Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL) Summer Learning Program

OVERVIEW

The Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL) Summer Learning Program is an enrichment program that primarily focuses on summer learning loss among children of color from low-income backgrounds.  Supplementary aims include academic self-concept and parental involvement. In an experimental evaluation of the program’s impact on elementary school students, researchers found that reading comprehension improved among enrollees.  Improvements in reading skills and parental involvement were also found.   No significant impact on reading test scores and academic self-concept were found.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: low-performing elementary school students of color, living in low-income urban communities

In 2005, the BELL community-based organization launched the BELL Summer Learning Program in three major cities (Boston, New York City, and Washington, D.C.). Reflecting their philosophy to serve children holistically, improving academic skills and student academic self-concept are among the major goals of the program. For the on-site component of the program, BELL utilizes nationally recognized literacy and mathematics curricula in their classes, better aligning the program with state and national mandates.  Instruction is provided by experienced teachers and teaching assistants to clusters of approximately 15 students, ranging from grades 1 though 7.  Each class is held for eight hours per day and five days per week, for a six-week period. Off-site, parents are encouraged to read with their children, maintain reading logs and attend program events. To address non-academic related issues, every week students attend a speaker series where they dialogue with distinguished community persons. In addition, students engage in culturally-rich activities, and are required to participate in at least one community service project over the summer.

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

Evaluated population: The sample consisted of 835 BELL applicants ranging from grades 1 through 6.  Over 90% were students of color (black or Latino), residing in Boston, New York City, and Washington, D.C. Students participating in the evaluation were 17% , 21% , 21% , 15% , 15% , and 11%, for grades 1 through 6, respectively. 

Approach: To measure the impact of the BELL Summer Learning Program, the research staff used random assignment to determine which students were accepted into the program. Because the evaluation focused on estimating the impacts of being in the treatment group rather than the control group, the chance of getting into the program varied depending on the pool that an applicant was put in for random assignment into the treatment or control group. The pools varied by grade level, program site, and when the family applied for the program. Following enrollment into the program, data were collected from both treatment and control groups using four sources: the BELL program, parent surveys, student surveys, and student tests. The BELL program provided demographic data obtained from participants’ applications and staff personnel. Information regarding child behaviors, other activities, learning activities engaged by children, parental involvement, and background were elicited through parent surveys. Student surveys focused on garnering data related to student perceptions of their academic skills. Student tests measured reading skills (e.g., vocabulary and reading comprehension) only, as learning loss among low-income students is greater for literacy than mathematics.

Results:

Students in the treatment group gained about a month’s worth of reading skills more than the control group, when scores were corrected for the timing of data collection.  Positive impacts on how much parents encouraged their children to read were found; but no impacts were found on other parenting measures.  No significant impacts were found on non-academic behaviors.    Impact on student perceptions of their academic skills was also very small and insignificant.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

Program website: http://www.bellnational.org

References:

Chaplin, D., & Capizzano, J. (2006). Impacts of a summer learning program: A random assignment study of Building Educated Leaders for Life (BELL). Washington, DC: The Urban Institute/Mathematica Policy Research.

Harvard Family Research Project. (2007). A profile of the evaluation of the BELL Accelerated Learning Summer Program. Retrieved August 9, 2007 from http://www.gse.harvard.edu/hfr

Program also discussed in the following Child Trends publication(s):

Programs categorized in this guide according to the following:

Evaluated participant ages: grade 1-6/Program age ranges in the Guide: middle childhood, adolescence

Program components: parent or family component; school-based

Measured outcomes: education and cognitive development; social and emotional health’ behavioral problems

Program information last updated 2/7/08