#  School's in for Summer: A Scalable and Effective Post-Pandemic Academic Intervention 

 



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 **Date:** 03/13/2026 

 

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This brief summarizes findings from studies of summer school programs delivered in 2022 and 2023 across ten large school districts. These districts participated in the Road to Recovery research practice partnership with researchers from NWEA, CALDER at the American Institutes of Research, and Harvard University. These districts collectively serve nearly 450,000 students. Six districts participated in both years of the study, and four participated only in one year. We first estimate the impact of summer school on students’ test scores and its contribution to districts’ overall recovery. We then take a broader view to describe the design and implementation of post-pandemic summer school programs and highlight differences from recommended best practices that may have hindered program effectiveness. Finally, we contextualize summer school's value by comparing it to other academic interventions in terms of scale and impact.



 

 

 See also:- [ Research and Reports ](/resource-type/research-report)
- [ Researcher ](/audience/researcher)
- [ School/District Leader ](/audience/schooldistrict-leader)
- [ COVID-19 Impact ](/focus-areas/covid-19-impact)
- [ High-Dosage Tutoring ](/focus-areas/high-dosage-tutoring)
- [ Road to Recovery Project ](/projects/road-recovery-project)
- [ 2025 ](/year/2025)
- [ K12 ](/sector/k12)