Sustaining momentum on summer learning: New research brief from NYU PRE and The Wallace Foundation

Summer is a time of opportunity for young people. In high-quality summer programs, young people can boost academics and prepare for the upcoming school year, be physically active and spend time outdoors, and explore their passions through engaging, hands-on activities. Yet for many districts, summertime comes with a distinct set of planning, funding, and sustainability challenges.

NYU PRE’s new research brief, funded by The Wallace Foundation, is the part of the District Summer Learning Network Study series. “Sustaining Momentum on Summer Learning: Building Capacity, Strengthening Partnerships & Buy-In, Securing Funding” examines core strategies for supporting and advancing summer learning through the lens of 13 school districts. The four key strategies of these districts include:

1. Engaging in early, collaborative planning to build internal capacity and commitment to sustain summer learning.
    
2. Building broad demand and buy-in for summer learning with students, families, and the community, as well as superintendents, school board members, and state education officials.
    
3. Building diverse and durable partnerships and networks with youth development organizations like Boys & Girls Clubs, institutions like museums and universities, and local agencies like the health department.
    
4. Tapping multiple funding streams from a mix of federal, state, local, and private sources.

Engaging in early, collaborative planning

Early, collaborative planning is essential to improving the quality and efficiency of summer learning programs, helping make the case for investments in programs, and building shared, districtwide commitment. The districts studied in the brief prioritized early planning–often the fall before–through dedicated planning committees and cross-departmental communications. All teams are invited to share expertise. Instructional teams provide direction on curriculum to enhance quality and relevance to young people and the school year, while non-instructional teams offer input on proactive planning and logistics.

Early planning also allowed districts to be more intentional about hiring summer program staff and site leaders, connect staffing choices to broader district goals, and offer more thoughtful professional development and instructional planning for those staff.

Building broad demand and buy-in for summer learning

Building buy-in is an essential strategy for supporting the sustainability and longevity of summer learning programming in districts. From students and families to community members and decision-makers, every stakeholder plays a key role in championing and advancing these programs. Districts highlighted in this brief engaged students and families in program design through planning committees, surveys, and focus groups. Buy-in was further strengthened by inviting families, community members, and decision-makers to see programs in action—attending showcases, volunteering, and hosting internships.

Data was also instrumental for making the case for investing in summer programs. Citywide out-of-school time (OST) intermediaries and youth development intermediaries provided key infrastructure for consistent data collection and analysis to help improve programming and make a continued case for these programs. Young people were also invited to speak at school board meetings and other decision-making events, offering a powerful perspective on the impact of community programs. Smaller and more rural districts leveraged youth and family testimonials to build district-level support for summer programming.

Building diverse and durable partnership networks

In the surveyed districts, partnerships were essential to building, running, and sustaining high-quality summer programming for young people. Local Boys & Girls Clubs offer high-quality programming in local community spaces; museums and nature centers host field trips and hands-on experiences; and local agencies offer support services for students and families. Districts in the brief demonstrated varied approaches to paid partnerships with local organizations. Better-resourced districts were able to pay local OST organizations for daily enrichment programming, while partners in smaller or more rural districts contributed in-kind resources or covered partial programming costs.

Leveraging multiple funding sources to sustain summer learning programming

Sustaining summer learning programming often requires districts to draw from multiple funding streams across federal, state, and private sources to meet the full scope of student needs.

Federal funding streams like Titles I, II, IV, and V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the 21st Century Community Learning Center program have long served as funding streams for summer learning. At the state level, funding approaches vary widely—some states like California and Vermont provide dedicated formula or competitive funding for summer programs, while others, such as Tennessee and South Carolina, have mandated summer academic programs, often without sufficient funding to cover their full costs. Beyond public funding, many districts supplement these sources by pursuing grants from national and local foundations, corporate partnerships, and citywide public-private initiatives.

Read the full research brief to learn more about the key takeaways, implications, and recommendations from the findings, and how districts are rising up in the face of funding and sustainability challenges.