Policy & Advocacy

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NSLA's Policy Position Statements

Federal Policy Updates

Summer for All Act

Research

Advocacy Tools

NSLA believes that the federal government has an important role to play in supporting policies that foster safe, enriching, and high-quality summer programs for all children. The summer gap remains one of the most significant drivers of educational and economic inequity in the United States. While some students spend their summers in enriched environments that build social capital and academic achievement, millions of others face a season of diminished opportunity, characterized by food insecurity, social isolation, and a loss of academic momentum. This disparity is not an inevitability; it is the result of policy choices and federal disinvestments in our communities.

As we look toward the future of the American workforce and the well-being of our children and families, federal investments in summer learning must transition from temporary, emergency responses to meaningful, reliable, and predictable investments in our communities. The policy positions outlined in this document represent a comprehensive policy framework that advances our vision for Summer for All.

Policy Position Statements

View Policy Position Statements

1. Support youth academic enrichment, engaging activities, and an opportunity to build life skills.

2. Foster safe, healthy, supportive, and drug-free environments.

3. Support a healthy, active lifestyle, including nutritional education and regular, structured physical education activities and programs, that help maintain the mental and physical well-being of youth.

4. Promote volunteerism, community involvement, or service-learning, in which students use academic and civic knowledge and skills to address genuine community needs;

5. Develop life skills, relationship-building skills, communication, and conflict management skills;

6. Provide mentoring and counseling to participating youth, including youth who are at risk of academic failure; dropping out of school. 

7. Promote career or workforce readiness or participation.

Federal Policy Updates

As the national leader on summer learning and its role in education reform, NSLA tracks and responds to policy issues that affect summer opportunities at the federal, state, and local levels, with the goal of ensuring high-quality summer learning opportunities reach as many children and youth as possible, especially those most in need.

Working hand-in-hand with coalition partners, policymakers, and local advocates, NSLA provides expertise, tools and resources on a number of policy issues that include 21st Century Community Learning Centers, summer meals, community service and service learning, STEM education, and funding opportunities for summer programs. NSLA’s policy priorities focus on sustainability of summer initiatives, fostering partnerships, and improving quality for programs serving youth from pre-kindergarten through higher education and into the workforce.

View Federal Policy Updates

Research

Since its inception, NSLA has led a national movement to increase and promote the knowledge base about effective summer learning approaches. NSLA partners with researchers around the country to investigate the disparities faced by low-income youth during the summer months, the effects of these disparities, and the solutions that reverse summer learning loss. NSLA develops ideas and resources for the summer learning research community, fosters collaboration between researchers, communities, and practitioners in the field; and promotes new knowledge to education stakeholders.

Gallup Poll on What District Leaders Say About Learning Beyond the School Year

Gallup Poll Reveals 30 Million Youth Participated in Summer Opportunities in 2023; Parents anticipate similar participation for 2024

Wallace Foundation Podcast: Lessons from Rural Communities: How Two Districts Are Reinventing Summer Learning

Summer for All Act

Newly introduced federal legislation, the Summer for All Act, sponsored by US Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT), aims to help provide high-quality summer enrichment opportunities to all kids and families and especially those who could not afford or access these programs otherwise.

For millions of kids, summer is marked by camps and other enrichment activities that help them reset mentally, socially, and emotionally and prepare for success at school in the fall. But too many kids and their families get left behind as many high-quality summer programs either do not have enough slots or are cost prohibitive. These kids not only miss out on the experiences their peers have, but after spending months with little support or resources, they are often worse off by the time it’s back-to-school. Summers are a formative time in a child’s development, and federal support is urgently needed to help ensure every kid has a fun and fulfilling summer – not just the ones who can afford it.

A nationally representative poll by Gallup in partnership with the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) and the American Camp Association (ACA) found that 30 million youth are engaged in summer opportunities. This represents 55% of K-12 youth in schools. NSLA and ACA call for a national effort to maintain and increase this baseline, but critical barriers such as cost remain for many families.

