Written by: Reagan Flowers, Ph.D.
As we near the end of the first full school year affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, districts around the country are making decisions about the near future. That includes the availability of summer school classes and altering schedules to help students catch up on lost time and progress.
The Importance of Summer School
In the best of years, summer school serves as a resource for helping struggling students. Many classes are smaller than during the school year, which research has shown helps students learn more.
Smaller classes mean more individual attention, which can help close the learning gap for students struggling academically. With fewer resources in the face of the pandemic, many Black and Hispanic students have fallen even further behind, and summer school will prove more crucial than ever before.
For many families, summer school will also provide some level of normalcy, particularly for parents who’ve been juggling concerns including lack of work, finding childcare, shifting work conditions, at-home learning, and more for over a year.
As it relates to STEM learning, hands-on activities and in-person collaboration are crucial. STEM learning directly correlates to the type of work scientists and engineers do every day. Since the necessity of remote and blended learning, students have not had access to the full range of STEM education needed. Summer school can help bring these crucial lessons back into the equation. Read more…