Summer Learning: A Community Conversation About Education

By: Sylvan Learning Center (2005)

Many students lose the equivalent of one to two months of reading and math skills during the summer. This learning loss can have a long-term effect on their overall academic success.

Learn more about how children can avoid summer learning loss by watching this webcast, Summer Learning: A Community Conversation about Education, sponsored by Sylvan Learning Center in partnership with Johns Hopkins University's Center for Summer Learning. This event featured a panel of national experts who provided advice to parents about summer learning and its long-term affect on children's overall academic success.

"When schools, families, and the community work together to support education, children tend to enjoy learning more and do better in school," said Ron Fairchild, executive director of the Center for Summer Learning. "Our goal is to provide valuable information and advice on how parents can help their children reach their full potential."

Watch the webcast ‡

Entire program (1:12:00) low | high
Introduction (3:00) low | high
"Tonight we're going to explore the topic of summer learning, and the important role summer plays in a student's overall academic success."

—Dr. Richard Bavaria

Meet the moderator and the panelists, and get an overview of the coming discussion.
The research behind summer learning loss (10:00) low | high
"All students experience summer learning losses when they're not engaged in constructive educational learning opportunities."
—Ron Fairchild

Panelists Ron Fairchild, Dr. Carla Hayden, and Dr. Ruth Peters discuss the research behind summer learning loss.
What parents, librarians, and teachers can do low | high (9:00)
"Minds should be engaged over the summer and not allowed to be fallow. The brain is a muscle, it needs to be exercised."
—Dr. Richard E. Bavaria

Panelists Ron Fairchild, Dr. Carla Hayden, and Dr. Ruth Peters discuss what parents, librarians, and teachers can do to keep kids learning throughout the summer.
Summer programs (10:15) low | high
"What is interesting to see is a convergence around a set of best practices that research is really showing us can make a powerful difference in the lives of these kids."
—Ron Fairchild

The panelists discuss the variety of programs available through non-profit, schools, community groups, libraries, public and private agencies, and faith based organizations.
Stealth learning (8:30) low | high
"With stealth learning opportunities you can build a love of learning through adventure and discovery."
—Dr. Richard E. Bavaria

The panelists discuss ways to incorporate reading, writing, math, and geography into a child's everyday activities.
Motivation (7:00) low | high
"You don't have to stop rewarding or giving incentives when summer ends. You can do it all year long."
—Dr. Ruth Peters

The panelists engage in a lively discussion, covering such topics as motivation, organization, and preparation.
Q&A part 1:(8:15) low | high
"What's a good amount of time per day to spend on learning activities in the summer?"
—Zack, an audience member

The panelists take questions from the online audience.
Q&A part 2:(8:00) low | high
How can parents who are limited financially gain access to facilities and materials that augment the education provided by the public school system?

—Ron, an online audience member

The panelists take questions from the audience, both live and online.
Q&A part 3:(8:00) low | high
What is the adequate ratio of staff to student in a summer learning program?
—an online audience member

The panelists take questions from the audience concerning pupil to teacher ratio and working with parents that seem uninvolved with their child's education, before wrapping up the discussion.

Meet the Presenters

Dr. Richard E. Bavaria

Richard E. Bavaria, Ph.D., vice president of education for Sylvan Learning Center, directs all academic programs used in the Sylvan Learning Center network. Dr. Bavaria began his professional career with the Baltimore County, Maryland, Public School System as a high school English teacher. Before joining Sylvan, he was executive director for the school system's department of curriculum and instruction. He is an associate of the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Ron Fairchild

Ron Fairchild is the executive director of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Summer Learning. The center works to create high quality summer learning opportunities for all young people. Prior to joining the organization, Mr. Fairchild served as director of education programs with the national headquarters of Boys & Girls Clubs of America. He is also a former public school teacher and served as an associate with the Public Education Network in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Carla Hayden

Dr. Carla D. Hayden is the executive director of the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. Previously she was chief librarian of the Chicago Public Library, an assistant professor in the School of Library and Information Science of the University of Pittsburgh, and library services coordinator at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Dr. Hayden was elected president of the American Library Association for the 2003-04 term, was named Librarian of the Year by Library Journal (1995), and was named one of the Women of the Year by Ms. Magazine (2003).

Dr. Ruth Peters

For almost thirty years Dr. Ruth Peters, clinical psychologist, has specialized in treating children, adolescents and families in her private practice in Clearwater, Florida. She focuses on teaching parents how to control difficult children as well as how to motivate kids to reach their academic potential. Dr. Peters currently serves as a contributor to NBC's Today show, writes a weekly parenting column for MSNBC's Today show web site, and writes articles for Redbook magazine. Dr. Ruth Peters' books include: Who's In Charge? A Positive Parenting Approach to Disciplining Children.

This webcast originally aired on April 20, 2005, from the Radisson Hotel in Baltimore, Maryland. Many thanks to Sylvan Learning Center for allowing Reading Rockets to repeat the webcast here.