3 webinars to help put the finishing touches on your summer learning program

With spring in full swing and the temperature starting to warm up in many parts of the country, we have just completed our webinar series focused on summer learning program preparation. The series was co-hosted by the Afterschool Alliance, National AfterSchool Association (NAA), and National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) and focused on two recent releases made possible by the generous support of The Wallace Foundation: “Getting to Work on Summer Learning: Recommended Practices for Success, 2^nd Ed.” and the Summer Learning Toolkit. In case you missed it, here’s a recap of what we covered!

Part I: Getting to Work on Summer Learning & Summer Learning Toolkit

The first webinar of the series took a comprehensive look at the report, “Getting to Work on Summer Learning: Recommended Practices for Success,” which was based on the evaluation of five districts’ summer programs and explored the effectiveness of voluntary, district-led summer learning programs offered at no cost to low-income, urban, elementary students; Jennifer McCombs from the RAND Corporation talked through main takeaways from the report, including some of the challenges that programs face and factors they need to consider when developing a summer program. She highlighted some of the key recommendations from the report for programs around:

• Planning and management;
• Student recruitment and retention;
• Teacher selection; and
• Positive site climate.

The webinar also explored the various resources housed within the Summer Learning Toolkit, which include more than 50 adaptable tools and sample planning resources, and explained the ways these resources can be leveraged to help you plan for your summer learning program. The toolkit is based on the “Getting to Work on Summer Learning: Recommended Practices for Success” report and organized around five areas: Planning, Academics & Enrichment, Staffing, Site Climate, and Student Recruitment. Each of these areas contain sample documents, tip sheets, guidance, and customizable tools that can be used at various stages in the planning process. Katie Willse and Hillary Oravec from The Learning Agenda explained how to best align these resources with your personal priorities and site needs to make the most of the tools available.

Watch the full webinar to get a comprehensive look at both the report and the toolkit!

Part II: Summer Learning Toolkit—A Deeper Dive: Keys to Staffing & Professional Development

In the second part of our webinar series, we took a closer look at staffing and professional development to examine how to hire and train the best possible staff that suits the specific climate, culture, and goals of your summer program. The Learning Agenda gave an overview of the research highlighted in the toolkit that speaks to the important role staffing and professional development plays and offered samples of and guidance on staffing models and job descriptions; samples and tip sheets related to high-quality professional development; and other relevant professional development materials, including staffing MOUs, examples to help hire staff, and examples of staff handbooks.

The webinar also featured one of the district-intermediary partnerships that is part of the Summer Learning Project who participated in the study that informed the creation of the Summer Learning Toolkit. Kathryn Vargas, director of Allegheny Partners for Out of School Time, and Melanie Claxton, coordinator for Out-of-School Time for Pittsburgh Public Schools, gave provider-level perspective on how they have developed their staffing model, provided opportunities for professional development, and trained staff for their Summer Dreamers Academy using resources and recommendations found in the toolkit.

To explore the key recommendations and tools for staffing and professional development, watch the full webinar!

Part III: Summer Learning Toolkit—A Deeper Dive: Creating Site Climate and Culture

With the focus based off of a survey of attendees of the first webinars in the series, the final chapter in our Summer Learning Toolkit series took a deeper dive into resources and best practices around creating a warm and welcoming site environment that best allows kids to thrive and equips your staff with the training and tools necessary to be supported in carrying out this mission. The Learning Agenda walked us through the Site Climate section of the toolkit, underscoring specific sample tip sheets and strategies, including staff handbooks, site leadership guidance, and training agendas. We also heard from Kelly Bauman, the Director of Expanded Learning in the Rochester City School District; Rochester is also a part of the Summer Learning Project that helped inform the creation of the Toolkit. Kelly gave a clear summary of the ways that their program, ROC Summer, has been able to provide safe, engaging, high-quality summer learning programming by incorporating specific and intentional routines, student supports, staffing models, and other methods outlined in the Summer Learning Toolkit to promote a positive environment for youth and staff.

In addition to the Summer Learning Toolkit, we also highlighted several other resources and supports related to site climate and program culture:

• AfterSchool Today’s Spring 2019 edition—an entire issue of NAA’s magazine dedicated to summer program success, including tips for professional development, promising practices, and more!
• NSLA Knowledge Center—a hub of resources covering the numerous aspects of planning, promoting, and sharing out your summer learning programs.
• Afterschool Alliance’s Tools to Build On webinar series—a webinar series that covers how to bring out and build up supportive climates in afterschool and summer learning programs.

Watch the full webinar to learn more about how you can build a positive climate at your summer learning program site!