The extensive body of research into summer learning loss and the expanding achievement gap is a well-known issue in education. Summer learning loss has been shown to significantly contribute to the achievement gap and have a more noticeable effect on students from a low-SES household when compared with higher income peers. The effects of summer learning loss are cumulative and result in lifelong consequences for low-SES students. Research shows that students with a low-SES background are at risk of leaving fifth grade three years behind their peers in reading. This is due to the cumulitive effects of summer regression on low-SES students and no doubt leads to the achievement gap at the secondary level. This study uses "ex post facto" data from two school years to compare the effectiveness of a voluntary extended school year with two other types of voluntary summer intervention, a traditional summer school program and students that did not participate in any summer intervention. The students that participated in the extended school year attended school for an additional 33-35 days for seven hours a day. This program focused on preparing students for the next grade level in math and reading. The study looks to determine, among other things, if the extended school year had a positive effect on combatting summer regression for students with a low-SES background. The results show both practical and statistical significance for those students that participated in the voluntary extended school year. Additionally, the results of the study show that the voluntary extended school year helps to combat summer regression in low-SES students and has an immediate positive effect for those students. The article also discusses research based recommendations for an effective extended school year, the biggest challenges to offering this type of program in low-SES areas, and effective ways to combat those challenges. The article concludes by discussing the factors that may have contributed to these results. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]