This Companion Guide helps districts and youth development providers identify and apply evidence and insights from the study “The Promise of Summer as a Time for Teacher Professional Development” to ensure meaningful and high-quality summer PD. The PD Planning Tool helps summer learning providers align professional development opportunities with program goals and determine new strategies, techniques, and skills they would like to further develop with their staff.

SCRI conducted a mixed-methods analysis to learn about the scholar experience in a remote learning environment with the revised social and emotional learning (SEL) focus and to see how scholars, in their own words, described their SE growth over the summer. The analysis revealed a wealth of insights about how BellXcel Remote’s SEL programming positively impacted scholars and showed how participation in BellXcel Remote led to improved relationships, increased confidence, strengthened growth mindset, improved self regulation and engagement, and better routines and schedules.

In 2019, BellXcel partnered with RAND on a first-of-its-kind study on summer teacher professional development, The Promise of Summer as
a Time for Teacher Professional Learning. SCRI talked with the study’s lead researchers Elizabeth Steiner and Laura Stelitano to distill the
findings for the broader K-12 field.

Families, staff, and youth reported that participating in BellXcel Remote in the summer of 2020 increased confidence in remote learning and technology, improving preparedness for potential shifts and uncertainties in the school year, and in some cases repairing negative perceptions of remote learning from the spring of 2020.

SCRI found evidence that BellXcel Remote did help to bridge the gap between a disrupted 2019-20 school year and the new 2020-21 school year and was able to engage youth in summer distance learning. Analysis of end-of-program stakeholder surveys demonstrates that the program kept scholars, families, and staff engaged in a myriad of academic, enrichment, and SEL activities.

Central to BellXcel’s approach to summer learning is its commitment to rapid-cycle continuous improvement because quality can’t wait. This brief presents SCRI’s review of BellXcel’s quality assessment process and its dedication to guiding partners through continuous quality improvement.