Making summer count for all our children Will Miller President, The Wallace Foundation July 21, 2016 Summer Learning Breakfast New York Life Foundation New York, N.Y. Good morning. Thanks for that kind introduction, Margaret. I’m glad to be here with all of you. And I want to thank the New York Life Foundation for being gracious hosts. I’m happy to share The Wallace Foundation’s perspective on summer – and how we can make it count in helping disadvantaged children succeed in life.

Outline What children need for adult success Different levels of investment in enrichment by family income Why summer is both a problem and an opportunity NSLA’s role in this evolving area The potential payoff I will try to cover five topics in ten minutes: A quick overview of the knowledge and skills children need to develop to become successful adults, Differences by family income in the levels of investment in enrichment to build these skills, Why summer is both a problem and an opportunity The role of the National Summer Learning Association in changing the summer equation The potential payoff.

What children need to succeed We recently commissioned researchers at the University of Chicago to synthesize what is known about what it takes to prepare children for success as young adults. The report, like all we publish, is available as a free download on our website at www.wallacefoundation.org . We asked them to review the existing body of research and talk to field leaders. They defined success broadly to not only include obtaining an education and holding a good job, but also being a good parent and friend, maintaining one’s health, and giving back to the community. From their review of the best available evidence, the University of Chicago researchers found that success in school and in life requires developing four foundational components : Self-regulation, Knowledge and skills, Constructive mindsets and A set of values. These components underlie the development of three critical success factors: What psychologists call an “integrated identity,” an internally consistent sense of who you are; “Personal agency,” the ability to actively shape your own path; and The competencies necessary to achieve your goals. Foundations for Young Adult Success: A Developmental Framework, Chicago Consortium on School Research, 2015

Both academic skills and ‘soft skills’ matter Both drive outcomes in education and beyond Evidence from GED (high school equivalency exam) and Perry Preschool Another way to say this is that both the so-called “hard “ or academic skills and the “soft” or social and emotional skills matter for all children. We know that educational attainment makes a big difference for life outcomes. On average, high school dropouts make $25,000 a year, high school graduates $35,000 – and those with bachelor’s degrees $57,000 .1 Recent research has underscored that children not only need social and emotional skills to succeed beyond school, they need them in school in order to learn academic skills. To learn to read, write and calculate, children need persistence, the ability to set goals, to manage their emotions and to navigate different settings. These aren’t really soft skills, they are necessary skills. James Heckman – who won the Nobel Prize in 2000 – reviewed more than 20 high-quality studies and concluded, “Soft skills predict success in life…” Among the evidence he cites is the fact that people who drop out of high school but later earn a certificate of high school equivalency – usually known as a GED – must pass equivalent exams as those who get actual high school diplomas. These tests show those with GEDs have the same academic or cognitive abilities as high school graduates. Yet many studies have shown that GED students’ earnings are lower than high school graduates – and about the same as high school dropouts. Why? Because the GED students lacked the social and emotional skills that enabled their peers to stay in school and earn a high school diploma. Another example is the study of the Perry Preschool Program, an enrichment program carried out in the 1960s, targeted at 3 and 4-year-old children. A rigorous evaluation found no lasting effects on IQ or academic abilities. However, participation improved their educational attainment and earnings, while reducing welfare receipts and criminal involvement. Benefits were conservatively measured at 7-10 percent per year of return on the original program investment.2 Over a working career of, say, 45 years, that’s a return to society of 3.2 to 4.5 times the cost. Why? The children had gains in personal behavior and conscientiousness that translated into lifelong gains. Heckman’s conclusion is that “Programs that enhance soft skills have an important place in an effective portfolio of public policies.” ____________________ From Bureau of Labor Statistics with weekly wages extrapolated to yearly income http://www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm. The Rate of Return to the HighScope Perry Preschool Program, Journal of Public Economics, 2010 James Heckman, University of Chicago

Poor children have half the access to enrichment activities The University of Chicago report noted that children develop their academic, social and emotional skills across a variety of settings, the three primary ones being family, school and afterschool. Of course, there are differences in the developmental opportunities in out-of-school settings that families with different levels of income can give their children. According to the US Census Bureau, children from low income families – shown in blue – participate in sports, clubs and lessons at about half the rate of their wealthier counterparts, shown in the green bars: around 20 percent vs. an average of about 40 percent. Experiences like these can contribute to social and emotional skills. I myself am here today in no small part because of my experience in theatre from middle school through college, which is where I learned how to overcome my innate shyness and the embarrassment of making mistakes while speaking in public. We don’t have firm data to say enrichment always leads to better grades or success later in life. But it’s telling that upper income parents act on the belief they do, as evidenced by the fact they’re putting their money behind it. Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Wider gap in parents’ investment in kids (Family spending on enrichment for children in 2008 dollars) Disturbingly, there’s a growing gap in investment in children’s enrichment by parents. In this chart from a report from the Russell Sage Foundation, the blue line is spending on enrichment by parents in the top fifth of family income; the black line is for the bottom fifth. In the early 1970s, when I was a teenager, the gap was about $2,700, adjusted for inflation. But by 2008, that gap more than doubled to $7,600. Some might think this suggests poor families don’t prioritize spending on their children’s enrichment. We know that’s not the case because when they get additional resources, like the Earned Income Tax Credit, they disproportionately use the money to invest in their children. Their priorities are the same, they just lack the funds to make the same investments. Source: Whither Opportunity? Rising Inequality, Schools, and Children’s Life Chances, 2011, Russell Sage Foundation, Greg Duncan and Richard Murnane, ed., p. 11

