The promise of the Aim High summer learning program
Aim High is a summer enrichment program free for low-income middle school students. Offered at school sites across Northern California, the multi-year program features unusual academic breadth and a social emotional curriculum aimed at building long-term student success.
The challenge
There is powerful evidence that student learning declines sharply (or stagnates) during the summer months, which has led to a proliferation of summer academic programs. However, existing research shows that these programs, which typically focus on just one or two subjects, have modest effects on student achievement and no impact on student engagement in school.
Aim High leadership wanted to understand if and how student participation in their program influenced key predictors of success, like absenteeism, suspensions, state test scores, and more.
The solution
The Gardner Center studied the impact of Aim High participation on students in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). Using administrative data from SFUSD that is linked to participation data from Aim High, the research team compared patterns of Aim High participants' engagement and achievement outcomes to the outcomes of non-participants.
Key takeaways
For socioeconomically disadvantaged students, participation in high-quality summer learning programs can offer resources and opportunities otherwise difficult to access, laying the foundation for success during later school years. Researchers found that participation in Aim High:
Reduced the chronic absenteeism rate by 22% among participants
Reduced the suspension rate by 37% among participants
Improved the average participants' English language arts scores by six scale score points
