THROUGH SUMMER SCHOLARSHIPS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) marked an important expansion of the federal role in promoting educational opportunity, but it does not address the needs of children in the summer. Strong evidence shows that learning slows or stops in the summer months, while gaps in student performance grow. Evaluations of summer programs also show that such programs have consistent positive effects on knowledge, skills, and test scores. We propose a program of Summer Scholarships for children to use toward traditional summer school or summer enrichment programs in the years prior to third grade, when NCLB testing begins. Below are the key features of our proposal: • Promoting parental choice. Summer Scholarships would allow families to select the program that best fits their child’s needs, thereby boosting educational outcomes and helping schools meet NCLB goals. • Promoting innovation. Public and private organizations would be eligible to administer summer programs, fostering competition that will promote quality, innovation and accountability. • Engendering broad support. All children who start school academically behind would qualify for Scholarships, and partial or full Scholarships would be available to most families on a