Evaluation Report Brief

BELL : 

Middle School Summer Program

nationalservice.gov/research 1 

What is the community challenge? 

Middle school students face developmental and social 

changes that can pose a variety of challenges to their 

academic success. Sixth to 8th graders who find 

themselves falling behind in subjects like reading and 

math may be up to three times less likely to graduate 

high school than classmates who are on-track to meet 

course requirements. Succeeding in middle school is 

therefore a key indicator of future success in school, 

work, and life.

Program At-a-Glance 

Intervention: Middle School Summer Program 

Subgrantee: Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL) 

Intermediary: Edna McConnell Clark Foundation (EMCF) 

Focus Area: Youth Development 

Focus Population: Low-performing students grades 6-8 

Communities Served: Schools throughout the U.S. 

What is BELL’s promising solution?

BELL’s middle school program serves rising 6

th through 8th grade students who are performing one to two 

years below grade level. The goals of the program are to increase 

student’s literacy and math skills and to enhance their social 

development. BELL provides students with 6.5 hours of daily 

programming for approximately five weeks, five days per week. 

What did the evaluation of the Middle School Summer Program 

find?

As a subgrantee of the Social Innovation Fund, BELL engaged an 

independent evaluator to conduct and evaluation of the Middle 

School Summer Program. The evaluation found that the program: 

 showed suggestive evidence of having had a positive impact on students’ math achievement in the 

fall of the next school year (although the effects were statistically inconclusive); 

 showed no effects in terms of higher reading scores in the fall of the next school year for BELL 

students compared to non-BELL students; and, 

 was implemented as designed (i.e. with fidelity) in the study districts, relative to the intended BELL 

middle school model and relative to national standards for summer learning programs. 

One of the limitations of this study is that the margin of error around the impact findings is large, due to 

challenges with recruiting enough students for the evaluation. Small sample sizes in a study make it difficult 

to statistically detect the effects of a program, unless the effects are exceptionally large (in this instance, larger 

than what would be typically expected of a summer academic program). For this reason, the impact findings 

from the study are considered suggestive and should be used to generate hypotheses that could be more 

definitively tested in a future evaluation. 

To access the full evaluation report and learn more about CNCS, please visit nationalservice.gov/research. 

Office of Research and Evaluation, Corporation for National and Community Service June 2015
Evaluation Report Brief

BELL : 

Middle School Summer Program

Office of Research and Evaluation, Corporation for National and Community Service June 2015

nationalservice.gov/research 2 

Evaluation At-a-Glance 

Level of Evidence before Evaluation*: Moderate 

Level of Evidence** after Evaluation: Moderate 

Evaluation Designs: Implementation Evaluation; Outcomes 

Analysis; Impact Evaluation (Randomized Controlled Trial) 

Study Population: Low-performing students who will be entering 

grades 6-8 in the fall, in three selected school districts 

Evaluator: MDRC 

* SIF-supported interventions undergo a level of evidence assessment at the point of program entry 

and are expected to advance that base of evidence through rigorous evaluation during the grant 

period.

**SIF and AmeriCorps currently use different definitions of levels of evidence.

Evaluation design, timeline and study locations 

Between 2012 and 2015, Bell conducted an 

implementation and impact evaluation of its Middle 

School Summer Program. Three different school 

districts in which BELL operates took part in the 

study. Because these districts had more eligible 

students than the program could serve, a random 

assignment (i.e. lottery) model for selecting 

participants was used. 

The report was funded in part through the Edna 

McConnell Clark Foundation’s Social Innovation 

Fund award. 

How is BELL using the evaluation findings to improve? 

BELL has used these latest findings to improve its summer learning model for middle school student 

participants in a number of ways. BELL also adopted a new assessment system that provides more immediate 

results so that teachers can quickly gain an understanding of their students and individualize their approach 

by the third day of program. This includes a training program that allows for greater flexibility and local 

customization. 

BELL has adopted a new curriculum and instructional approach that is aligned with the Common Core. This 

new curriculum includes a focus on the social and emotional needs of participants, training staff to use a 

“growth mind set” instructional approach. 

BELL has also created a middle school advisory committee to help think through and evaluate on-going 

program development. BELL continues to work with MDRC to advance an ongoing learning agenda and 

explore emerging questions around how summer learning programs can best serve the needs of middle school 

students. 

The content of this brief was drawn from the full evaluation report submitted to CNCS by the grantee/subgrantee. The section of the brief that 

discusses evaluation use includes contribution of the grantee/subgrantee. All original content from the report is attributable to its authors.

The Social Innovation Fund (SIF), a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), combines public and private 

resources to grow the impact of innovative, community-based solutions that have compelling evidence of improving the lives of people in lowincome communities throughout the United States. The SIF invests in three priority areas: economic opportunity, healthy futures, and youth 

development.