The Summer for All Act, recently introduced by Senator Murphy (D-CT), would provide long-term, direct funding to help kids and families access high-quality summer programs and activities. Specifically, the Summer for All Act would authorize $4 billion over four years and $1 billion each fiscal year thereafter to fund two new competitive grant programs to expand access to summer enrichment programs, and authorize an additional reservation of funds to conduct data collection and analysis on the impact of these programs and how to improve summer

Summer for All Fact Sheet

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Advocacy Tools

Coming Soon.

About NSLA

The National Summer Learning Association works to ensure all of America’s students, regardless of background, income, or zip code, can access and benefit from a high-quality summer learning experience every year.

As the national leader on summer learning and its role in education reform, NSLA tracks and responds to policy issues that affect summer learning at the federal, state, and local levels. Working hand-in-hand with coalition partners, policymakers, and local advocates, NSLA provides expertise, tools and resources on a number of policy issues that include 21st Century Community Learning Centers, summer meals, community service and service learning, STEM education, and funding opportunities for summer programs.

NSLA’s policy priorities focus on maximizing available resources through partnerships and improved efficiencies, sustainability of summer initiatives, and improved use of data to target summer opportunities to the youth most in need. Stay connected to NSLA and sign-up for our newsletter here!

As the national leader on summer learning and its role in education reform, NSLA tracks and responds to policy issues that affect summer opportunities at the federal, state, and local levels, with the goal of ensuring high-quality summer learning opportunities reach as many children and youth as possible, especially those most in need.

NSLA believes that the federal government has an important role to play in supporting policies that foster safe, enriching, and high-quality summer programs for all children. The summer gap remains one of the most significant drivers of educational and economic inequity in the United States. While some students spend their summers in enriched environments that build social capital and academic achievement, millions of others face a season of diminished opportunity, characterized by food insecurity, social isolation, and a loss of academic momentum. This disparity is not an inevitability; it is the result of policy choices and federal disinvestments in our communities.

As we look toward the future of the American workforce and the well-being of our children and families, federal investments in summer learning must transition from temporary, emergency responses to meaningful, reliable, and predictable investments in our communities. The policy positions outlined in this document represent a comprehensive policy framework that advances our vision for Summer for All.

Policy Position Statements

1. Support youth academic enrichment, engaging activities, and an opportunity to build life skills.

NSLA believes that summer is a premier window for whole-child development. Every child deserves access to summer environments that pair rigorous, engaging academic enrichment with the intentional cultivation of resilience, self-regulation, and collaboration. By integrating these domains, we move beyond simple remediation and toward a model of summer learning that empowers students to return to school more confident, connected, and academically prepared.

  • Opportunity gaps: While 67% of upper-income children participated in organized summer opportunities in 2023, only 38% of low-income students (10 million out of 25 million) accessed similar programs, leaving a significant portion of the population without structured enrichment.
  • Academic acceleration: A 2024-2025 national study found that over 50% of middle and high school students reported feeling more prepared and confident for the upcoming semester after participating in summer enrichment that included field trips, STEM, and outdoor exploration (Afterschool Alliance, 2025).
  • High engagement: Research from the RAND Corporation highlights that students with “high attendance” (20+ days) in holistic summer programs outperform their peers not only in math and reading but also in social-emotional outcomes, suggesting that consistent engagement in a supportive environment is a primary catalyst for growth (RAND, 2025).
  • Well-being: With youth anxiety and depression rising, 2025 surveys show that 91% of school superintendents now view summer learning programs as “essential” for achieving district goals—specifically citing their role in fostering belonging and providing a “non-clinical” mental health intervention through peer and mentor relationships (NSLA/AASA Survey, 2025).
  • Return on investment: Analysis of evidence-based social-emotional programs demonstrates that for every $1 invested, there is an $11 return to the community through improved lifetime earnings, better health outcomes, and reduced juvenile crime.

