Double Scoop: Exploring Summer Learning Options

David Owen: 00:00:00

More Ways to Grow Young Minds this summer is our topic on this edition of the Inside Scoop. Hello and welcome back to this edition of the Inside Scoop. I'm still David Owen.

If you find this podcast helpful, make sure you like subscribe and hit that notification bell so that you'll know when the next podcast episode is published. There are lots of reasons that students, maybe just the parents, want opportunities for learning during the summer.

Of course, summer school has always been one of them. But what else?

Here to tell us more about the what's and whys of the summer options in Cobb schools is Cobb's Director of Assessment and Personalized Learning, Lori Horn. Lori, welcome to the podcast.

Lori Horn: 00:00:44

Thank you, David.

David Owen: 00:00:45

You know, lots of times it's not the student's performance necessarily. There are lots of reasons that kids would have to go into a summer learning situation.

Tell us a little more about what that's all about and maybe what some of those reasons are that a student would have to do that.

Lori Horn: 00:01:07

Sure. Thank you for having me. Today we have focused on providing summer opportunities that would encompass all of the needs of students in Cobb County.

So primarily we have resources for students who are in need of intensive intervention over the summer from those rising kindergarten students all the way through. Students could potentially graduate at the end of summer.

But we also have opportunities for students who just may want to review some things that were taught over the course of the current school year or preview some things that are coming up for their next school year.

So we know from the research that students who may need some support and intervention if they have the opportunity to preview preview the content for the upcoming year, they will do better when they encounter that at the start of the next school year.

David Owen: 00:02:03

So kind of a thinking ahead thing on probably the part of the parents. Right. There aren't that many students, although they do exist, that are so self motivated, they want a preview of what's to come, right?

Lori Horn: 00:02:18

Correct.

David Owen: 00:02:19

A student could have gotten bad grades because they had illness and just couldn't do what's needed to be done.

So tell us what, what does that summer learning opportunity look like at the high school level and specifically, I guess considering the students that are wanting to graduate but evidently didn't make the credits sufficient to do the standard May graduation.

Lori Horn: 00:02:48

Sure.

So for high school, we do have a credit recovery high school program for any student that is in need of recovering a credit for a course they didn't pass. So for whatever reason.

So if the student has a failing grade on their transcript, they can enroll to take the credit recovery summer school Program, their counselor will review their transcript and determine which course they need to recover.

We do put a priority on those English and math courses, but during the summer program, they will work through a digital platform, in addition to having direct teacher support in the classroom to work through that course so that they can complete the course so that they are not behind with that credit when they enroll the next school year.

David Owen: 00:03:40

So when you say digital platform, like.

Lori Horn: 00:03:43

A CTLS platform for high school credit recovery summer school, we have built out all of the courses and all of the modules in Edmentum, which is the platform we use for that credit recovery purpose.

David Owen: 00:03:57

Okay, all right. Specific to, I guess, core courses that are required for graduation.

Lori Horn: 00:04:04

So it's those priority standards that we have worked with our content supervisors and specialists on to make sure we're hitting those. The pieces of the course that need to be addressed.

So we've built those courses specific to the content standards, and that's what the students work through through the course of the summer program along with the direct teacher instruction.

David Owen: 00:04:31

Okay. All right. So that being the high school summer learning opportunity. So what exists at the middle and elementary levels are they.

Obviously they're not looking at graduation?

Well, I guess first the question would be, if you're looking to graduate, you know, you didn't meet the requirements for graduation, you kind of already know that you need to do something. Okay. You need to go back and finish those credits. But how would somebody at middle and elementary school know that?

How would they begin to even know about this program? Of this podcast accepted? How would. How would they get into this program? I guess is really my question.

Lori Horn: 00:05:23

Great question. For elementary and middle school, it's structured differently than it is for high school.

So we have two elementary sites and two middle school sites that we run summer programs over the course of the month of June and early in the spring. So typically around March, schools receive a certain number of slots for each for their summer program.

So for our summer program, and so schools identify the students who have some significant concerns in literacy and math and really need the support of something additional during the month of June so that they are better prepared when they enter the next school year.

David Owen: 00:06:09

Okay. So the teachers kind of have an idea of what's going on and realize that little Johnny needs a little extra help with this.

Is that kind of what I'm hearing?

Lori Horn: 00:06:19

That's correct.

So our schools have done a great job of identifying the right students for the program, and we work with the school so in providing a really rich targeted intervention program for them in both literacy and in math.

