Summer Is Too Valuable for Slide Prevention
A free, data-backed guide for out-of-school time directors, educators, and program leaders ready to build a powerful season of student growth and discovery out of summer hours.
What Students Actually Need
Every year, we look at summer learning through a narrow lens, asking how to merely preserve what students have already learned. But the research points to a much bigger opportunity.
Time outside the traditional school day is a high-velocity window for personal and academic growth — low-stakes, wide open, and built for the kind of exploration the school year rarely has room for.
Right now, 39% of teenagers globally have yet to identify a career path. Students need the right connections, experiences, and mentors to help them see what's possible.
This report is your blueprint to turn out-of-school hours into a powerful engine for student growth.
What's Inside.
Five strategies drawn from peer-reviewed research — and field-tested with 15,000+ students across schools, after-school programs, and summer camps.
93% of students who went through a STEM Playbook program said they want to pursue a STEM career. 67% felt very confident solving problems. 9 out of 10 said they'd do it again.
The framework behind those numbers is in this report.
Who This Is For
This report was built for the people running programs on the ground:
After-school directors designing summer cohorts
Summer camp leaders building a curriculum that does more than keep kids busy
Principals and curriculum directors looking to extend learning beyond the school year
Anyone who believes summer should be a season of growth — not just recovery
