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Driving Equity through Out-of-School Time: Summer Learning, Afterschool, and Summer Youth Employment Programs

Issue Areas
K-12 education Post-secondary education and workforce development
Outcomes
Elementary and middle school success High school graduation Stable and healthy families

The access gap

In communities across the country, academic achievement corresponds strongly with family income. While there are many contributors to these disparities, experts often point to differences in how children are spending their time while not in school as a significant factor. Children from wealthier families often participate in enriching afterschool and extracurricular activities, skill-building summer camps, or internships in fields with meaningful career paths. Children from lower-income families seldom have these opportunities.

For local leaders seeking to improve outcomes for children in lower-income families, investments in high-quality out-of-school time programming hold significant promise. Three strategies in particular--summer learning, afterschool programs, and summer youth employment programs--have demonstrated strong results in communities across the country. The question for local leaders is how to implement these out-of-school time strategies in ways that are most likely to generate positive results.

Providing enriching summer opportunities

Summer learning programs engage students in full-day programming that integrates academic instruction and enrichment activities, frequently implemented in partnership with community-based organizations. High quality programs have been shown to improve students' math achievement and generated positive social-behavioral outcomes in both high- and low- poverty settings.

Research by the National Summer Learning Project suggests that programs are most effective when they include full-day programming, 3-4 hours of academics each day, small class or group sizes (ideally fewer than 20), and incentivized attendance. Furthermore, successful programs tend to employ both high-quality teaching staff that have grade-level academic expertise and as well as staff with enrichment content expertise, who align curriculum to that of the school year.

In 2017, Tuscaloosa City Schools launched the TCS Summer Learning Academy. The program serves students all day and lasts for five weeks of the summer. It is centrally coordinated by the school district, with a full-time, dedicated staff. Instruction is provided by certified teachers, and enrichment programming is run by community organizations. Enrollment in the program costs families just $50 per week–significantly less than other programs in Tuscaloosa.

Almost 3,800 students enrolled in the program in 2024, a 55% increase from 2023. An internal evaluation of the program found that it significantly reduced summer learning loss, with 60 percent of students who attended the majority of the program preserving their academic progress in reading, compared to 16 percent of non-participants.

Enrichment programming throughout the school year

Afterschool programs provide K-12 students with access to academic and/or enrichment activities outside of standard school hours. Many high-quality programs aim to facilitate structured opportunities for supplemental academic support, social-emotional learning, and mentorship. High-quality programs are associated with improved outcomes in math and reading, attendance, school discipline, and self-confidence.

Like summer learning programs, many afterschool programs are implemented in schools through partnerships with community-based organizations. High-quality programs have small student-to-faculty ratios, trained staff, and intentional curricula with defined objectives. Ideally, afterschool programs will have strong connections to summer programs, building pathways to enrollment between summer and the school year, allowing students to continue building their connection to program leaders and mentors and maintain access to the specialized learning opportunities.

In 2004, the Providence After School Alliance (PASA) was formed in Providence (RI) to coordinate high quality out-of-school programming for middle school students. PASA recruits youth to participate in programming, onboards community-based program providers, ensures that programs are delivered effectively, and broadly acts as the intermediary between schools, program providers, families, and city leaders. It also handles administrative and logistical matters for existing programs, like providing students with free transportation and meals. By assuming these responsibilities, PASA allows providers to focus on delivering and improving their programming.

PASA serves roughly 1500 middle schoolers per year, and among participants who attended for two years, school absences declined by 25 percent, and math performance increased by about one-third.

Work-based learning for older youth

Summer youth employment and internship programs (SYEPs) connect youth and young adults, typically between the ages of 14 and 24, to paid jobs. SYEPs seek to provide participants with exposure to professional settings, opportunities for skill development (including soft skills), and high-quality supervision and mentorship. A 2022 systematic review of 13 randomized control trials found that SYEPs boost earnings and employment and reduce involvement in the criminal legal system for at least a year.

Programs that are most successful in eliciting these outcomes tend to provide universal eligibility, regular hours, and market-appropriate wages earned via a paycheck. They also include standards for skill-building, mentorship, and supervision, to ensure that learning and opportunities for progression are centered in the experience.

In Louisville, the administration of then-Mayor Greg Fischer worked in partnership with KentuckianaWorks, the local workforce board, to create SummerWorks--a program that connects young adults between 16 and 21 to summer employment opportunities. In addition to placing young adults in positions with government agencies, non-profit organizations, and businesses, SummerWorks also provides them with job training and career counseling services, which are delivered through partnerships with Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) and YouthBuild Louisville.

Participation in the program is associated with improved outcomes for participants in high school graduation, enrollment in post-secondary education, and employment after high school. SummerWorks participants are 6.9% more likely to graduate from high school than students in a control group. Among Black among black men and youth receiving free- or reduced-price lunch, participants are 10.7% and 7.5% more likely to graduate from high school, respectively. More than 4,500 youth were hired by SummerWorks employers in 2022.

Taking action

For local leaders seeking to address disparities in out-of-school time opportunities, summer learning, afterschool, and summer youth employment programs are strong places to start.

Need help getting started in your community? Check out the links below: