Shaping Summertime Experiences Opportunities to Promote Healthy Development and Well-Being for Children and Youth (2019) / Chapter Skim
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4 How Do Summer Programs Influence Outcomes for Children and Youth?
4 How Do Summer Programs Influence Outcomes for Children and Youth?
Pages 107-134
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From page 107... ...
We note that this chapter is not inclusive of all the activities that children and youth participate in over the summer months, for example unstructured activities and summer programs that have not been rigorously studied. As a result, it does not capture all the benefits that children and youth can derive from positive summer activities, such as the opportunities to explore interests, practice new skills, and practice independence and self-regulation during free time.
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From page 108... ...
• There is moderate evidence indicating that summer programs designed to reduce risky behaviors such as alcohol use and unsafe sex are effective. • There is strong evidence that youth employment programs for adolescents at risk of crime involvement can decrease violent-crime arrests.
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From page 109... ...
• Suggestive evidence exists for the social and emotional benefits of medical camps and recreational camps. Academic Learning and Enrichment • Academic learning was the most frequently studied group of outcomes in the literature and the most frequently studied type of program.
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From page 110... ...
Conclusive evidence. There is strong certainty that the program created positive outcomes for many children and youth that could be replicated in other settings.
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From page 111... ...
There is evidence of effectiveness for many different types of programs, but the outcomes research base is not representative of all the types of summer programming available and it does not represent the full range of populations served or all types of agents offering programs. For instance, the majority of identified outcomes studies examined academic summer programs targeted to youth who are low-income or performing below grade level.
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From page 112... ...
Safety, Risk-Taking, and Pro- and Anti-Social Behaviors Safety and Supervision Although no rigorous outcomes studies examined whether summer programs improve physical safety or supervision, the committee believes such effects are both important and likely benefits of many types of summer programs. This is partly because in the afterschool literature conclusive evidence does exist for effects on supervision.
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From page 113... ...
. TABLE 4-1 Safety: Research Evidence for Summer Program Effectiveness Children and Agents Evidence Youth Targeted by Providing Benefits Level Type of Program Studied Program Programs Reduced Moderate Intervention: Program for Foster youth entering Government, Drug Use caregivers and girls in foster middle school (24 nonprofit care to reduce substance youth: 11 treatment, use and delinquency 13 control)
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From page 114... ...
. There is suggestive evidence that structured programs, such as summer school, may prevent weight gain and help maintain physical fitness over the summer due to the structured environment itself, with its restricted access to unhealthy food and time set aside for exercise (Park and Lee, 2015)
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From page 115... ...
. A 4-week TABLE 4-2 Physical and Mental Health: Evidence for Summer Program Effectiveness Children and Youth Sectors Evidence Targeted by Studied Providing Benefits Level Type of Program Program Programs Weight Loss Suggestive Residential weight loss 185 overweight Nonprofit, and Improved treatment children for-profit Blood Pressure and 94 comparison and Aerobic children (some Fitness overweight and some normal weight)
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From page 116... ...
. Similarly, we find moderate evidence from a 3-week Canadian therapeutic summer program for children and youth with learning disabilities coupled with social, emotional, or behavioral issues, namely that the program reduced social isolation and improved self-esteem into the next school year (Michalski et al., 2003)
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From page 117... ...
enrichment activities aimed at developing social skills Improved Self-Esteem and Moderate Just Do It: A 4-week school-based self- Youth with learning disabilities Schools Attributional Style advocacy training program for rising (83 youth: 43 treatment and 9th-graders with learning disabilities 40 comparison) Improved Ability to Moderate Texas Youth Leadership Forum: A week-long Youth with disabilities (68 youth: University Self-Advocate university-based camp that focused on 34 treatment and 34 comparison)
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From page 118... ...
activities designed to improve social skills, behavioral problems (48 children and self-confidence, and self-esteem 48 adolescents, pre/post design) Improved Social Transition Suggestive Voluntary pre-K summer programs Rising kindergarteners from Schools to Kindergarten low-income families (100 youth: 60 treatment, 40 control)
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From page 119... ...
For instance, we found no studies of extended school-year programs, likely because school districts are mandated to provide these services to meet the educational needs of students with special needs. Most of the rigorously studied academic learning programs were programs that targeted children and youth from low-income families in an effort to address differential summer learning loss or targeted students performing below grade level to provide academic remediation.
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From page 120... ...
analysis sample of 338,608 students) Moderatea Voluntary reading Elementary school children performing below grade level or from Schools, programs low-income families (8 studies with positive, significant findings nonprofits in multiple contexts, several with large samples of children and youth; 6 studies with no significant findings)
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From page 121... ...
Improved Enjoyment Moderate Voluntary, multi-subject Academically motivated, underserved middle school students Nonprofit of Academic Learning (423 youth) and Intention for High School Selection Increased Advanced Conclusive Youth employment Youth from low-income families (195,289 youth)
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From page 122... ...
These programs usually target students performing below grade level or low-income students considered at greater risk of academic loss during the summer months. The content and structure of studied programs vary from one another in the following ways: • By grade level: Some programs targeted certain grade levels (e.g., early elementary, middle grades)
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From page 123... ...
. Studies of voluntary reading programs targeted to students performing below grade level or low-income students provide moderate evidence of benefits in reading achievement (Borman et al., 2009; Schacter and Jo, 2005; Zvoch and Stevens, 2013)
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From page 124... ...
We found conclusive and moderate evidence of benefits from this type of program. Only one program focused on mathematics, a 9-week program for middle school students that thematically linked to the Boston Red Sox baseball team and covered key mathematical concepts from the prior school year.
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From page 125... ...
For instance, programs designed to address the social and emotional needs of children and youth with disabilities demonstrated moderate or suggestive evidence of effectiveness. This suggests that the efficacy of these programs might be tied to the intentional targeting of the program to a population that has been identified as in need of such a program (McCombs et al., 2019)
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From page 126... ...
; for example, a study of Horizons National, a multisummer program, found academic benefits that accrued after multiple summers of participation (Concentric Research and Evaluation, 2018)
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From page 127... ...
• Positive youth development is at the core of summer programs. Positive outcomes in social and emotional learning and life skills were often ob served in programs, regardless of their primary objectives.
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From page 128... ...
CONCLUSIONS Based on our review of the outcomes and the best-practice literature, the committee reached a number of conclusions that have implications for policy and practice. CONCLUSION 4-1: Summer programs can be designed to promote children's and youth's safety, physical and mental health, social and emotional development, and academic learning, but they must be targeted to the needs of participants, have programming linked to desired outcomes, be of sufficient duration, and promote strong attendance.
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From page 129... ...
. Children's moderate to vigorous physical activity attending summer day camps.
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From page 130... ...
. Effects of partic ipation in after-school programs for middle school students: A randomized trial.
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From page 131... ...
. Effects of a voluntary summer reading intervention on reading achievement: Results from a randomized field trial.
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From page 132... ...
. A Summative Evaluation of a Middle School Summer Math Pro gram.
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From page 133... ...
. Summer school effects in a randomized field trial.
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