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State board hears results showing rapid growth for Summer Learning Labs; presenters cite significant gains
Summary
Officials told the State Board that Summer Learning Labs expanded from a county pilot to 91 sites statewide in 2024, serving about 9,000 students, and that internal and external studies show statistically significant learning gains in math and reading. Board members asked for I‑Learn comparisons and sustainable funding plans.
Dr. Rebecca Estus and Brandon Brown told the Indiana State Board of Education on Nov. 12 that Summer Learning Labs, a community-anchored acceleration program launched in Marion County in 2021, has scaled statewide and produced measurable academic gains.
The program grew from about 3,000 students in its 2021 pilot to roughly 9,000 students across 91 sites in summer 2024, Brown said. "We served about 9,000 students," he said, and officials said the program intentionally prioritizes students with the highest needs and pairs schools with community-based anchor partners to deliver three and a half hours of targeted math and reading instruction plus enrichment.
Board members were presented with internal pre/post assessments and referenced external validation showing participating students made statistically significant progress in both math and reading. Estus said the program focuses on acceleration rather than remediation and highlighted that "the results at the CBOs are just as good as the results in schools," a point presenters used to justify scaling beyond Marion County.
Several board members urged the presenters to match the program’s internal measures to the state’s I‑Learn and I‑Read assessments to show effects on the metrics the state and legislature use to judge progress. "The compelling evidence is how did those students do on our regular test," a board member said, pressing for I‑Learn comparisons and multi-year cohort analysis to detect compounding impacts.
Presenters said I‑Learn comparisons and more granular multi-year analyses are planned: staff will leverage upcoming spring I‑Learn results to assess whether gains persist on statewide metrics and whether students who participated in earlier cohorts show cumulative benefits.
Funding questions were central to the discussion. Staff described several existing funding streams for summer programming and said state leaders are considering legislative approaches and potential philanthropic support to expand the model. During discussion presenters referenced roughly $18 million per year in summer-school related funding streams the state manages, which they said could be reallocated selectively to support programs that demonstrate impact.
Next steps for the board included reviewing I‑Learn-aligned analyses when available and discussing funding and legislative strategy during the upcoming session. The board did not vote on new policy at the meeting.
The State Board is expected to receive the I‑Learn comparative analysis in the months ahead and to discuss legislative funding proposals during the winter session.
