#  What Two Harvard Studies Taught Us About Summer School 

 





Summer programs can help with COVID learning loss, especially in math.



 

September 17, 2025

 

 

 Ryan Nagelhout 

While students across the United States are back in classrooms this fall semester, two researchers at the Harvard Graduate School of Education have shared what they are learning about summer school and its impact on [learning loss](https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/news/25/02/education-recovery-scorecard-releases-third-report-district-level-achievement-post).

Summer school is far from a new learning pathway, but in the wake of districts [struggling to combat post-pandemic learning loss](https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/news/24/01/despite-progress-achievement-gaps-persist-during-recovery-pandemic), summer curriculums have increasingly been studied as a way to prevent the “summer slide” of learning loss between spring and fall instruction periods.

As Professor [Thomas Kane](https://www.gse.harvard.edu/directory/faculty/thomas-kane) argues, summer school can be a key piece to the post-pandemic academic recovery plan for school districts trying to make up for lost learning time.

Kane, who serves as faculty director of the [Center for Education Policy Research](https://cepr.harvard.edu/), has studied [pandemic learning loss in depth and argues](https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/askwith-education-forum/25/05/askwith-education-forum-centers-pandemic-recovery-success) educators should “be honest with parents about where kids are right now.” Mainly, that students have still not fully recovered from pandemic learning loss, and interventions are required to make up that ground.

*Continue reading at* [*gse.harvard.edu*](https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/news/25/09/what-two-harvard-studies-taught-us-about-summer-school)



 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ COVID-19 Impact ](/focus-areas/covid-19-impact)
- [ In the News ](/cepr-in-the-news)
- [ Road to Recovery Project ](/projects/road-recovery-project)
- [ 2025 ](/year/2025)
- [ K12 ](/sector/k12)
 
 

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