KDE Issues Updated Guidance on Accelerating Student Learning During the Summer and Academic School Year
The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) released updated guidance regarding accelerated learning during summer programs and the need to plan for opportunities to accelerate learning through the subsequent school year and beyond.
The guidance initially was created to help school districts planning to hold summer and academic school year programs to support students in areas of unfinished learning due to extended school closures amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been revised in accordance with continued research to show summer programs as part of an ongoing, multipart and multiyear process designed to equitably provide learning acceleration for populations shown to experience achievement gaps that predate the pandemic.
The document, “Accelerating Student Learning During Summer Learning Programs and Through the Academic Year,” discusses how to create effective accelerated summer learning programs and follow up with support for students throughout the 2022-2023 school year and beyond via high-intensity tutoring and academies held during vacation breaks.
The recommendations – which are based on research by the RAND Organization, Wallace Foundation and Annenberg Institute for School Reform – include: holding a summer program for five to six weeks; small class sizes; and a combination of math, reading and enrichment activities. Such programs also must address students’ social-emotional and behavioral needs, the guidance says. Precise planning is vital for the programs to succeed and the updated KDE guidance offers links to several planning tools, including a Summer Learning Planning Guide.
Best practices for student support during the school year include high-intensity individualized tutoring three or more times a week and 25 hours of targeted instruction on a single subject during a week of breaks in class, such as fall and winter break.
The Accelerating Student Learning guidance is located on the Resources for Summer Learning page on the KDE website and the Standards Resources webpage on KYstandards.org.
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