Kathleen Lynch, an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut and coauthor of the meta-analysis, said the existing research shows not only that summer learning is an effective means of bolstering academic growth, but also a worthy recipient of finite COVID recovery dollars.

The first comprehensive review of research on summer math programs in over 15 years suggests they may help mitigate the learning losses disproportionately experienced by low-income pre-K–12 students during the pandemic. The meta-analysis was published this week in Review of Educational Research, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association.

“Our results show that schools, district leaders, and community groups should consider increasing their investments in summer programs as an evidence-based strategy to aid in pandemic-related educational recovery, particularly for children whose learning has been placed most at risk,” said study co-author Kathleen Lynch, an assistant professor of learning sciences at the University of Connecticut.