This NWEA research report emphasizes the vital role of family engagement in helping students recover academically from the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report synthesizes current research on family engagement, examines the effectiveness of current strategies, identifies common barriers, and offers guidance for how districts can communicate more effectively with families about student progress.

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.

The report documents the process NWEA followed to determine and validate the cut scores for fall, winter, and spring that can be used to identify students in Grades K–8 who have severe learning difficulties and need intensive intervention in reading and mathematics.