Programs Strengthen Academic Skills

by Mary Abreu

The end of the school year may be fast approaching but some Atlanta students and parents already anticipate heading back to school this summer.

Today’s summer school programs aren’t that different from those of the past; namely, they give students they opportunity to learn material that lets them catch up to their peers.

Kathy Annis, director of instructional administration for Cobb County School District, says the main difference between contemporary summer school and past programs revolves around the CRCT. Federal No Child Left Behind laws mandate standardized testing and certain benchmarks for students in grades 3, 5 and 8. When students fail to meet those benchmarks, they are unable to move on to the next grade. And, in many metro school districts, that means those students are enrolled in a specialized summer school program through their local elementary or middle school that aims to help them pass the CRCT re-test.

“”We call it Third and Fifth Grade Academy (in DeKalb County),” says Juanita B. Letcher, principal of Panola Way Elementary in Lithonia. Students attend classes for four weeks, then re-take the CRCT at the end of June.

Annie Duvall, director of extended learning and charter schools with Fulton County, says the state requires schools provide 20 days of instruction in reading and math for those students who do not pass the CRCT.

“Not only will they be more successful on the test but also the next school year,” she says.

None of the public school systems charge a fee for CRCT preparation courses administered over the summer, whether they take place in elementary or middle schools. The programs are voluntary; some parents choose to bring their students in only to retake the test, says Fletcher.

Because of federally mandated requirements, many school systems have dropped summer academic programs for students at the elementary level. “Since we have to comply with No Child Left Behind,” Fletcher says, “ the focus has been more on the remedial. Prior to that we could work on academics.”

Previously, her elementary school offered reading and math programs over the summer for students who needed some extra help.

In addition to CRCT coursework, area middle school students may turn to summer school to make up school year credits in their core courses.

In addition to CRCT coursework, area middle school students may turn to summer school to make up school year credits in their core courses, says Annis. In Cobb County, students can take up to two courses, which equals 40 hours of instruction over the summer.

The broadest range of summer school programs are offered at the high school level, where students not only can make up failed classes but take required classes that crammed schedules won’t allow.

For instance, Gwinnett County permits rising ninth graders to take health and physical education during the summer before they start high school, for a fee. A semester of each is required for graduation from high school but many students who want to take four years of a foreign language combined with another elective like band, for example, have difficulty fitting the classes into their schedules.

“High school is more of a voluntary kind of thing,” says Duvall. “The student is going to have to pay a tuition and is either trying to get ahead by earning additional credit or trying to recover a failed course.”

While Fulton County lets students recover two semester of credit during its summer school, other systems only offer one semester credit during the summer. Those schools may offer programs during the school year, like a “seventh period” where additional instructional time is offered.

In addition to making up lost credits or taking courses to stay on track for graduation, Georgia’s public high school students may attend summer school for remediation related to the Georgia High School Graduation Test, says Annis.

“We do one subject at a time, five days for each subject then a review day closer to test time,” says Duvall. A student who did not pass the GHSGT could potentially take all five subject areas during the summer in preparation for retaking the test, which is a graduation requirement.