As numerous studies from 1906 on have confirmed, children lose ground in learning if they lack opportunities for building skills over the summer. Nonetheless, summer learning loss comes up but rarely in the national discussion of education reform. By the end of summer, students perform on average one month behind where they left off in the spring.…

In 1969 the Texas Migrant Council Mobile Head Start began a program of year-round day care/head start services that would follow migrant children from their South Texas winter home to certain northern states during the summer. Services included educational, medical and nutritional help. Prime grantee for the project was initially the Colorado…