New Report Shows How Lone Star State is Growing Strong Summer Programs

Applying Summer Learning Evidence: How Texas State Policy Supports Strong Programming

First report from Texas summer learning study shows how the state has adopted policies to help districts design high-quality summer programs.

Barbeque. Football. Willie Nelson. Texas is known for many things, and now you can add high-quality summer learning programs to the list.

In 2020, the American Institutes for Research (AIR), with support from The Wallace Foundation, launched the six-year Texas Summer Learning Study in collaboration with the state education agency and its partners. The study takes a close look at how Texas is drawing on research about what works in summer learning to promote strong programs across the state.

Applying Summer Learning Evidence: How Texas State Policy Supports Strong Programming, the first report from the study, focuses on how the Texas Education Agency has used a competitive grant program to help districts design and run their summer offerings according to evidence-backed principles, such as operating programs for elementary-age youth for at least 25 days and providing a mix of academics and enrichment activities.

AIR identified three main strategies for states interested in fostering effective summer programs to consider:

provide funding, tools, and technical assistance to ensure district efforts are successful;
adopt policies and other mechanisms that require, incentivize, or support the use of established design principles;
give districts the flexibility and autonomy to create programs that meet their communities' needs.

Texas's efforts suggest that state policies can drive strong summer programming, especially when those policies are bolstered by funding, planning tools, and technical assistance and are flexible enough to allow for local context and continuous improvement.