1. Why Summer Learning Matters - to Boston and the Nation Summer Learning: Bridging the Opportunity and Achievement Gap April 3, 2013 Will Miller President, The Wallace Foundation

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3. Outline Why summer learning matters What Boston and Wallace are doing about it The keys to successful collaboration 3

4. The Wallace Foundation An endowment of $1.4 billion Stewards of resources created by others Funding innovation Supporting the creation of credible, useful knowledge Sharing broadly 4

5. 5 Source: Whither Opportunity?, 2011, Greg Duncan and Richard Murnane, ed., p. 11 The growing opportunity gap

6. Achievement gap: Progress, challenges Progress in math proficiency More kids succeeding, but achievement gap persists 6 Source: NAEP, The RAND Corporation Percent scoring at or above basic on 2011 4 th grade NAEP tests 4 th Grade NAEP Math Proficiency19962011 African Americans4%17% Whites27%52%

7. Summer learning loss is part of problem “Over time, the difference between the summer learning rates of low- income and higher-income students contributes substantially to the achievement gap.” “Research shows that voluntary summer programs, mandatory summer programs, and at-home reading programs can all have positive effects on student achievement.” 7 Making Summer Count, RAND, 2011

8. A window of opportunity Given growing interest in summer learning If together we can generate: Evidence about potential gains from strong programs Evidence about how to implement quality programs We can simultaneously strengthen your efforts and change the national conversation. 8

9. Outline Why summer learning matters What Boston and Wallace are doing about it 9

10. Summer learning demonstration Summer 2011 Summer 2012 Summer 2013 Summer 2014 2015 2016 Phase 1 Strengthen programs Phase 2 Evaluate results (RCT) 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade RAND assessments of district summer programs Continue tracking kids

11. Boston Summer Learning Project

13. Outline Why summer learning matters What Boston and Wallace are doing about it Keys to successful collaboration 13

14. Collaborations are not easy Problems can stem from: Insufficient resources Activities tangential to mission Tension between partners “While collaborative efforts have a long history, the work remains immensely challenging – with a record of many more failures than successes.” -- White House Council for Community Solutions: Community Collaboratives Whitepaper, 2011, Corporation for National and Community Service 14

15. 15 Source: White House Council for Community Solutions, Community Collaboratives Whitepaper, 2011 Collaboratives with: Aspiration to needle-moving (e.g. 10%+) change on a community- wide metric Long-term investment in success Cross-sector engagement Use of data to set the agenda and improve over time Community members as partners and producers of impact Successful collaborations

16. 16 Source: White House Council for Community Solutions, Community Collaboratives Whitepaper, 2011 Collaboratives with: Aspiration to needle-moving (e.g. 10%+) change on a community- wide metric Long-term investment in success Cross-sector engagement Use of data to set the agenda and improve over time Community members as partners and producers of impact Shared vision and agenda Effective leadership and governance Deliberate alignment of resources, programs and advocacy toward what works Dedicated capacity and appropriate structure Sufficient resources

17. Successful collaborations 17 Source: White House Council for Community Solutions, Community Collaboratives Whitepaper, 2011 Collaboratives with: Aspiration to needle-moving (e.g. 10%+) change on a community- wide metric Long-term investment in success Cross-sector engagement Use of data to set the agenda and improve over time Community members as partners and producers of impact Shared vision and agenda Effective leadership and governance Deliberate alignment of resources, programs and advocacy toward what works Dedicated capacity and appropriate structure Sufficient resources Knowledge Tools Technical assistance from peers/experts Policy Funding

18. Collective impact: Columbus, IN Trust: Weak at first, built by working on the facility needs of the institutions Shared agenda: Ensure youth have training to get jobs Metrics: Move focus at community college from enrollment to relevance of coursework and graduation Team: Community Education Coalition Persistence: Columbus Learning Center opened in 2005 18

19. The human element Collaborations depend on establishing and sustaining trust 19