Summer Learning Survey 2021
Exploring Income and Race in Relation to Summer Learning Sites
In Summer 2021, OregonASK launched our Summer Learning Survey, with funding support from the National Conference of State Legislatures. Through this project, OregonASK identified 1,770 summer learning sites — including camps, classes, and other youth-serving programs for school-age youth — that operated in Summer 2021. These 1,770 sites are plotted on the map to the right.
1,770 sites may sound like a lot, but it is likely that there are still many communities in Oregon without access to summer learning programs. Research has shown that some communities have easy access to summer programs, while other communities struggle. Peterson and Vandell (2021) reported that low-income students and children of color are much less likely to have access to summer enrichment, and America After 3pm (Afterschool Alliance, 2020) found that youth in higher income families are almost 3 times as likely to participate in a summer program compared to youth from families with low incomes.
The maps below explore the relationship between several factors we know impede access to summer programs — income and race — and the availability of summer programs. Scroll down to explore the maps:
Summer Program Sites per Capita
This first map shows summer programs sites per capita, by county. Using population estimates for youth ages 5-17 from the 2020 Annual Population Report Tables (created by the Portland State University Population Research Center) and the 1,770 summer sites identified in the Summer Learning Survey, this map shows the number of summer learning sites per 1,000 school-age youth in each county. Note that there are generally slightly fewer summer sites per capita throughout the I-5 corridor, but also note that OregonASK has generally found that programs in urban areas tend to have higher capacities compared to rural programs (i.e, there may be fewer programs per capita in a city, but those programs may be able to serve more youth than a rural program).
Household Median Income by County
This next map shows median household income by county, using estimates from Esri Demographics . Darker counties have higher median household incomes. Generally, the Portland metro area and Deschutes county have the highest median incomes in the state, and counties in the Southeast corner have the lowest.
Summer Program Sites per Capita by Median Household Income
This map compares the median household income for each county (shaded, same as the previous map) with the number of summer sites per capita (per 1,000 youth) in the county (represented by the size of the circles). Although some counties with lower median incomes have below average summer sites per capita, this map does not show a strong overall correlation between median household income in a county and the availability of summer programs.
School Age Youth of Color
This map shows the percent of school age youth of color by county, again using estimates from Esri Demographics . Darker counties have higher rates of youth of color.
Summer Program Sites per Capita by School-Age Youth of Color
This map compares rates of school-age youth of color (shaded, same as the previous map) with the number of summer sites per capita (per 1,000 youth) in the county (represented by the size of the circles). There is not a strong overall correlation between rates of youth of color and availability of summer learning sites, but it is notable that some of the counties with the highest rates of youth of color have some of the lowest summer sites per capita, particularly Malheur, Umatilla, Morrow, and Marion counties. Conversely, some of the whitest counties have higher than average programs sites per capita, particularly in the Northeast corner of the state.