Summer School as an Academic Recovery Strategy After COVID-19: Evidence from Summer 2023

Abstract Many school districts used summer school as a strategy for addressing declines in student achievement after COVID-19. This study extends a prior analysis of 2022 summer programs by examining the association between 2023 program participation and academic recovery across eight large U.S. districts and, in four districts, comparing students who participated in both summers with students who participated in 2023 for the first time. Using value-added models, we find modest but significant improvements in student math achievement (average effect = 0.024 standard deviations) associated with participating in 2023, but no significant improvements in reading. Estimates were similar to 2022, despite small declines in participation and dosage. In the subsample of four districts, we find students attending for a second consecutive summer generally benefited as much or more than first-time attendees.

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Publication Details

Journal
Education Finance and Policy
Published
2026-10-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1162/edfp.a.494
Primary Topic
Education during COVID-19 pandemic
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Summer School as an Academic Recovery Strategy After COVID-19: Evidence from Summer 2023

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2 links
Education Finance and Policy
Education during COVID-19 pandemic
article

Summer School as an Academic Recovery Strategy After COVID-19: Evidence from Summer 2023

Atsuko Muroga, Emily Morton, Andrew J. McEachin, Jazmin Isaacs, Douglas O. Staiger, Michael DeArmond, Elise Dizon-Ross, Dan D. Goldhaber, Lisa Sanbonmatsu, Micaela Keating, Anna L. McDonald, Atticus Bolyard, Alejandra Salazar, Jamie Klinenberg, Thomas J. Kane
article en

Abstract

Abstract Many school districts used summer school as a strategy for addressing declines in student achievement after COVID-19. This study extends a prior analysis of 2022 summer programs by examining the association between 2023 program participation and academic recovery across eight large U.S. districts and, in four districts, comparing students who participated in both summers with students who participated in 2023 for the first time. Using value-added models, we find modest but significant improvements in student math achievement (average effect = 0.024 standard deviations) associated with participating in 2023, but no significant improvements in reading. Estimates were similar to 2022, despite small declines in participation and dosage. In the subsample of four districts, we find students attending for a second consecutive summer generally benefited as much or more than first-time attendees.

Education Finance and Policy
Dartmouth College (US), American Institutes for Research (US), Harvard University (US), University of Washington (US), Harvard University Press (US), Northwest Evaluation Association (US)
Quality education
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
Education during COVID-19 pandemic
DOISourceOpenAlex
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