Lindsey E Thompson

In 2011, The Wallace Foundation launched a project to expand summer program opportunities for students from low-income families in urban school districts. RAND researchers assessed program effectiveness. In this sixth report in a series, the authors consider how policy environments affect districts' attempts to scale and sustain quality summer programs, with the goal of helping program leaders navigate local, state, and federal policy contexts.

During the school year leading up to summer 2015, summer leaders in three cities made concerted efforts to integrate their summer learning programs into the core priorities and operations of the larger school district as a strategy to increase sustainability. This report examines these efforts and their impacts. The recommendations we provide should be useful to leaders of district-led summer programs and others who support sustaining them.

This report examines teachers' implementation of new, more-rigorous K-12 state standards for mathematics and English language arts and literacy, including use of instructional materials, perceptions about content and approaches aligned with standards, and student engagement with standards. Results are intended to help states or districts reflect upon areas where teachers may benefit from guidance about how to address their state standards.