News Release

Research on summer programs for at-risk students has become increasingly critical as school districts struggle to deal with low student achievement, the implementation of new, higher standards, and the national debate on social promotion.

The Johns Hopkins University will host a conference on Monday, July 17, and Tuesday, July 18, that will bring together some of the nation's top experts on the subject of summer learning loss, summer school and year-round learning.

Some of the speakers include:

Karl L. Alexander, the John Dewey Professor of Sociology at Johns Hopkins (pictured at left). His Beginning School Study is one of the longest-running education studies in the country. His data confirms what is called the "summer slide," or the rate during the summer months that urban poor children fall behind academically while more affluent kids make academic gains. His studies have often been cited by policy makers who make a case for year-round schooling, summer school and quality summer camp programs for low-income kids beginning as early as first grade.

Harris Cooper, professor and chair of the psychology department at the University of Missouri. He will discuss his research on alternative calendars, the effectiveness of summer school and the effects of summer vacation on achievement. Cooper is also well known for studies on homework; his book, Pygmalion Grows Up: Studies in the Expectation Communication Process, reported the results of one of the largest studies of teacher expectation effects ever conducted. He has written on the policy implications of research on class size, desegregation and corporal punishment.

Geoffrey D. Borman, associate research scientist at Johns Hopkins' Center for Social Organization of Schools (pictured at right), is currently conducting a three-year longitudinal study that tracks the impact of an academically intensive summer program for low-income Baltimore City elementary students. The study involves about 450 elementary school children from high- poverty areas of the city at five different sites.

For details or to register, visit the conference web Site at www.jhu.edu/summerlearningconference.