The purpose of this study was to explore both the short-term and long-term value of a summer literacy program on the literacy learning of at-risk seventh- and eighth-grade students. The students who participated in the study were all slotted for grade-level retention. The program brought them from an isolated and impoverished area to a university campus where they participated in intensive tutoring and small group instruction. Following the program, the researchers followed the students throughout the academic school year. Findings from the study indicated that the successes and failures of the students who participated in the program were situated in the context in which instruction occurred and the relationships they developed. (Contains 1 table.)