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A new working paper could give educators powerful new motivations to invest in summer programs, which seem to stem the tide of learning loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic 鈥� at least in math.

, from at the American Institutes for Research, looked at the academic progress of students who attended summer school in 2022 across eight school districts, most of them urban or suburban, in seven states.

Here are four key takeaways:

1. Finally, a bit of positive news about post-pandemic interventions.

The new paper represents what could be the first encouraging findings coming out of post-pandemic interventions, said CALDER鈥檚 . Earlier research , he noted, with few positive effects. 鈥淥ne of my takeaways is that it’s nice to be able to say, 鈥楬ey, there is something that school systems can do to help kids get back on track,鈥� he said, 鈥渆ven if it’s only making incremental change.鈥�  

2. Summer school works for math 鈥� but for reading: not so much.

The researchers found that summer programs had sizable positive effects on students鈥� math achievement, potentially closing about 2% to 3% of districts鈥� total learning losses in math, but not in reading. The math gains were 鈥減ositive and significant,鈥� said Goldhaber, large enough for researchers to suggest that districts consider offering summer math programs to many more students in the future. Reading scores improved in just one of the eight districts.

He noted that research has established that so-called 鈥渕ath effects鈥� due to school interventions are more likely than reading effects. 

鈥淭he ‘math but not reading’ is consistent with education research writ large,鈥� he said. Simply put, schools have a more significant impact on kids鈥� math skills than on reading skills, probably because kids read and write outside of school, but don鈥檛 necessarily do math.

3. Post-COVID summer programs are at least as good as those schools operated pre-COVID 鈥� and they鈥檙e targeting kids who need them most.

Researchers compared impacts of current summer programs to those operating before the pandemic and found that they鈥檙e having 鈥渁bout the same kind of impact as summer school programs pre-pandemic,鈥� Goldhaber said. That鈥檚 encouraging, since in many districts, summer programs have grown in scale but haven鈥檛 suffered in quality, according to the new findings. Any time educators push to scale up interventions, he said, it’s harder to maintain quality. 鈥淪o it’s encouraging鈥� to see quality stay high. 

He also said the programs they examined typically targeted students who were struggling and actually needed the extra help. 

4. The good news about summer math learning is tempered by the fact that so few students are getting it at the moment.

The CALDER researchers estimated that only 15% of eligible students in 2022 were receiving summer math instruction. That means schools last year were under-utilizing what could have been a powerful, effective intervention.

The positive effects, Goldhaber said, 鈥渁re kind of dwarfed by the magnitude of the COVID learning losses,鈥� with the small number of students in effect disguising its potential effect on achievement. What could be a game-changer for the moment shows a 鈥減retty small鈥� effect on achievement as a result. 

The new study is part of a larger 鈥淩oad to COVID Recovery鈥� partnership between researchers at the American Institutes for Research, Harvard University, NWEA and 11 school districts in total. Just eight supplied data to this study.  

Researchers used value-added models to estimate the effect of each of the eight summer programs on MAP Growth test scores, with Spring 2022 as the baseline and Fall 2022 as the outcome. Summer sessions ran from three to six weeks, depending on the program, and daily classes ranged from 45 minutes to two hours.

CALDER鈥檚 findings could scarcely come at a better time, with recent NAEP scores suggesting that COVID had a 鈥渃ataclysmic鈥� impact on K鈥�12 education, coming on the heels of a decade of stagnation. 

Other recent research from Michigan showed that the pandemic slowed students鈥� math achievement over the three-year period from spring 2019 through spring 2022, with achievement growth 鈥渟ubstantially lower鈥� than that of comparable students in the three earlier years.

As with the CALDER findings, the Michigan researchers found that scores for English language arts, which include reading and writing, were small and generally not statistically significant.

In December, researchers from , NWEA and Harvard University, looked at achievement in a dozen mid-to-large sized school districts, enrolling more than 600,000 students across 10 states, and found that between fall 2021 and spring 2022, schools had basically put an end to student achievement declines in math and reading relative to pre-pandemic levels 鈥� but that average test score gains during the 2021-22 school year hadn鈥檛 moved past pre-pandemic levels.

Students in a few elementary grades improved substantially in math, but beyond a few areas, researchers didn鈥檛 find a lot of compelling evidence of recovery in other subjects or grades.

Aaron Dworkin, CEO of the , said he was encouraged by the new CALDER findings, adding that summer programs can often try different strategies 鈥渢hat you might not be able to always utilize鈥� during the school year. 

He noted one successful free program in Detroit called , created by Wayne State University鈥檚 math department, that uses an unusual model: College math majors get paid to teach high school students, who get paid to teach middle school students.

The program maintains a fun, playful high-energy atmosphere that catches students鈥� attention, especially in the summer. 鈥淗undreds of kids and families love it,鈥� Dworkin said. 鈥淎nd they’re so supportive.鈥�

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