Summer can be an issue when it comes to students' abilities of retaining knowledge from the prior school year. Summer assignments are designed to help students sharpen their learning skills over the summer in order to help them thrive in the coming academic school year. One question to consider is whether these summer assignments would be more beneficial if designed by students rather than teachers, or if they should be designed by teachers rather than students. Although some argue that these assignments should be designed by students, teacher-designed assignments would be more beneficial as they would introduce the skills needed to be successful, incorporate curriculum to help students have an understanding of the course before school starts, and ensure that students are correctly preparing themselves for school.

When designing summer assignments, it is important that skills such as reading comprehension, argumentative writing, and creative thinking are reintroduced to help students refresh their memory on how to perform certain tasks to the best of their abilities. Teachers would be able to introduce those skills in the best possible ways, as they are the ones teaching the course and have a better understanding of the skills needed to be successful in the class. If students were to design the summer assignments, their own thoughts on the skills they think they need for the course are not as reliable as the teachers beliefs. Therefore, they would not be enhancing the skills they need for the course, which would make it harder to be successful in the class from the start. Teachers also have much more experience in establishing ways to improve upon these skills. Teacher-designed summer assignments would be the most reliable when it comes to specific ways of introducing skills needed in order to excel because teachers understand the qualities needed to advance in the curriculum.

Also, teacher-designed summer assignments would be the best to ensure that students can obtain prior knowledge of what the course they are going to take will include. Teachers would already have experience on the curriculum and know exactly what to include when designing the task. Students are blind to specific learning standards of the course, therefore, they would not know what to include in order to help them establish background knowledge on the subject. The best way to start off a class is with a general understanding of the purpose of the course and some knowledge on the curriculum. Teachers would be able to include that into the summer assignment to ensure that students can start off the year with a good understanding, which would help them be more likely to succeed. A teacher-designed summer assignment is much more beneficial than a student-designed assignment because teachers would already have examined the curriculum to ensure that students understand the subject before the academic school year begins.

A counter to the prior arguments is that some believe a student-designed summer assignment would be more beneficial than a teacher-designed assignment. If students were able to design their own summer tasks, they would be able to include their own creative aspect to learning and retouching on their skills. Teachers would be able to see the qualities and capabilities of each individual student to help them have an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. However, although it is good that students can add their own creativity to the task, it does not ensure that students are correctly preparing themselves for the coming year. A student-designed assignment may not include all the necessary learning standards needed for a course such as ways to enhance skills and background knowledge on the curriculum. Therefore, student-designed summer assignments are not even close to the benefits a students would receive from being given a teacher-designed summer assignment.

Teacher-designed summer assignments are best to ensure that students continue learning to the best of their abilities. They would be able to retouch and improve upon certain skills, have a general understanding of the course, and be certain that they are properly preparing themselves for the coming school year. This coming summer, students should rely on a teacher-designed summer assignment to ensure that students can be the best academic scholars they can be in order to have a successful school year.