There is a lack of consensus among school districts on how best to mitigate reading and math learning loss during the summer months. The purpose of this quasi-experimental quantitative exploration study was to determine if there was a statistically and practically significant effect of an educational program on summer learning loss in reading and…

In a classroom environment where students are encouraged to talk and share their thinking about mathematics, it comes as no surprise to find an abundance of ideas flooding the room. Yet, what does one do with all these ideas? How do teachers and students use these ideas as they learn in the classroom? Moreover, how do teachers and students manage…

When COVID-19 shut down in-person programs across the world in 2020, we (the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab)) as practitioners were in unknown territory. This paper outlines the structure of a 10-week online Summer Exploration Series (SES) program along with the evaluation performed by staff at the MagLab in 2020. The goal of the…

Backward transfer is when learning about a new topic influences an individual's prior ways of reasoning about a topic they previously learned about. This study looked at how quadratic functions instruction differentially influenced students' prior ways of reasoning about linear functions. Specifically, we compared students at three levels of…

This article uses key concepts of Anzaldúan philosophy to describe the Mosquitoes & Me summer camp as "ciencia zurda" or "left-handed science." It details a day-in-the-life portrait of Elena, a first-generation Latina middle schooler, as she experiences the opportunities that Mosquitoes & Me provided for self-other…

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships among summer reading camp participants' initial prosocial efficacy, reading motivation, and their reading skill changes. Despite the theoretical explanation of social and emotional learning (SEL), there is a lack of empirical studies demonstrating the complex relationships and processes…

This article presents how over two summers the authors worked with students from Syria, Pakistan, Tanzania, Mexico, Honduras, China, and Vietnam to create their own chalkboard project. They wrote "I am" poems and "I remember" memories. They engaged in the arts, creating their personal comic book heroes and leaving inspired…

While civic participation is a crucial component of healthy and sustainable democracies, young adolescents may perceive or experience barriers that limit their civic action. This study draws from focus groups and surveys during a week-long summer civics camp to explore ways in which 47 young adolescents entering Grades 6-9 described barriers they…

There is an urgent need for more Latinx students to pursue careers in STEM related fields as this has historically been an unserved population in schools. This mixed methods study examined the impact of a summer STEM pipeline program focused on hands-on chemistry concepts for 28 Latinx students in the 5th grade. Findings include statistically…

Freedom School Partners is a six-week summer program that has served the Charlotte, NC area since 2004. The purpose of this report is to present the external evaluation and findings of the six-week program in the summer of 2022. This evaluation is a joint effort between the Centers for Adolescent Literacies (CAL) and the Center for Educational…

Throughout the Internet, many chatbots have been deployed by various organizations to answer questions asked by customers. In recent years, we have been running cybersecurity summer camps for youth. Due to COVID-19, our in-person camp has been changed to virtual camps. As a result, we decided to develop a chatbot to reduce the number of emails,…

Microscopy is not specifically mentioned in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and consequently secondary education limits its use to learning parts, procedures, and observing fixed specimen slides. However, when alternative approaches (See Section IV in this paper) are encouraged, microscopy provides opportunities for hands-on…

The purpose of this quasi-experimental quantitative exploration study was to determine if there was a statistically and practically significant effect of an educational program on summer learning loss in reading and mathematics in grades five and six students. Also, the study aimed to determine whether growth was impacted by demographic variables…

This paper presents results from an exploratory case study on the use of Origami for developing design thinking with a group of 22 middle school girls participating in a summer STEM program. The case study combines the process of design thinking, common in STEM-based exploration, and aligned to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) with the art…

This research presents results of a longitudinal study of a three-year in-service teacher professional development program that was focused on improving grades sixth through eighth students' science achievement, science literacy and increasing science interest in five urban middle schools. The key program elements included: (1) a summer teacher…