Archival data were analyzed with piecewise growth models to determine the seasonal growth of students not reading proficiently who did (treatment students = 144) and did not (control students = 1113) participate in their school district's summer reading program. The rising first- through fifth graders (48% female) were predominately White (74%)…

Digital Safety refers to the knowledge and skills needed for the intentional protection of users in the digital environment. With children having access to digital devices at a young age, it has become essential for them to be educated on how to be safe in the digital world. Through a week-long summer camp on digital safety, elementary-age…

Background: Youth from low-income, racially and ethnically diverse families are at increased risk for academic challenges and nutritionally inadequate diets. Summer programs offer an opportunity to foster interest and engage students in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) education while addressing summer learning loss.…

Background: Summer camps can promote positive youth development. Unfortunately, racial, ethnic, and economic disparities contribute to inequities in camp participation and related research on marginalized youth. Consequently, it is not clear what types of camping programs work best for marginalized youth. Purpose: To conduct a quasi-experimental…

Elevate [Math] is a 19-day (76-hour) in-person summer math program created by the Silicon Valley Education Foundation to help middle school students who are struggling in math to achieve math proficiency, increase their interest in math, and develop a growth mindset. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the in-person summer program was adapted to a…

The purpose of this quasi-experimental quantitative exploration study was to determine if there was a statistically and practically significant effect of an educational program on summer learning loss in reading and mathematics in grades five and six students. Also, the study aimed to determine whether growth was impacted by demographic variables…

Informal outreach programs can provide authentic science experiences for elementary school students, who may not have these experiences in formal school settings. Research indicates that students lose interest in science in middle school, so it's important to reach them early. To address this need, we designed a summer camp focused on exposing…

Over the past eight years, through examinations of school-administered reading assessments, Springboard has demonstrated internally that the average Springboard Summer scholar improves in reading during the program. Several partner school districts have compared Springboard scholars to their non-participating counterparts and found that, on…

The rapid shift to online learning due to COVID-19 provides an opportunity to examine at scale the feasibility and impact of addressing students' cultural and developmental needs within a virtual environment. Given limited knowledge of this type of virtual schooling, this mixed-method study examined third--fifth grade students' experiences…

There is a lack of consensus among school districts on how best to mitigate reading and math learning loss during the summer months. The purpose of this quasi-experimental quantitative exploration study was to determine if there was a statistically and practically significant effect of an educational program on summer learning loss in reading and…

This paper presents the first results from draw-a-scientist tests (DASTs) over five years that were used to measure the effect of 8-10 week long astronomy clubs and week long summer camps on 3rd-5th grade elementary school students' perceptions of scientists. We facilitated these DASTs prior to these clubs or camps, which provide a baseline for a…

There is an urgent need for more Latinx students to pursue careers in STEM related fields as this has historically been an unserved population in schools. This mixed methods study examined the impact of a summer STEM pipeline program focused on hands-on chemistry concepts for 28 Latinx students in the 5th grade. Findings include statistically…

Background: American Indian communities in the United States experience considerable health inequities, including increased exposure to environmental contaminants. Consequently, community members of the Apsáalooke (Crow) Nation identified the lack of water-related environmental knowledge among children as an area of concern. Aim: The purpose of…

Super Star Chef is an experiential summer youth nutrition education and cooking program designed to enhance participants' nutrition knowledge, food preparation skills, cooking self-efficacy, and intention to eat more fruits and vegetables. In a program evaluation comprising a single-sample pretest-posttest design, participants' pretest and…

This paper examines literacy engagement of plurilingual students from bilingual programmes. The mixed-methods research was a formative home intervention with Grade 4-6 Extended French and French Immersion students during the summer. The students were reading for pleasure in L1, writing summaries and participating in weekly discussions, which…