National Summer Learning Week: July 14 – July 18
National Summer Learning Week is a great time for kids to recharge! Out of school time gives children a chance to explore their interests, spend more time with friends and try new, hands-on activities. Families, camp counselors and teachers can help make these experiences learning experiences. Learning can happen everywhere!
Grandparents, elected officials and faith leaders can also champion summer learning, helping to keep kids learning, safe, and thriving all summer long.
Over the summer, children can lose some of what they learned during the school year, and it can add up over their academic career. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), last year only 30% of NC 4th graders scored at or above proficient in reading. Disaggregated scores show gaps by race in children’s reading skills. Only 17% of Black students and 22% of Hispanic students are achieving proficiency. These students especially need support and resources over the summer.
Low-reading proficiency also holds students back in school. Our brief – Advancing Kindergarten Through Third-Grade Educational Equity in North Carolina – details student retention due to low reading skills, how students from marginalized racial and economic backgrounds are most affected, and what we can do to fix it in NC.
And it’s not just about reading. Keeping up math skills over the summer matters too! Learning throughout the summer can help alleviate learning loss and provides a great opportunity for students to make learning gains.
National Grade-Level Reading Week: July 28 – August 1
We’re also celebrating National Grade-Level Reading Week during the last week of July. Spearheaded by the National Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, this year’s theme is Meet the Moment: Focus on the Gaps, highlighting the disparities in learning, achievement, and access to resources that affect too many children.
The Campaign is hosting virtual programming for educators, policymakers, community leaders, and organizations focused on children’s reading success and parent engagement.
Highlights for the week include:
- How technology platforms and tools are supporting personalized learning and differentiation in the classroom, empowering parents to foster learning in the home and enabling engaging, hands-on learning in a wide range of informal learning spaces and community settings.
- The pace of progress of initiatives to assure the digital connectivity that will allow children of economically challenged families equitable access to the benefits of education technology.
- Whether and what guardrails and guidelines are needed to address well-founded concerns that the increased screen time and use of digital devices could compromise the overall well-being and development of young children.
Programs are led by experts and organizations across the country that will share the challenges and successful strategies to increase reading skills. Other topics include chronic absence, tutoring, and challenges in rural communities and for low-wealth, working families.
Find out more about Grade-Level Reading Week to register for virtual programs.
The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading Engages NC Communities
Since 2015, the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation has led the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading in North Carolina. This national initiative brings together communities nationwide to ensure that more children from low-income families succeed in school and beyond. It’s a joint effort by foundations, nonprofits, businesses, and government agencies to support children’s readiness for school, summer learning, and regular school attendance.
In North Carolina, our goal is to build diverse and inclusive communities where young readers thrive from birth through third grade, setting them up for future success. Currently, 12 community groups are actively part of our state’s Campaign.
Through our work with the Campaign, each year we publish a Summer Learning Toolkit for summer program providers to access communication resources about the importance of summer learning and share valuable activities to do at home and on the go.
About NCECF
The NC Early Childhood Foundation builds understanding, leads collaboration, and advances policies to ensure each North Carolina child is on track for lifelong success. Subscribe to our email updates to learn how you can help transform the lives of North Carolina families.