Many students appear to need fundamental skill building, not just superficial test preparation. Students who came to state-funded summer school improved their scores but the majority still did not pass the test when they retook it. For students who enrolled in summer school, average scores improved between February and July. Summer school instructional curricula and methods should be improved to increase the likelihood that students will pass by the end of summer school. To that end, the statewide testing program should supply teachers with information they can use to avoid unnecessary re-teaching of material already mastered by most students.
Low enrollment is a barrier to the success of the summer school programs.
Even in districts that required summer school for students yet to meet the Basic Standard, only about 50 percent of those students enrolled in summer school. This low level of enrollment, even when summer school is required, is consistent with findings in other states and districts. It is important to understand the limitations of the available data. The study compares students who enrolled in state-funded summer school with students who did not.