Ensuring Program Quality

Ensuring Program Quality

♦ SAIL programs nurture the whole child: our students grow in mind, body and spirit. Programs start with a foundation of rigorous instruction (in reading, literacy, and math) and build from there.  Programs incorporate best practices from summer camp and school. Students learn as they have fun. They come to understand that learning is fun!

♦ Building programs that incorporate best practices from both schools and summer camps presents a challenge; few organizations have experience in both. SAIL meets this challenge by bringing together the community! Youth organizations, faith-based organizations, philanthropy, community groups, municipal agencies, and schools pool their knowledge and resources to create programs better than any of them could have created alone.

♦ SAIL communities develop programs that reflect their local values and challenges. The SAIL quality assurance framework assures that local innovation delivers quality outcomes. SAIL has identified 22 markers of quality for summer learning programs. To see the complete list,  click here.

♦ SAIL uses Renaissance Learning Systems Star Assessments® for reading and math:

  •    → Pre-test results inform instruction and enable individualized learning strategies
  •    → End-of-program results measure student growth and highlight opportunities for programs to improve over time.

To learn more about Star Assessments®, click here.

♦ SAIL programs operate in a data-driven culture. Program monitor key performance indicators (KPI’s)  and report them at the end of summer. Reports  are shared with the SAIL community to show each program’s trends and how it compares to its peers.

To learn more about SAIL’s data-driven culture, click here.

♦ SAIL understands that the group knows far more collectively than any member alone. Our programs share their expertise to help one another grow stronger. This is known as peer-to-peer learning, or for brevity, peer learning. To learn more,   click here.

♦ SAIL programs nurture the whole child; each program in its own way. But all SAIL programs incorporate rigorous academics as described by the markers of quality.  SAIL programs deliver consistent academic gains that have grown over time.

♦ SAIL programs also strengthen families through their involvement, and provide teachers with a chance to learn and practice new teaching techniques.

For a more comprehensive discussion of SAIL outcomes, click here.