Summer as a Solution: Why Seasonal Learning Matters Worldwide

By Aaron Dworkin, CEO, National Summer Learning Association

Around the world, summer is often associated with a different type of experience for children who are out of school. In the United States, it is increasingly seen as something more: a “whole child” solution, that includes, education, play, and resiliency.

At the National Summer Learning Association, a coalition of more than 25,000 school districts, nonprofits, government agencies, and corporate partners, we work to ensure that every child—especially the most vulnerable—has access to high-quality summer programs.

“Summer learning” refers to structured programs that combine academic support (math, reading, STEM), enrichment (arts, sports, nature), and career exploration (internships and workforce development). In essence, it blends summer school, summer camp, and early career pathways into one strategy.

Why Summer Matters

For millions of working families and educators, summer is not just a break—it is an opportunity to address real challenges: childhood hunger, childcare, mental health, academic recovery, and preparation for college and careers.

Federal initiatives in the U.S. such as 21st Century Community Learning Centers help make these programs possible. When funding is delayed, families and staff feel immediate uncertainty. When funding is stable, the results are powerful.

Research from institutions like RAND, National Academies of Sciences, Gallup, and Harvard shows that structured summer programs produce academic and socio-emotional benefits.

If you add up every summer from kindergarten through college graduation, it equals roughly five and a half additional school years of potential learning time. The question is not whether that time matters—it is who has access to it and how it is used without taking away freedom of exploration, peer relationships and closeness to adults in year-long school.

While 30 million children in the U.S. attend summer programs, two-thirds come from families who can afford to pay. Only 37% are children who qualify for free or reduced lunch. Closing this opportunity gap requires sustained public investment. 

How do we best create an extended learning approach to the summer months and make it affordable, equitable and sustainable?

The Three “I’s” of Summer

Improvement. Summer programs improve academic performance and strengthen the educator workforce. In Alabama, targeted summer investments led to substantial gains in statewide reading and math outcomes. In Minnesota, organizations such as Generation Teach and Breakthrough Collaborative use summer programs both to serve students and to train new teachers.

Innovation. Summer is education’s research-and-development season. In Boston, the Fifth Quarter of Learning connects schools, museums, hospitals, and community organizations to serve nearly 20,000 students. Across rural and urban communities alike, partnerships between districts, nonprofits, and colleges expand access in ways traditional school-year structures often cannot.

Impact. Ultimately, the measure of success is individual lives. Programs such as NJ LEEP in Newark and Math Corps in Michigan have helped students graduate, attend leading universities, pursue STEM careers, and return to strengthen their own communities.

A Broader Lesson

While this work is rooted in the United States, the principles are relevant globally: unstructured time can widen inequality—or it can expand opportunity. We want to acknowledge that in many parts of the world, children and adolescents have to or want to work during the summer. But even they need to access programs where young people come together, such as in the areas of sports, arts and recreation.

When nations invest in high-quality summer and extended learning programs, they strengthen academic resilience, workforce readiness, and community well-being. 

While summer learning is not a silver bullet solution to all the many challenges children face, it can provide a silver lining.  American organizations like ours often do not know what we do not know or have everything figured out which is why we are eager to learn more from peer countries and education leaders around the globe about how they leverage the summer months  to support their students,  families  and communities. This is why NSLA is excited and proud to be part of GELYDA, to build relationships, gain access and insights into what strategies so many and investments international educators, governments and organizations are employing each summer. 

So many leaders around the world recognize Summer is not just a season. It is a youth development strategy. Our goal is to provide a high quality summer learning experience and growth opportunity to all students and not just to some.

This blog is adapted from the Full Congressional Testimony of Aaron Dworkin, CEO, NSLA Federal Funding for Summer.

To view the remarks, please click here: (https://youtu.be/d_i8UOU83NQ)