Help Students Start the School Year with Confidence in Reading
Summer may be over, but efforts to build strong summer reading programs are just beginning. Now is the time to evaluate which programs were offered—or lacking—for our students in the past few months. In addition, September and October are when states plan and budget for next summer, and lawmakers consider bills for upcoming legislative sessions. Early planning secures funding and ensures readiness by June, making this the ideal time to focus on summer programming.
Learning to read requires explicit instruction and ample practice, making it important to consider how out-of-school time can support beginner readers. Yet, every June many 6-, 7-, and 8-year-olds transition to camps or other forms of childcare that often provide limited opportunities for academic engagement. While this may be fine for many children, it is also during this time when others experience the so-called summer slide, a regression in academic proficiency due to summer break. Among these children, some are on track to becoming competent readers, while others are at or slightly below grade level. A third group of children is well behind their peers at the end of the school year, potentially due to reading difficulties, whether formally identified or not.
The school year offers a balance of instruction and opportunity to help all students succeed academically. However, not all students have access to the same opportunities during the summer, leading to summer learning loss. For reading, research suggests that students with reading difficulties regress on tests requiring automatic decoding and fluent reading, while low-income students tend to lose literacy skills over the summer as their higher-income peers gain skills (Gao et al., 2016; Menard & Wilson, 2013). Although all children can benefit from summer reading activities, those from low-income families and those with reading difficulties would especially thrive with more formal evidence-based reading programming. In addition, Given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student learning, summers have become an especially crucial time for helping students catch up. But do these supports exist and if so, how accessible are they?
In Montgomery County, Md. for example, where one of us resides, the options for summer reading programs are few, not very flexible, and unaffordable for most. Via internet searches, we were only able to find a handful of options for beginner readers during the summer months – e.g., The Lab School, McLean's Summer Edge, and the Atlantic Seaboard Dyslexia Education Center (ASDEC). These programs are expensive and intensive.
Reading tutors offer more flexibility but can be even more costly. In addition, finding a good match can feel like navigating the Wild West for parents, who often rely on trial and error to find the right fit. And of course, there is a plethora of online offerings, and apps of questionable value for young children given what is known about the reading brain and what reading on screens too early and too much can do to it -– and here
Meanwhile in Virginia, where the other one resides, statewide legislation requires students who fail end-of-year tests to attend summer reading camps at no cost for families. Our ongoing analysis of reading laws reveals that only about a dozen states, including Virginia, have passed laws to address summer reading specifically.
Below we summarize laws from these 12 states. These states generally focus on supporting K-3 students who score below grade level in reading on state tests or diagnostic assessments. While the format and time commitment for the summer programs vary by state, a common trend is staffing the camps with highly qualified teachers, coaches, specialists, and tutors to best support the children. Additionally, many states require benchmark assessments to measure each child’s growth before and after the program.
State Legislation on Summer Reading Camps
Alabama (H.B. 220, H.B. 388)
Target Student Population
All K-3 students identified with a reading deficiency.
Program Details and Staffing
Highly effective teachers of reading, providing direct, explicit, and systematic reading intervention services. At least 60 hours of scientifically based reading instruction and intervention.
Assessment and Accountability
A State Board of Education-approved reading assessment system will be administered at the beginning and end of the summer reading camp to measure student progress and local education agencies must report annual metrics.
California (AB 181)
Target Student Population
Elementary schools where 97 percent or more of the students in K-3 come from groups that need extra support, like those eligible for free meals, learning English, or in foster care.
Program Details and Staffing
Schools are encouraged to partner with their own after-school programs to create reading and language support programs, as well as reading activities for students and families during the summer. Literacy coaches, instructional aides and/or bilingual reading specialists may provide support to struggling pupils during the summer.
Connecticut (SB 1202)
Target Student Population
Any student enrolled in a school selected by the Commissioner of Education that is in a priority school district in K-3 grades who is reading below proficiency at the end of the school year shall be provided with an intensive summer school reading instruction program.
Program Details and Staffing
The programs shall include a comprehensive reading intervention program and scientifically based reading research, and instruction strategies and interventions provided by teachers who are trained in the teaching of reading and reading assessment and intervention.
Assessment and Accountability
A diagnostic assessment shall be administered to students prior to or during summer school program to tailor instruction. In addition, teachers will use weekly progress monitoring to assess the reading progress of each student and tailor instruction for their needs.
Florida (HB 419, HB 7011, SB 1048, SB 2524)
Target Student Population
Voluntary Summer Prekindergarten Program delivered by public schools and private PreK providers [HB 419]. Summer reading camps are required for students in grades K-2 who demonstrate reading deficiencies and students in grades 3-5 who score at Level 1 on statewide assessments [HB 1048, HB 7011].
Program Details and Staffing
Summer camps are staffed by highly qualified teachers who provide direct and explicit reading intervention services [SB 1048].
Assessment and Accountability
Summer camps use state-approved reading assessments to measure student progress before and after the programs [SB 1048].
Michigan (SB 0012)
Target Student Population
All K-3 students exhibiting a reading deficiency as determined the diagnostic reading assessment system selected by the school district or public-school academy.
Program Details and Staffing
Summer reading camps will be staffed with highly effective teachers of reading, as determined by the teacher evaluation system, providing reading intervention services and supports to correct pupils’ identified areas of reading deficiency.
