Summer Launchpad for HS and Career Success

Income inequality

Pilot or new project, program, or initiative (testing or implementing a new idea)

CISLA seeks to innovatively address 2 issues that don’t initially seem related. First, decades of research show that “when schools are open, students of different income levels achieve at roughly the same rate…[when] closed, achievement gaps widen and a variety of academic, social-emotional outcomes decline.” (American Educator, 2018) This "summer slide" deepens existing inequalities and perpetuates cycles of poverty for low-income children-of-color. Second, emerging studies from McKinsey and Harvard Business Review point to the need for social-emotional learning (SEL) as AI revolutionizes our economy. The future workforce (children today!) needs these skills to build career success in a more automated world. This Summer Program leverages CISLA’s deep connection to LA communities AND expertise in teaching SEL to transform the transition to high school from one of the “leakiest juncture” in the dropout crisis (National High School Center, 2007) to a launchpad for wellness and success.

This Summer Program adapts CISLA’s national in-school model, which has been refined over 16 years in LA communities. It extends supports to graduating 8th graders in five LA communities – Boyle Heights, Pico-Union/Westlake, South LA, Watts and Westside – areas historically marked by redlining and/or serving students bussed in from systematically disenfranchised communities. Over 3 weeks, our teams lead students in orienting to their new campus, meeting caring adults, connecting to positive peer groups. Thematic lessons center around physical and mental health, visual and performing arts, and building healthy relationships and more. Each week culminates in a field trip to local partners. Field trips have included: California Science Center, Fulcrum Ropes Course, LACMA, and Creative Artist Agency. These experiences serve multiple purposes, including reinforcing lessons through meaningful experiential experiences, building positive relationships within each cohort and giving youth access to world-class resources. The Summer Program is designed to integrate with CISLA’s standard in-school program, bridging the gap of support between 2 school years. Staff work in teams of 3-4 at each high school campus with a 15:1 student-to-staff ratio. In the Fall, our teams encourage Summer Program students to continue accessing support with our core program. In this, we are able to deepen strong connections that started in the summer and track our impact over time.

In our research, we found many strong summer programs targeting younger students across LA County. CISLA’s Summer Program aims to fill a gap for older students during a pivotal transition in their education. Our vision for success includes growing this 9th grade bridge program to serve 200-400 students in the next several years. In the future, we also envision expansions to include bridge programs for students transitioning from high school to college and from elementary to middle school – part of our goal to build a full pathway of support from K to college for underserved students. Additionally, we are compiling a body of data to show the immediate and long-term impact of this Summer Program. Its connection to our in-school model uniquely positions us to do this. CISLA is an active education leader in Los Angeles and an independent affiliate of the national Communities In Schools network. We aim to share these findings through our local networks across Los Angeles and nationally.

Summer Program impact is tracked through pre-/post- summer surveys and Fall surveys, which assess high school preparedness, SEL indicators (confidence, growth mindset), school connectedness, extracurricular involvement and college/career readiness.
We also track impact on attendance, GPA and SEL growth, benchmarked against comparative groups, such as our standard caseload; general 9th grade pop.; and whole-school pop.
Early results from Summer 2023’s Pilot include:
• 88% of participants said they formed a trusted mentoring relationship with an adult on campus in the program. Within this group, 85% indicated this adult was CISLA staff and 58% talk to their trusted adult at school daily.
•At Fall Week 10, participants’ average attendance was in line with all comparative groups. By Week 20, avg. attendance of all comparative groups dropped to mid-70%, while participants maintained an 80%+ rate.
•Participants maintained a higher GPA than all comparative groups at Fall Week 10 and 20.