Research brief


When does inequality grow? School, summer, and achievement gaps
What role does schooling play in the development of racial and ethnic inequalities in academic skills? An analysis of 2M students provides insights into seasonal learning and achievement gaps.
By: Megan Kuhfeld, Dennis Condron, Douglas Downey


Can item response times provide insight into studentsā motivation and self-efļ¬cacy in math
What can we glean about studentsā social-emotional learning from how long they spend on math test questions? New research shows promise and limitations of using response time metadata to measure SEL.
By: James Soland
Topics: School & test engagement, Math & STEM, Social-emotional learning


Measuring the impact of test disengagement on estimates of educational effectiveness
Learn more about our examination of student disengagement and how it may bias estimates of effectiveness based on observed test results.
By: Megan Kuhfeld, James Soland
Topics: Measurement & scaling, School & test engagement, Student growth & accountability policies


What happens when test takers disengage? Understanding and addressing rapid guessing
How does rapid-guessing differ from solution behavior? Research provides insight into test disengagement and how disengagement should be managed in scoring.
By: Steven Wise, Megan Kuhfeld


Trends in childrenās academic skills at school entry: 2010 ā 2017
This study provides the first national insight into trends and disparities in the academic skills of children at school entry for students who began kindergarten between 2010 and 2017.
By: Megan Kuhfeld, James Soland, Christine Pitts, Margaret Burchinal
Topics: Equity, Early learning


Reconciling long-term education policy goals with short-term school accountability models
Learn more about the effect of seasonality on estimates of school effectiveness and how ignoring summer loss can impact which schools are identified as low performers.
Topics: Growth modeling, Seasonal learning patterns & summer loss, Student growth & accountability policies


Validating the SEDA measures of district educational opportunities via a common assessment
SEDA provides a unique measure of educational opportunity across the United States. New research supports SEDA achievement scores, but also reveals some differences in growth estimates.
By: Megan Kuhfeld, Thurston Domina, Paul Hanselman
Topics: Equity, Growth modeling, Measurement & scaling