This document summarizes a summer learning program for elementary English language learners (ELLs) in the North Kansas City Schools district. The program aimed to combat summer learning loss for ELLs over a seven week period. It provided literacy and language instruction as well as field trips. Student reading levels were assessed before and after, and students who attended all or part of the program showed greater maintenance or growth of reading levels compared to those who did not attend. The program required extensive planning and coordination of curriculum, staffing, transportation, food services and more. Overall, the summer program was successful in supporting ELL students' language and literacy development.

1. Accelerate Elementary ELLs’
Language and Literacy Gains with
Summer Learning
Kent Yocum
Teaching and Learning Coach, North Kansas City Schools
Laura Lukens
ELL Program Coordinator, North Kansas City Schools

2. I. Welcome and Introductions
Agenda II. Why Summer Learning?
III. Program Planning and
Implementation Process-
Who, What, When, Where,
How Fund?
IV. Student Learning Outcomes
V. Lessons Learned
VI. Your turn!
VII. Wrap-Up

3. Research Base
 Summer language and literacy loss disproportionately
affects economically disadvantaged children and those
who are not proficient in English, which causes the
achievement gap to widen
 These students can lose up to three to five months of
learning over the summer months (Cooper, et. al., 2000)
 Lack of reading materials and exposure to English over
the summer puts ELLs at additional risk for summer
learning loss (Guryan and Kim, 2010)

4. Why Seven Weeks of
Summer Learning for ELLs?
 Goals:
 Combat summer language and literacy loss among our
most at-risk elementary ELLs
 Increase acculturation by exposing students to the arts
and community resources
 Year 1: Outgrowth of the Superintendent’s Leadership
Institute
 Year 2: “Fed Ex” Project

5. Meet Our
Students
NKCS
• 1200 ELLs
• Site-based model
• Rapid growth
• Influx of refugees
• 87 Languages

6. Meet Our
Students
Summer Program
• Recommended:
194 students
• Attended June: 108
• Attended July: 90

7.  Recommended: Elementary
ELLs with composite ACCESS
scores of 2.5 and below, in US
2012 Model fewer than three full academic
years
 Grades Pre-K through 5
 Bussed to Crestview
Elementary for continuous
seven-week session
 Dates/Times:
 Monday-Thursday: 8:15AM-
2:15PM
 June 4-July 26; BREAK;
July 2-6
 Challenge: Ran “regular”
summer school and ELL
program concurrently in June

8. Crestview Elementary

9. Program
Planning, Implementation, and
Evaluation
1. Funding
2. Staffing
 Administrative, Teachers, IAs, Interpreter, Nurse
3. Student Identification and Enrollment
4. Transportation
5. Food Services
6. Administrative Support: Building and District
 Custodial Support
7. Curriculum and Materials
8. Technology
9. Field Trips/Learning Experiences
 Mid-Continent Public Library Programs
10. Scheduling
11. Evaluations/Debriefing
 Student Data; Stakeholder Surveys; Administrators Meeting

10. Funding Sources
 Title III Funded:
 Program
Leader, Teachers, IAs, Nurse, materials, technology, field
trips, learning experiences
 District Funded:
 Transportation, Administrative Assistant/ELL
Coordinator, Interpreters
 Federal Summer Seamless program funded school
breakfast and lunch
 Back Snack weekend program funded by Harvesters and
local churches

11. Staffing
• 8 Certified ELL
Teachers, Pre-K
through grade 5
• 4 Instructional
Assistants
• 1 Nurse
• 1 Full-time Karen
Interpreter
• Office Staff
• Administrators
• Cafeteria, custodial
• Volunteers: ELL
Practicum Students and
A+ Tutors

12. Staffing

13. Student Identification
 Recommendation Criteria
 Composite ACCESS score of 2.5 or below
 Recent arrivals
 Teachers able to recommend other students
 Intensive recruitment effort with parents

14. Enrollment
 Enrollment was handled centrally through ELL
Department
 Paper enrollment form and a health questionnaire
 Communication and coordination between ELL
Department and schools crucial
 Interpreters followed up with calls to parents who
did not return forms
 We provided interpreters scripts to obtain verbal
permission

15. • Planning starts with transportation
• Crucial to the success of the program

16. Food Service
• Seamless Summer
program served all
students breakfast and
lunch every day
• Harvester’s weekend
Back Snack program
provides healthy
weekend snacks for
students

