Inaugural Janet T. Kelley Lecture examines the "Summer Learning Gap"

The Partnership for After School Education hosted its inaugural Janet T. Kelley Lecture at Baruch College on June 5, 2008. This event kicked off the annual lecture series, which honors PASE’s founding executive director and will highlight important topics for afterschool programs in New York City and nationwide. Titled “Making the Promise of an Enriching Summer a Reality for all Young People” and given by guest speaker Ron Fairchild, the inaugural lecture focused on the importance of extending this promise to every child across the economic spectrum.

Mr. Fairchild began the lecture by engaging the audience through a visual demonstration of the gradually widening “Summer Learning Gap” between middle- and lower-income children. A groundbreaking Johns Hopkins University study of low-income students found that despite the existing achievement gap between middle- and low-income children at the start of their educational experience, the low-income children were learning at the same rate as other students during the school year.

Acknowledging the quality of public school teaching, Mr. Fairchild went on to show that it is during the summer that the learning gap increases. The authors of this study attribute this disparity to the fact that more affluent students often participate in academically, physically, and socially enriching summer programs, while low-income students rarely have such experiences. These observations emphasize the necessity and importance of summer programs, particularly those focusing on reading achievement, math, and nutrition.

Throughout his lecture, Mr. Fairchild continued to stress the need for major public investment to fund summer programs. He believes that this issue does not require more research and studies to support the need for summer programs. Instead, it requires a powerful change in the education system of the 20 th century, which focuses on the school day and school year. Despite the challenges he encounters, Mr. Fairchild and his organization continue to fight to make the idea of enriching summer programs a reality. In 2007, the Center for Summer Learning’s efforts led to more than $14 million in public investment in summer learning for youth.

This year, Congress will consider funding $50 million for the first federal program to exclusively target summer as a strategy for closing the achievement gap. Congress created the Summer Term Education Program for Upward Performance (STEP UP) program last year but did not fund it. If lawmakers fund the pilot program this year, it will provide five weeks of summer programs for more than 30,000 elementary and middle school students in high-poverty communities in at least five states, making a great stride toward closing the achievement gap between disadvantaged youth and their higher-income peers.

PASE applauds the work of Mr. Fairchild and the Center for Summer Learning and continues to hold increasing the quality and availability of summer programs as a key priority. Since 2001, PASE’s Summer Learning Initiative has directly addressed the summer learning gap. College-age tutors and experienced trainers help agencies integrate traditional summer programming with activities that support a child’s school-year learning. To date, this initiative has reached 149 sites serving nearly 12,000 youth.

PASE was thrilled with the success of the inaugural lecture and holds great hope for these events in years to come.