New research findings provide a call to action: now  is the time to plan for how school must be different next year to address learning gaps widened by the pandemic.

New research by NWEA, a nonprofit assessment provider, predicts that because of school closures, some students could be as much as a year behind in math when they start school in the fall.

Education leaders are already bracing for a worse “summer slide” this year for students whose schools were shut down to curb the spread of coronavirus. But new research suggests the “COVID slide” is going to be significantly worse. In one study out today, Beth Tarasawa and Megan Kuhfeld, reasearchers for NWEA, analyzed student achievement and growth data from more than 5 million students in grades 3-8 who participated in NWEA’s widely used MAP-Growth test in 2017-18 to project growth trajectories for the students under two scenarios for COVID school disruptions.

Long breaks are damaging. Virtual learning is erratic. The stakes are high.

Updated College Explorer provides educators, students, and parents with insights into which colleges and universities students are already on track to enter, and the academic growth goals they need in order to reach the median ACT or SAT score at those colleges and universities.

A summer school program for high school English learners who have lived in the U.S. for less than three years increased the number of core courses those students took that are required for graduation.

Eduwonk interviews Christine Pitts on new NWEA research on trends in academic skills of students entering kindergarten from 2010-2017.