17. Scheduling
 AM Arrival Duties-Bus, Car Rider, Cafeteria
 Breakfast
 “Brain Break”
 Lunch
 Computer Lab with Imagine Learning
 30 minutes per day
 Learning Experiences
 Once a week, in-house or field trip related to instructional theme
for the week
 Public Library “Story Times”
 Twice a week
 PM Dismissal Duties-Bus, Car Riders, Walkers

18. July 2012 ELL XLT Summer School Program
Kent/Laura Morning Info
8:15 AM Building Open for Students
8:15 AM - 8:30
AM Students have breakfast
8:30 AM Students move to classrooms
Grade Teacher Rm # Transportation Responsiblities
8:15 AM - 8:30 AM
IAs-8:15 AM - 8:35 AM Dismissal Duty
K2K Rivera 131 Café Supervision Route 479
K2K - 0 Tortorilla 129 Café Supervision Rout 475
0 Knipp 132 Café Supervision Route 478
1 -2 Crabtree 136 Car Drop-Off - Front Horseshoe Rout 478
1-2 Markie 133 North Side of Bus Drop-Off Route 477
1- 2 Heitmeier 134 North Side of Bus Drop-Off Walkers
4 Satorius 127 Car Drop-Off - Front Horseshoe Car Riders
4-5 Greason 135 North Side of Bus Drop-Off Route 476
K Yaw Paw Car Drop-Off - Front Horseshoe Route 477
Lynn Car Drop-Off - Front Horseshoe Car Riders
Sandlin North Side of Bus Drop-Off Route 478
Lappin North Side of Bus Drop-Off Car Riders
Clark Café Supervision Route 479
Kent/Laura Afternoon Duties
1:25 PM Announce Move to Dismissal Location
1:30 PM Announce Release of Car Riders
Announce Busses as they arrive
Announce to release walkers after all busses have left

19. Curriculum and Themes
 Materials:
 Oxford Picture Dictionary Content Areas for Kids-PreK-2nd
 Oxford Picture Dictionary for the Content Areas 2nd Edition-
3rd-5th
 Themes for each week:
 Week 1: Friends, Family, Home, School
 Week 2: The Community
 Week 3: The United States
 Week 4: Health
 Week 5: Life Science
 Week 6: Physical Science
 Week 7: Earth and Space

20. Curriculum and Themes

21. Curriculum and Themes

22. We are Scientists!

23. Pre-K Class

24. Learning Experiences
 Week 1: Friends, Family  Music Around the World
 Week 2: The  KC Fire Department
Community
 Public Library Field Trip
 Week 3: The US
 Hy-Vee Nutritionist
 Week 4: Health
 Zoo to You
 Week 5: Life Science  Science City Field Trip
 Week 6: Physical Science  Mad Science
 Week 7: Earth and Space

25. Kansas City Young
Audiences

26. KC Fire Department

27. Zoo to You

28. Mad
Science

29. Mad Science

30. Mid-Continent Public
Library

31. Technology

32. Results
% students that maintained, or increased reading levels
73
68
54
full 7 weeks partial did not attend either
session

33. Results
% students that maintained, or increase reading levels
73
19% higher
68
54
scores
full 7 weeks partial did not attend either
session

34. Additional  33 students
Findings maintained reading
level through the
summer
 20 students
increased one
reading level
 13 students
increased two or
more reading levels

35. Comparison
 Highest increased by  Highest increased by
8 reading levels 3 reading levels
 Lowest decreased by 2  Lowest decreased by 3
reading levels (4 reading levels (11
students) students)

36. Survey Results

37. Survey Results

38. Survey Results

39. Lessons Learned

40. Guiding Questions

41. Planning Template-
First Steps
Task Assigned To Deliverable Confirmation
Preliminary Who? What? When?
Student ID
Site/Facilities
Enrollment
Transportation
Food Service
Curriculum
Schedules
Funding

42. Questions? Comments?
Thank you for attending our session!
Kent Yocum ryocum@nkcschools.org
Laura Lukens llukens@nkcschools.org

43. Thank you!
Dr. Todd White
Chad Sutton
Allison Clemens
Diana Thornburg
Deyrle Wallace
Curt Fowler
Amy Sieverin
Shirley Patrick
Lon Waterman
Cindy Butts
Carol Kidd
Rob Winter
Cathy Long
Tim Dooley
Eve Mulqueen
Tammy Bissell
Toni Lombardo
Maria Perdomo
Martha Medina Maldonado
Perla Weaver
Paw Wah Tamla