Seasonal learning patterns & summer loss
Students don’t learn only during the school year, and academic growth trajectories can change as students move from kindergarten through high school. Academic growth patterns across time—both in school and during the summer—can differ for various groups of students, and those patterns can influence academic achievement gaps. Our research advances understanding of seasonal learning patterns, summer loss, and school and non-school contributions to student growth.
Effective summer programs: Practical guidance for district leaders
This report dives into the research on summer programs, their implementation and design, as well as the efficacy of those programs for literacy, math, and social-emotional learning (SEL) outcomes. It also provides recommendations for district leaders to use as a framework for planning and implementing effective summer programming.
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Growth, Guidance, Seasonal learning patterns & summer loss
Typical learning for whom? Guidelines for selecting benchmarks to calculate months of learning
To describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on students, researchers have translated test scores into months of learning to claim how many months/years students are behind in school. Despite its perceived accessibility, there are major downsides to this translation. To inform future uses by researchers and media, we discuss in this brief how to calculate this metric as well as its trade-offs.
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Equity, Growth, Growth modeling, Seasonal learning patterns & summer loss
In this blog, Elizabeth Barker shares the motivation and key insights from her study with Angela Johnson exploring academic achievement and growth for students in special education during summers and school years.
The forgotten 20 percent: Achievement and growth in rural schools across the nation
New research using data from over 2,300 rural schools across the US provides unique insight into math and reading achievement of students in rural schools so educators and policymakers can better understand and support the potential needs of rural schools.
Achievement and growth for English Learners
This study reports achievement and growth from kindergarten to 4th grade for three groups of English Learners. The findings suggest summer support is required to help ELs maintain and develop academic skills.
Topics: Equity, English Language Learners, Seasonal learning patterns & summer loss
Achievement and growth for English Learners
This study reports achievement and growth from kindergarten to 4th grade for three groups of English Learners. The findings suggest summer support is required to help ELs maintain and develop academic skills.
Topics: Equity, English Language Learners, Seasonal learning patterns & summer loss
Supporting students with disabilities throughout the year
Students with disabilities lose even more ground than peers during summer and other interruptions in their learning—but they don’t need to. Data point to a need for services that extend beyond the school year.
