind of gain and minimize experiences that contribute to learning loss, and subsequently, schools may be better positioned to design experiences that consistently empower students throughout the year.

Problem-based learning, fine arts, and media arts are areas that should constitute a greater portion of the summer learning experience for students (Smink & Deich, 2010). The redesigned summer program is enacting this recommendation and has a curriculum that could be characterized as enriching rather than remedial. The new curriculum generated interest from parents and enthusiastic comments from teachers and administrators. The impetus for the design is connected to prior experience with media arts, robotics, and special interdisciplinary science projects implemented in previous years. These projects that served a couple of hundred students were well received and garnered positive attention, setting the stage for the providing the same kind of experiences for over 1,000 students. Through this kind of program, the district hopes to address the differences between experiences of under achieving students and students who meet standards. The New Directions for Summer Learning program contribute to the knowledge about the impact of a different kind of experience than summer students have traditionally received. These summer experiences influenced some teachers to integrate elements of the summer curriculum into instruction throughout the year, thus extending for students opportunities to take more ownership for their own learning.