Providence Summer School Program on PBS NewsHour

Providence is a failing school district. Less than half of middle school students are reading on grade level, and fewer than a third are meeting targets in math. For districts like Providence, summer school is a critical time to help students catch up.

Like most districts, Providence had been offering remedial classes to students over the summer -- but as in many districts, it wasnt working, and so Providence decided to try something different. Its new program is called Summer Scholars.

Students participate in hands-on, field learning experiences that feel more like camp than summer school. Students and teachers seem to like it more, but how much are students really learning?

Producer Cat McGrath and correspondent John Merrow bring you this story tonight on PBS NewsHour at 7 P.M. on Learn (over the air on digital 36.2; on cable: Cox 808, Verizon 478, Full Channel 109, Comcast 294 or 312).

See what else is going on at the Providence After School Alliance (PASA) below.