Indy Summer Learning Labs helps bridge learning loss for students across the state

School is starting across Marion County, but some students have continued learning for most of the summer.

At IPS Butler University Laboratory School 60 on the city’s near northside, nearly 300 students were taking classes. They are a part of the Indy Summer Learning Labs, a five week program for students across the state to get instruction during the break between academic years.

At the 100 Black Men’s Summer Academy site, there are about 130 students enrolled in grades 2-6. Students receive daily meals as well as math and reading instruction.

Jazmin Sanders with The Mind Trust said the program is important for students to keep using skills throughout the summer so they can stay on track with their learning. The Indianapolis non-profit runs the Indy Summer Learning Labs program.

“Summer Learning Labs was started because of the COVID loss,” Sanders said. “But I think there was already lost before COVID even happened. So I think we're trying to fill a bigger gap than what just COVID put in place for our students.”

This year, the program expanded. Most of the sites are still in Indianapolis, but many of the new sites are located in Gary, Salem, Wabash and South Bend. Nearly 9,000 students are enrolled at more than 90 free and low-cost sites across the state.

For the past thirty years, 100 Black Men, a local youth development organization, has run a similar summer learning program called the Summer Academy. That is a six week program where licensed teachers work with students K-8 to stem summer learning loss.

Marcus Hatcher, program director of The Summer Academy, said partnering with Indy Learning Labs just made sense.

“So Summer Academy itself. We had been going for a good 30 something years, and then to have this opportunity where we could look at a different curriculum opportunity, and they were providing support… it was definitely an enhancement,” Hatcher said.

The funding for the Indy Summer Learning Labs comes from the Student Learning Recovery Grant Program, created in 2021 through state legislation. It allocates $150 million to support students in literacy, math and college readiness. The grant program will fund next year’s learning labs as well.

Earlier this year, the Indiana Department of Education announced the recipients of the Expanding What Works grant, which helped build a network of Learning Lab sites across the state.

All students take an assessment at the beginning and end of the program. In 2023, results included a 23 percentage point increase in language arts and a 22 percentage point increase in math. All sites use the same curriculum but additional special programming varies and includes field trips and sports.

Whitely says the difference between Indy Summer Learning Labs and traditional summer school is that it’s not only for students who are behind.