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.
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.
The 74
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Equity, Seasonal learning patterns & summer loss
The learning curve: Revisiting the assumption of linear growth across the school year
Important educational policy decisions, like whether to shorten or extend the school year, often assume that growth in achievement is linear through the school year. This research examines this untested assumption using data from seven million students in kindergarten through 8th grade across the fall, winter, and spring of the 2016-17 school year.
Topics: Measurement & scaling, Growth modeling, Seasonal learning patterns & summer loss
Homeschooling during the coronavirus will set back a generation of children
Long breaks are damaging. Virtual learning is erratic. The stakes are high.
The Washington Post (2020, March 27)
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Equity, Seasonal learning patterns & summer loss
Summer learning loss: How teachers mobilize when kids return to school
NWEA researcher Megan Kuhfeld connected with Sonali Kohli of the LA Times to discuss summer learning loss.
Los Angeles Times
When does inequality grow? A seasonal analysis of racial/ethnic disparities in K-8 learning
If achievement gaps between demographic groups change during times when school is out of session, then educators and policymakers have a reason for concern about educational equality during the school year. A large study using data from NWEA takes a broader, more in-depth look at the summer achievement gap and has uncovered some meaningful results.
Getting Smart
Rethinking summer slide: The more you gain, the more you lose
Megan Kuhfeld draws on data from the 3.4 million students who took the NWEA MAP Growth assessments to find that summer slide is common, but not inevitable. According to the data, the students who experienced the greatest loss were those who made the greatest gains during the previous school year.
In this study, we apply the Compound Polynomial or “CP” model in a school evaluation context. The CP model addresses the seasonality of student test scores by simultaneously estimating between- and within-year growth.
Topics: Growth modeling, Seasonal learning patterns & summer loss, Student growth & accountability policies