Missouri (SB 681)
Target Student Population
Students identified with reading deficiencies may be required to attend summer school for reading instruction as a condition of promotion to the next grade level.
Program Details and Staffing
Summer reading programs are required to offer a minimum of forty hours of reading instruction and practice. Schools can arrange the hours/days to coordinate with their regular summer programs. Teachers providing instruction in these summer programs must have specific qualifications, including being licensed and endorsed to teach the subjects and grades served, or having completed relevant training programs.
Nebraska (LB 528)
Target Student Population
Any student who has been enrolled in 1st grade or higher who is identified as having reading deficiency at the conclusion of the schoolyear preceding such summer program.
Program Details and Staffing
Summer reading program may be (a) held in conjunction with existing summer programs in the school district, (b) held or in a community reading program not affiliated with the school district, or (c) may be offered online.
North Carolina (SB 387)
Target Student Population
Offered to any 3rd grade student who does not demonstrate reading proficiency and can be offered to 1st and 2nd grade students who demonstrate reading comprehension below grade level. Parents or guardians have the final decision on a student's attendance at reading camps.
Program Details and Staffing
Must offer at least 72 hours of reading instruction, spread over no less than three weeks, taught by compensated, licensed teachers selected based on their demonstrated success in improving reading proficiency or in addressing reading difficulties. Volunteer mentors can read with students outside the 72 hours of instruction.
Assessment and Accountability
Local school administrative units are required to develop and submit plans for literacy interventions, including reading camps, to the Department of Public Instruction. The Department will review and approve these plans, ensuring they align with state goals and standards.
Oregon (HB 3198)
Target Student Population
Students in early elementary grades attending schools considered high poverty under Title I of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
Program Details and Staffing
These programs include (a) home-based summer reading activities for students needing additional support/enrichment and (b) an intensive summer school program for students requiring the most support, which includes at least 60 hours of direct literacy instruction by an instructional assistant, or a licensed teacher trained in research-aligned literacy strategies.
Tennessee (HB 7004)
Target Student Population
Priority is given to students who scored below proficient in math or English Language Arts on their most recent assessments, students eligible for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and students attending schools with low proficiency rates.
Program Details and Staffing
Six-week program, minimum of four hours of daily instruction, intervention, and supplemental support in reading and math, five days per week. Each student receives at least one hour of instruction in reading and one hour in math per day, as well as one hour of “Response to Instruction and Intervention” (RTI²) services per day. Instruction is provided by licensed teachers, educator preparation candidates, or individuals with a college degree who have completed a preparation course.
Assessment and Accountability
Administration of a state-adopted benchmark assessment as a pre-test at the beginning and a post-test at the end of the summer learning camp each year. Results of these assessments must be submitted to the Department of Education.
South Carolina (HB 4100)
Target Student Population
Any student in 3rd grade who fails to demonstrate proficiency by the end of the school year must be offered the opportunity to attend a summer reading camp at no cost to the parent or guardian. A district may also include in the summer reading camps students who are not exhibiting reading proficiency at any grade and may charge fees for these students to attend the summer reading camps based on a sliding scale, except where a child is found to be reading below grade level in 1st – 3rd grades.
Program Details and Staffing
The purpose of the reading camp is to provide students who are significantly below 3rd grade reading proficiency with the opportunity to receive quality, intensive instructional services and support. School transportation shall be provided. The camps must be taught by compensated teachers who have at least an add-on literacy endorsement or who have documented and demonstrated substantial success in helping students comprehend grade-level texts. Districts are encouraged to partner with community organizations to provide volunteers to assist with the provision of the summer reading camps.
Assessment and Accountability
Summer reading camps must be at least six weeks in duration with a minimum of four days of instruction per week and four hours of instruction per day, or the equivalent minimum hours of instruction in the summer.
Virginia (HB 1276)
Target Student Population
Students who fail the Standards of Learning assessments or end-of-course tests.
Program Details and Staffing
Students required to attend summer school programs or other remediation programs will not be charged tuition.
Assessment and Accountability
Summer school remediation programs must comply with the Board of Education's standards for full funding, which include minimum instructional hours and an assessment system for program effectiveness.
However, summer reading programs are just one component of the broader legislative landscape addressing student reading supports. State laws tend to prioritize screening and assessment over these supports. Laws in forty states extensively address assessment. In contrast, only ten states mention tutoring, and even fewer—just five—include after-school programs. As of 2023, legislation in twenty-one states describes school reading plans, distinct from Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), making them the most widely used tool for supporting students' reading.
As we emphasize in our policy recommendations, laws "should strive to address students’ literacy needs comprehensively with a suite of interventions," rather than relying on isolated supports. In other words, implementing a few scattered measures may not be as effective as providing consistent and integrated support throughout the year and beyond the school day.
Although our work does not explore the on-the-ground implementation laws concerning summer reading camps, this legislative language is a crucial first step. When well-funded and implemented, these summer programs can ease the burden on parents, ensuring that the responsibility for maintaining reading skills or addressing gaps during the summer months is shared, rather than resting solely on their shoulders.
As teachers across the country begin a new school year, many will face the challenge of helping students catch up after a summer away from school. For some students, a few weeks of review may not be enough to fully close their learning gap, causing them to fall further behind. However, a few weeks at a summer reading program could have significantly improved their progress, helping them start the school year with greater confidence and enthusiasm.