Some researchers say districts are missing the chance to innovate if they’re not offering online summer learning.
by Amy Morona for Newsy
Public school educators in Philadelphia began planning the district’s summer school offerings in January. But then…
“We had to basically relaunch all of our planning mid-April,” said Khaled Ismail, senior project manager at The School District of Philadelphia‘s Office of Academic Support.
Now programming will happen strictly online in light of the coronavirus. That will allow up to 35,000 of the district’s roughly 124,000 students to opt in.
A sampling of this summer’s courses includes small-group sessions for students in grades 3 through 7 and partnering with The University of Pennsylvania for a high school class.
It’s one example of a school district innovating to take on the “summer slide” of learning loss that now could be made worse by the coronavirus.
But some researchers fear expanded summer programming like Philadelphia’s may be the exception, not the rule.