Our workshops have been organized into three compelling strands:
Knowledge and Strategies for Summer Program Managers (K) Sessions will address foundational summer learning research and cover summer program basics, such as how to: get a program up and running; recruit, develop, and train staff; evaluate program successes; work with community partners; finance and sustain programs; develop strong schedules; secure transportation, and other practical topics.
Sessions will also build on previous experience and offer strengthening strategies for: staff development; program evaluation; finance and sustainability; program design/curriculum selection; relationship building; and other related topics. Sessions could also provide case studies that demonstrate the replication and expansion of high-quality summer programs.
Innovative Instructional Approaches (I) How do you deliver instruction in informal settings? How do you target learning goals in an engaging way? Sessions offer strategies, examples, and approaches that support compelling, enriching, learning-centered programming that narrows the achievement gap and promotes healthy youth development. Sessions will target meeting the needs of program managers and instructional staff.
Systems Building, Community Initiatives, and Advocacy for Summer Learning Leadership (S)
Sessions offer case studies and examples of systems building, policy, advocacy, and communication strategies on the local, state, and federal levels; school-community partnerships and other mechanisms for alignment with the school year; funding sources; and community-wide initiatives that support, broaden access to, and increase youth participation in summer learning opportunities. Sessions offer examples of how programs have helped influence policy and funding to build community capacity. Sessions will target meeting the needs of community partners, executive directors, school district directors of expanded learning or teaching and learning, and others in leadership roles.
Concurrent Power Sessions
In addition to our line up of workshops, we are also launching a series of 6 power sessions on key issues featuring national leaders and experts.
Topics will include: early literacy, healthy summers, building and scaling summer learning systems, the latest research on program quality, connected learning, and meeting the socio-emotional as well as academic needs of middle school students.
Please note: This year, we are asking conference attendees to indicate which conference workshop sessions they are interested in attending. While pre-selection will not guarantee your workshop space (you must still arrive on time and may miss out if a workshop is extremely popular), it will allow us a chance to maximize our space and plan for potentially crowded sessions. Once at the conference, you may attend a different session if space is available.
