The 21st CCLC Team at the Arizona Department of Education is excited to share a new and free opportunity to earn 1.5 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) while exploring evidence-based tools and recommendations to help you make every summer the best summer ever for youth and families in your community! Our partners at The Learning Agenda (TLA) are leading a five-part, virtual training series to help 21st CCLC grantees in Arizona.
21st CCLC’s Best Summer Ever training series is well suited to 21st CCLC site coordinators, school leaders, and teachers who play a hands-on, collaborative role in developing summer learning programs. Detailed session descriptions and registration links are attached and located below.
Learn about the evidence base from the National Summer Learning Project, RAND Corporation’s Getting to Work on Summer Learning, and the Summer Learning Toolkit
Take a tour of the 21st CCLC’s Best Summer Ever Learning Hub and preview the format and focus topics for the entire series
Kick off your Continuous Quality Improvement process by reflecting on successes and challenges from your Summer 2022 program
A History of Arizona's 21st CCLC Summer Learning Journey - How we got to 4 X 4 X 4
21st CCLC is…. Reimagining and Shifting the Climate and Culture of Summer Learning Summer Learning, traditionally known as “summer school” was thought of as a requirement for students making up for failing a class during the school year and used “drill and kill” style remedial work. Awareness is building that rich opportunities are available to maximize summer by providing high-quality summer learning programs that mix academic and enrichment activities. This blend of activities can reduce summer learning loss in a captivating and engaging way. While most students learn at a similar rate during the school year, when school ends, students in underserved environments struggle to continue learning throughout the summer. As we reimagine summer learning we are recognizing the opportunity to create safe, developmentally rich settings for learning and growth during the summer months. Summer can be used to re-engage students and provide a meaningful boost to help close opportunity gaps, lead to higher graduation rates, and increase college and career readiness in students.
Arizona's 21st CCLC Summer journey begins in the Fall of 2019, two Education Program Specialists from the ADE 21st CCLC team attended a National Summer Learning Association (NSLA) Conference. There they made connections with Summer Learning experts and researchers and were interested to learn that this extensive research had enabled the development of an evidence-based model of Summer Learning. They brought this information back to Arizona, where they shared with colleagues and with our advisory board, the Vision Team. Interested in ensuring successful Summer programs, Arizona’s 21st CCLC team began to share the model with 21st CCLC grant leaders, working in partnership with the developers of the model (the Learning Agenda, the Wallace Foundation, and the RAND Corporation) as well as a local partner, the Valley of the Sun United Way. Working with a subcommittee of the Vision Team, the ADE 21st CCLC team has begun an extensive review of our own summer program requirements and best practices in light of this evidence-based model. This Summer Learning subcommittee agreed to meet monthly for one year to develop recommended changes to Arizona’s requirements in line with this model. Given the significant efforts and resources necessary to providing Summer Learning programs, we are interested to ensure that these efforts result in impact and results for our students. Arizona 21st CCLC programs have long served as a testing ground for innovative educational practices and Summer Learning is one more area where 21st CCLC programs can continue to be at the forefront of successful models of education.
The COVID-19 Pandemic has put the learning loss usually associated with summer (often called the summer slide) front and center in the minds of educators everywhere. Summer Learning has taken on additional import as across the country, educational leaders recognize the need to support all pandemic-impacted students and give them a boost over the summer months. Summer provides a robust opportunity to mitigate and compensate for the learning loss associated with remote and virtual school as well as lost instructional time due to COVID-19. With the rollout of pandemic funding, the National Summer Learning Association (NSLA), the U.S. Education Department and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) developed a series of conversations to highlight and collaborate on best practices for Summer Learning so that states could effectively utilize the funds available for this purpose. Arizona was fortunate to be selected as one of a nine state cohort participating in this initiative to receive coached support in developing its statewide summer learning strategies.
21st CCLC Summer Learning Model - 4 X 4 X 4
4 hours per day, 4 days per week, for 4 weeks = Summer Learning!
21st CCLC Summer Learning Minimum Requirements
Minimum Sufficient Time on Task
4 Hours Per Day
Option 1: Isolated Approach
240 minutes = 4 hours
90+ minutes Math only
90+ minutes ELA only
60+ minutes Enrichment only
Option2: Intergrated Approach
240 minutes = 4 hours
60 minutes Math + 30 minutes Math Enrichment
Total = 90 minutes of Math Intergration
90 minutes ELA + 30 minutes of ELA Enrichment
Total = 120 minutes of ELA Intergration
30 minutes Additional Enrichment opportunities
90 minuteso of Total Enrichment which includes the Intergrated Enrichment
Days per Week
4 Days/Week
Number of Weeks
4 Weeks
Student/Teacher Ratio
Academic Classes - Minimum based on grand and class design to align with recommended best practices.
Elementary School (ES)
Middle School (MS)
High School (HS)
10-15 Students : 1 Teacher
PreK - 1st = 6-10 Students : 1 Teacher
10-15 Students : 1 Teacher
15-20 Students : 1 Teacher
Academic and Youth Development Enrichment Classes Minimum •Recommended all grades intentional targeted academic supports 10 students : 1 teacher •Recommended for all grades enrichment classes 10-15 students : 1 teacher Note: Dependent on the activity (i.e. sports could have larger classes sizes, but classes like cooking, coding, robotics could be smaller - considering safety, student need and class design)
Family Engagement component & requirement – minimum requirement at least one family engagement event, activity, or practice to demonstrate ongoing family engagement opportunities.
We are pleased to announce NASA has partnered with 10 Arizona schools within their 21st CCLC programs to help students learn about careers in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
