https://www.acacamps.org/research/camp-research/history

View all our past research initiatives.

https://www.acacamps.org/research/special-projects/camp-program-quality-initiative

Funded by the Lilly Endowment, Inc., ACA began a special project to explore and develop systems that support camp professionals in promoting positive youth development through camp experiences.

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/hitting-high-notes-camp-courageous

As a group of children with autism play the outdoor musical instruments together in harmony in the Rotary Musical Park at Camp Courageous, a lady with a visual impairment sits holding her ears,...

https://www.acacamps.org/research/continuous-improvement

At ACA, we believe in continuous improvement. We believe that our work for young people is not conceptualized in boxes or checklists; instead, we think about our work in a cyclical way—a way that...

https://www.acacamps.org/article/camping-magazine/enhancing-inclusion-campers-sensory-processing-concerns-through-camp-counselor-training

Summer camps provide children an opportunity for goal achievement, a sense of community, and development of self-concept. Toward that end, goal-directed camp activities revolve around teamwork, as...

https://www.acacamps.org/resources/summer-camp-therapeutic-tool-reducing-anxiety-youth

This study provides the first preliminary evidence that overnight summer camps—including those with and without specific treatments for anxiety, and youth with and without diagnosed behavioral and...

https://www.acacamps.org/link/higher-education-guide-students-learning-disabilities

Guide to higher education for students with learning disabilities. 

https://www.acacamps.org/research/our-research-innovation

The ACA research team supports and facilitates rigorous research in order to expand the value and visibility of the summer camp experience and provide research-informed resources for camps. ...

https://www.acacamps.org/blog/key-takeaways-pulse-survey-summer-2022-trends-issues

The survey asked questions about enrollment and campers, camp staff, and budget and operations.

https://www.acacamps.org/blog/developmental-decathlon-benefits-exercise-activity-neurodivergent-campers

Early in my career I was given an opportunity to speak to a group of families of children with special needs about how the organization I worked for was totally inclusive because we let all children...