A January webinar hosted by Lavinia Partners — an education consulting firm that partners with local educational agencies to support teacher and leader development, strategic planning and summer learning — shared how to make the most of summer programming.
Over the past five years, experts from Lavinia have developed and scaled a summer learning program in collaboration with educators and shared insights gleaned during the process. The success of the programs is illustrated by student progress: in 2025, program participants saw an average increase of 18 percentage points in literacy and 23 percentage points in math.
“What this has reinforced for us is simple, yet powerful: When summer learning is intentionally designed and tightly aligned to instructional priorities, with a focus on building teacher capacity and student readiness, it can be one of the most effective levers that we as leaders have to strengthen teaching and learning before the school year begins,” said Charlynn Bowers, director of Lavinia Summer Learning Programs.
Out with the old
Traditional summer programs tend to be disconnected from what is happening during the school year, explained Bowers. These programs tend to:
- Focus on remediation instead of grade-level achievement
- Have a large focus on enrichment and not enough on academics
- Not have a dedicated summer learning curriculum
- Have insufficient teacher onboarding or support
- Lack standardized assessment tools
Lavinia Associate Director of Summer Learning Programs Blake Obi spoke about mind shifts that should happen in order to make summer programs a launchpad for students and teachers into the new year. Schools must move from seeing summer programs as remediating what students missed to giving them skills, confidence and preparation for the upcoming year. Teacher professional development should occur during time with students, with high-quality support. Finally, summer instruction should be used to gather student data to inform fall decisions.
Effective summer programs
The presenters cited research that shows the most effective summer school programs run for at least five weeks and provide at least three hours a day of academic instruction, divided into a minimum of 25 hours of math and 34 hours of English language arts.
“Research also shows that teachers improve most rapidly when professional development is grade-level and content-specific, and led by a content expert,” Obi explained. “We strongly recommend that intellectual preparation is paired with model lessons and in-classroom coaching, and we see this work best when leaders plan and work alongside educators, modeling and coaching in real time.”
Another important component of summer programs is assessment, and Lavinia recommends using both pre- and post-program assessments:
- Pre-assessments give teachers early insights into class-level trends and specific learning needs, allowing instruction to be targeted from the start
- Post-assessment is critical to identify student growth and for planning on how to address any remaining gaps
- Consider how key takeaways can be shared with their receiving teachers/schools and with families to improve continuity
How to begin
“This is not about starting from scratch, it’s about understanding what’s already happening and how it’s being experienced, using an asset-based mindset,” Obi said.
Presenters recommended three key steps in beginning to rethink summer programming:
- Landscape analysis: Taking an honest look at strengths, resources and the needs of the summer program and the community it serves. “This should include input from various stakeholders including students, parents, teachers and community members,” Obi said.
- Identify program goals: Teams should look for trends and recurring themes, particularly those connected to educator capacity and student readiness. As goals take shape, it can be helpful to think about goals in terms of outputs and impact — what will participants experience as a result of the program? How will teachers and students be better prepared?
- Communicate the program’s value: Be able to clearly articulate in a few sentences how the summer program meets the needs of your community, and why it matters. “That clarity is essential for alignment, buy-in and strong implementation,” Obi said.
The webinar also included a discussion with program implementers showing their successes and how they overcame challenges. Watch the webinar »