NSLA Supports Policies That:

  • Fund Enriching Summer Programs: Support federal and state grant programs, such as the Summer for All Act, that provide dedicated funding for summer programs integrating academic instruction and soft skills curricula.
  • Modernize Accountability Metrics: Encourage the adoption of assessment tools that measure social-emotional growth (e.g., self-efficacy, social awareness) alongside traditional academic benchmarks to provide a more complete picture of program impact.
  • Expand Professional Development: Invest in training for the summer workforce to ensure educators and community providers can effectively implement trauma-informed practices and active learning strategies that foster student agency.
  • Incentivize Cross-Sector Partnerships: Promote policies that encourage school districts to partner with community-based organizations (CBOs), libraries, and museums to bring academic enrichment into non-traditional, highly engaging settings.
  • Prioritize High-Quality Standards:  High-quality summer learning programs are achieved by integrating targeted academic enrichment  with social-emotional support led by trained staff. Key standards include 5-6 week durations, small class sizes, safe environments, and nutritious food, with a focus on active, collaborative learning and clear, measurable goals.
2. Foster safe, healthy, supportive, and drug-free environments. 

Foster safe, healthy, supportive, and drug-free environments. 

NSLA believes that cultivating a secure and healthy environment is essential for the well-being of children and that their success is inextricably linked to the quality of their surroundings. For a child to thrive academically and socially, they must first feel secure in their environment. We believe that summer programs serve as a vital protective factor, providing a supervised sanctuary that shields youth from neighborhood violence, substance misuse, and environmental hazards. A safe, healthy, and drug-free summer is not a luxury; it is a fundamental right that ensures every student returns to school ready to succeed.

  • The Safety Gap: During the summer months, youth experience a significant decrease in adult supervision; research indicates that the risk of social-emotional distress and engagement in risky behaviors, including substance use, increases when school-based supports are absent.
  • Substance Use Prevention: High-quality summer programming acts as a deterrent to early-onset drug and alcohol use; students who are engaged in prosocial, supervised summer activities are significantly less likely to experiment with illicit substances compared to their unsupervised peers.
  • Physical Health and Safety: Exposure to community violence often rises when children are out of school; structured programs provide a controlled, climate-resilient environment that reduces these physical risks.
  • The Impact of Trauma: Students living in high-poverty areas are more likely to encounter adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) during the summer break; trauma-informed summer environments are proven to mitigate the long-term academic and health impacts of these experiences.

NSLA Supports Policies That:

  • Invest in Safe Passage and Security: Provide funding for facility enhancements and community partnerships that ensure students can travel to and from summer sites safely and learn in modernized, secure buildings.
  • Embed Substance Misuse Prevention: Support the integration of evidence-based drug and alcohol prevention curricula within summer enrichment programs, focusing on peer-refusal skills and healthy decision-making.
  • Promote Trauma-Informed Care: Increase federal and state support for professional development that trains summer staff to recognize signs of trauma and provide supportive, healing-centered environments for at-risk youth.
  • Enhance Mental Health Integration: Incentivize collaborations between summer providers and local health departments to offer on-site mental health screenings and drug-free lifestyle workshops.
  • Expand Resource Access in Deserts: Prioritize grant funding for summer programs located in safety deserts neighborhoods with high rates of crime or limited access to public parks and recreation centers.
View Policy Position Statements

1. Support youth academic enrichment, engaging activities, and an opportunity to build life skills.

2. Foster safe, healthy, supportive, and drug-free environments.

3. Support a healthy, active lifestyle, including nutritional education and regular, structured physical education activities and programs, that help maintain the mental and physical well-being of youth.

4. Promote volunteerism, community involvement, or service-learning, in which students use academic and civic knowledge and skills to address genuine community needs;

5. Develop life skills, relationship-building skills, communication, and conflict management skills;

6. Provide mentoring and counseling to participating youth, including youth who are at risk of academic failure; dropping out of school. 

7. Promote career or workforce readiness or participation.