David Owen: 00:06:36

Okay. And so do students get into this program by invitation only or can just anyone apply?

Lori Horn: 00:06:45

So for elementary and middle it is invitation. So schools will reach out to the parents who they have identified as being having those significant CERNs in literacy and math. And if those.

And then the parents let us know or let the school know whether they are going to participate or not. If they choose not to participate, then the school will select the next person on the list. So it is invitation only.

So if parents have questions and asking why they weren't selected to participate or want to be considered, they really should reach out to their teacher at the school with those questions.

David Owen: 00:07:25

So maybe the teacher then would say, oh yeah, I did, I forgot that Johnny struggled with this particular area. And the teacher then might put in a recommendation. Is that what I'm hearing from you?

Lori Horn: 00:07:38

They could, depending on what data they're looking at. But we also have some other opportunities.

So for students who may need a little help, but maybe it's not to the significance of needing an in person, really intensive program. During the month of June, we do offer our SummerLink resources. So those are available digitally.

But we provide 30 days of lessons for students over the summer from our kindergarten through our 12th grade students. So in both literacy and math.

So over the course of the summer, even Beyond June, there's 30 days of lessons that students can engage in to keep them attuned with all of those instructional pieces to try to minimize any of the summer slide that folks have heard about in the previous.

David Owen: 00:08:28

I was going to ask. Credit recovery aside, the summer slide is a reality. But nobody wants to be in school. Well, I shouldn't say nobody.

Few people want to be in school year round or have their students in school year round. So this is an opportunity for those who do want their student to maybe take advantage of. You mentioned the time frame for registration.

Is it too late now for students to be able to sign up?

Lori Horn: 00:08:56

For elementary and middle, that registration window has closed. That registration window typically runs from about March to the end of April.

So we have to have enough time to make sure transportation is coordinated because with our summer programs, all of them, elementary and middle, we provide transportation to each of the sites home from home to the summer summer program site.

David Owen: 00:09:25

So it's just like a regular school year.

Lori Horn: 00:09:27

It is. We provide breakfast and lunch. And for elementary students who attend Summer Learning Quest, we also offer ASP from 1 to 6.

So it's a we, you know, students have to be transported by their parents at the end of ASP just Like they do during the regular school year. But that is something that's just like a. During the regular school year we offer during the summer.

David Owen: 00:09:50

Okay. And you say you provide lunch and breakfast, but that doesn't mean it's free of charge necessarily, right?

Lori Horn: 00:09:57

It is free of charge for every student that attends.

David Owen: 00:09:59

Holy cow. That's awesome.

Lori Horn: 00:10:01

ally grown a great deal since: 2020

So we had put in some things and redesigned our summer programs to meet the needs of students after the pandemic. And we saw a lot of great success with the summer program since this new reformatted and expanded summer program was started.

And so fortunately, our district has saw value in that. And the superintendent had announced in a board meeting at the beginning of this year that we will continue those summer programs moving forward.

So we're excited about that.

David Owen: 00:10:43

Yeah, yeah.

There are a lot of things that I guess you could say lemonade from lemons kind of thing right out of the pandemic, for sure, and seems to be helping an awful lot of people along the way. So the registration window is already closed, as you said.

But at some point, when parents do register or want to register their child, they reach out to their administrator teacher at high school level, I guess, school counselor. Right. Who would they connect with or communicate with regarding registration questions? Let's say just in general, is it done online?

Is that how that's done?

Lori Horn: 00:11:27

So for elementary and middle those, like you mentioned, the registration windows have closed. But next year, letting the teacher know, kind of early spring now, you know, if there's a.

A concern with literacy and math, letting that teacher know that you're looking for something and some options during the summer and that you've heard about summer learning quest. And if that's an option, you're interested, and that registration is done through the school.

So the school sends out information and invitations to those parents of the identified students.

And then if you want to participate, you return that letter of interest back to the school and they register the student through our online systems for the district. Now, for high school, it's different. And that registration window for high school does not end until May 22.

So it's not too late to register for credit recovery high school.

That one has to stay open a little longer because sometimes students don't know that they need to recover a credit until closer to the end of the semester. So we do leave that registration window open. They start a little later in June than our elementary and middle programs do as well.

And for transportation for high school, we also don't have to worry about routing from their neighborhood to each site. For high school, we have buses that pick students up at their home high school and then they will transport them to the summer school site.

So it's not a. It's not from home to the summer school site.

David Owen: 00:13:05

So as long as the student could get to their home high school.

Lori Horn: 00:13:09

That's correct.

