Summer Learning and Nutrition

We know from research that summer learning loss suffered by kids who do not have access to engaging summer programs is significant. Public Profit, an evaluation and technical assistance firm, has just released their findings on the benefits that children accrued by participating in pilot summer programs across the state.  To access their report, click here.

The Center for Best Practices recently hosted a webinar called No Kid Hungry, which  highlights the huge need nationwide for nutrition resources during out-of-school time and describes what families do in summer to feed their kids and what they're looking for in summer programs that offer food. 
Watch the Webinar: http://cc.readytalk.com/play?id=537p9

Healthy Summers for Kids: Turning Risk Into Opportunity
The purpose of the Healthy Summers for Kids: Turning Risk Into Opportunity brief is to draw attention to summer as a unique developmental period for youth—a time when risk for obesity and food insecurity both rise—by highlighting findings from recent research. The brief also provides a window into opportunities to make positive change to improve children’s health in summer, including a few ways that communities, schools, summer programs, health practitioners, and caregivers are already working to promote healthy habits, healthy eating, and increased physical activity. Read the entire article and download the brief here

According to a report released by the RAND Corporation, the average summer learning loss in math and reading for American students amounts to one month per year. More troubling is that it disproportionately affects low-income students: they lose two months of reading skills, while their higher-income peers — whose parents can send them to enriching camps, take them on educational vacations and surround them with books during the summer — make slight gains. A study from Johns Hopkins University of students in Baltimore found that about two-thirds of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income ninth graders could be explained by summer learning loss during the elementary school years. Read More.

California Food Policy Advocates have issued their annual report
on summer nutrition in California that documents an alarming drop in the number of low-income children getting federally-funded summer meals, due primarily to budget cuts that reduced the availability of summer school. To view the annual report, click here.