Summer a time of risk for disadvantaged children Academic setbacks compared to peers Fewer structured opportunities for enrichment Less access to healthy foods Higher rates of obesity Risk of unsafe behaviors This gap is at play in the summer, and it’s one reason why summer is both a problem and an opportunity for disadvantaged children. On the problem side, the evidence shows that they: Lose ground academically compared to their wealthier counterparts3 Have fewer structured opportunities for enriching experiences. Have less access to healthy foods. For every 6 children who get free or reduced price lunches during the school year, only 1 gets those meals in the summer.4 Lack of access to nutritious meals contributes to children gaining weight faster during the summer, especially those who are already obese, likely because of less activity and more junk food, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Summer, like the after-school hours generally, is also a time when children are at risk of engaging in unsafe activities, like crime, alcohol or drug use. We are not aware of good research on this topic at present, but in a recent National Academy of Sciences proposal for a consensus study of the effects of summer on children, they identified three areas worthy of attention: learning loss, health effects, and safety. ---- 3. Source: RAND’s forthcoming report [September 2016] finds that disadvantaged children experience setbacks, though it’s not clear whether that’s because wealthier children learn more, or, that disadvantaged children lose more learning. As the study puts it, new studies are inconclusive about absolute loss, but “they provide additional evidence that low-income students experience setbacks over the summer relative to their wealthier peers.” 4. Source: Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation, Summer Nutrition Status Report, Food Research and Action Center, July 2015, http://frac.org/nearly-1-in-6-low-income-children-receive-summer-meals-report-finds/

But summer holds potential for gains Unrestricted and flexible space to try out new solutions More time available in children’s schedules to provide learning opportunities Multiple institutions across sectors – schools, city agencies, nonprofits – can work together On the opportunity side, summer is a relatively flexible and unclaimed time and space where communities can try out new approaches that could benefit children substantially. There’s more time in children’s schedules to provide these opportunities in multiple settings. And given that no one set of adults or institutions currently “owns” summer, there’s an opportunity to knit together the work of multiple organizations across sectors. We’re beginning to see examples of this in places like Dallas, which just launched a City of Learning initiative focused on summer. Put another way, summer is a time when children can gain academically, and, in acquiring social and emotional skills that will serve them well in school and life.

Summer learning district demonstration project Five urban districts, with nonprofit partners At Wallace, we have a particular approach of focusing on helping finding answers to unsolved problems – especially where we think there is interest from the field and the possibility of making progress. We consider summer one of these areas. To learn what makes for the most effective school-based programs, we’re working with five urban school districts and their out-of-school-time partners – in Boston, Dallas, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh and Rochester – to test evidence-based approaches to combining academics and enrichment in voluntary summer learning programs. We have learned a lot about what it takes to implement these programs well. An evaluation of the early years of these programs found that districts need to begin work no later than January for the coming summer’s effort and establish both firm enrollment deadlines and a clear attendance policy. It helps to hire teachers who have grade-level and subject-matter experience and, if possible, who know the students they will be teaching. It is also important to work with enrichment providers that offer well-qualified staff members experienced in behavior management. Finally, districts should anchor their programs in commercially available and evidence-based curricula, and provide instruction in small classes or groups. Early research findings on outcomes for the kids show that these 5-6 week summer programs gave children a meaningful boost in math after one summer, equal to about 15% of learning over the course of a year at this age; we’ll be announcing a new round of more comprehensive results in September. We support other projects as well, including Harvard’s Project READS and a collaboration between the Y of the USA and the BELL summer learning program. Voluntary summer programs full-day, 5-6 weeks academics & enrichment Goals: Provide direct benefits to participating children Build knowledge about how to carry out summer learning programs and the associated benefits for children

We have more to learn This remains relatively new territory No one has all the answers - yet This will require persistence and learning Foundations can play an important role in fostering innovation, learning and networks And we’ll be learning in years to come. No one has all the answers yet about how to make summer work most effectively for disadvantaged children. Developing and refining new approaches requires persistence and a willingness to see setbacks as learning opportunities. Foundations can play important roles in this process by supporting innovations, learning from them, and in connecting people and institutions to learn from each other.

NSLA has helped advance the field A consistent voice for summer A ‘go-to’ place for information A forum for idea exchange Helped reframe ‘summer school’ as ‘summer learning’ Since its inception, NSLA has been aiding this process. It’s been a consistent voice, raising awareness about the risks and opportunities for disadvantaged children in summer. It’s a go-to-place for information about best practices and implementation challenges. Its national conference draws hundreds of school and afterschool leaders to exchange ideas. And it has helped reframe the debate from summer school – a place where children are required to go for remediation or to avoid repeating a grade – to an opportunity for summer learning for our least advantaged children, equal to what their better off peers have. For these reasons, we have been a partner since 2008.

The potential payoff for children More young people acquire the broad range of academic, social and emotional skills to equip them for success Reduced risk of obesity, nutrition, safety problems Progress will require concerted effort, beginning with seeing that for many children, summer is not what it was for us when we were young – and that we can do better for these kids today. But the rewards for success are substantial: Having more young people acquire the broad range of academic, social and emotional skills that equip them for success as young adults Along with a reduced risk of obesity, nutrition and safety problems.

The better we can excite children about learning… help them acquire knowledge and skills… and help them productively shape their own lives… the better our future as a country will be. This photo, taken of a rising fourth grader at the Sallye B. Mathis Elementary School in Jacksonville, eloquently shows the role we think high-quality summer experiences can play. We look forward to working with NSLA and many of you to make further progress. Thank you. At Retooled Summer School, Creativity, Not Just Catch-Up, by Motoko Rich, photo by Sarah Beth Glicksteen, June 20, 2013, The New York Times