David Owen: 00:13:09

Then they could still make the program.

Lori Horn: 00:13:11

That's correct.

David Owen: 00:13:11

That's good to know that the window remains open to that close to the end of the school year because, yes, all the alarm bells and whistles go off as you get closer to the graduation finish line.

Lori Horn: 00:13:25

Right, right.

David Owen: 00:13:25

Okay.

Lori Horn: 00:13:26

And parents can register students for high school credit recovery summer school through Parent View.

So if you've got questions about that process or what that looks like, reach out to your student's counselor and they'll be able to give you that information and walk you through how to register.

David Owen: 00:13:43

Okay. So this, this might be a little bit of an odd question, especially at the high school level, but are there like a.

Is there an opportunity to kind of do a. Meet your teacher or get to know your school before your student goes to a new location, or are they taken kind of cold on day one to a new place?

Lori Horn: 00:14:06

So we do have orientations established for all elementary, middle and high school, and that information is communicated by our site administrators. Usually mid to late May, they'll announce those dates of when that orientation is going to occur.

So even with high school, we do encourage parents to participate in that orientation because the attendance and completion, the attendance for students to be able to complete the course is pretty stringent. So students need to be there in order to earn the credit, to do the coursework, to earn the credit.

David Owen: 00:14:48

So what if a student, or again, more likely the parents of that student want summer learning for the sake of kind of getting a head start? Is that possible?

Lori Horn: 00:15:03

So for our credit recovery high school summer school program, it is specific to recovering credits that were not passed. So for as far as getting ahead or taking courses for an initial credit, that's not something we offer.

We do have some programs across the district where you can look into doing that and go into the website and just typing in summer programs in the search will bring up some of those opportunities.

But if it's not credit bearing, we do have some opportunities that students can preview the content, as I mentioned earlier through a what we call course refresher. So this is reviewing the course content and the pieces, those priority pieces of the course.

Students can preview a course that was previously taken, or they can preview the content for a course that's coming up.

David Owen: 00:15:58

Okay, so for example, maybe an 8th grader who struggles in math, but they're looking at taking, I don't know what they've taken as a freshman, but maybe in algebra. I guess that's the sort of candidate you would think might be good for this program.

Lori Horn: 00:16:18

Refresher is specific to high school courses, but if you have a 8th grader who will be taking Algebra 1 next year, they could participate in course refresher to preview the content of algebra 1 so that they're better prepared to start in the fall.

David Owen: 00:16:34

Okay, so obviously when we're talking about credit recovery, that impacts a student's transcript. Right. But other than that, do these programs impact, as we say, the permanent record of students in any form or fashion?

Lori Horn: 00:16:53

Yes, we do expect students to do their best in these courses because that grade will be on their transcript. So we do have a really high rate where students are successful with these courses.

And we work closely with the students and work with tutors in those classes in addition to the teachers to really support students to. Our goal is to have 100% success rate. In order to do that, you have to be there. So that's why that attendance piece is so important.

But we also do expect students to follow that code of conduct that they do just as they would through the school year if there are situations that arise. You know, our administrators do handle that just as they would during the school year.

David Owen: 00:17:46

Okay, so that applies to the high school level. But is there any impact on the permanent record in elementary and middle school?

Lori Horn: 00:17:55

So in generally, no. So these are not credit bearing courses for elementary and middle school.

It's just to support them with that intensive intervention as they move forward. Forward in preparation for that next school year. Middle school.

A lot of we, we see a lot of middle school students in our summer program who need the support of the summer school in order to be to look at placement in that next grade level. So sometimes it's that makes a difference, but again, it's we share with the school. Did the student meet expectations for summer school or not?

But there's nothing for elementary or middle that we handle that goes on their record.

David Owen: 00:18:39

Yes, the permanent record is a phrase that we adults hold on to tightly because it carries a lot of weight. Well, Laurie, thank you so much for elaborating on what goes on in the summertime.

We don't all just sit back and celebrate the grads, although we do celebrate the grads. There's a lot of work that continues throughout the summer, and you guys are stellar at doing that. So thank you for doing that.

If you have a student who could use some help recovering credits or just needs reinforcement to shore up their entry into the next school year, check out the links in the show notes or description. We love to hear from you, and any topics that you might like done in the podcast are always welcome.

Any topic that is that you and other families would find helpful for your students, fair game. Just let us know in the link provided.

Thank you so much for listening to this edition of the Inside Scoop, a podcast produced by the Cobb County School.