The mentioning of school projects over the summer may cause a few children to complain, but some schools require students to complete them. There are many different types of assignments that can be given, the large decision of who determines the projects must be made first. Students and teachers may both be able to create a summer project, but teachers are the better option. Teachers should design summer projects because they can provide better content, grading is simpler, and they are more prepared to give such assignments.

Summer projects designed by teachers would be better for learning specific school-related content. Teachers who know the curriculum for their class can give projects over the summer that prepare students for the following school year. Student-designed projects would be less representative of actual class material and therefore be less beneficial for learning. For example, students will have a much harder time planning a trigonometry project over the summer than their future teacher for the class would, because they are not yet familiar with the subject; instead, the trigonometry teacher can provide one using their knowledge. Although new teachers may not be strong in the subject they plan to teach, projects could be created jointly among teachers in the same field. An assignment could even take advantage of collaboration among many teachers to create an assignment that reflects multiple subjects.

Teachers should create summer projects because it would be simpler for grading purposes. It will be easier for teachers to grade projects they assign, because they created the content and know what to expect. Likewise, if students were to create their own projects over the summer, teachers may not be fully prepared to score what they are given. Children will likely find more problems with the grade they receive if they are given the freedom to design their own projects, because the requirements of the project could be debated. It is redundant for teachers to ask their students what they plan to complete over the summer and deal with all of them. If teachers were to create the project, there will be less confusion and the children can instead question the teachers to clarify concerns. Even if there is a rubric all students must follow for the assignment they create, it would be simpler for the teachers to design the whole project themselves.

Teachers are better prepared to create a project over the summer when compared to students. A summer assignment will most likely be large and have many requirements. Teachers are tasked with assigning multiple projects every school year, so they are more able to make a better project. One of the desires of having a student-designed project may be to give students the possibility to use their own interests. However, not all students have the necessary skills to create their own project that also fulfills school requirements, and so this could just cause unneeded stress for some children. The school year itself will almost always consist of teachers giving an assignment, and students completing them. A teacher-designed project given over the summer will be better for everyone involved because of this.

There are pros and cons to teachers determining the makeup of summer projects, but the positives greatly outnumber the negatives. The job requirement of a teacher is to provide students with the ability to learn, and to create a summer project themselves helps achieve that. All students do not possess the skills teachers have to give relevant content for a certain class or subject. The task of giving a summer project for students to complete should be given to teachers.