Testing an Explanation for Summer Learning Loss: Differential Examinee Effort Between Spring and Fall

Summer learning loss is a perennial concern for educators and parents alike. However, researchers have recently questioned whether summer learning loss is just a statistical artifact driven by how achievement is measured across the school year. In this study, we empirically investigated a plausible...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEducational evaluation and policy analysis Vol. 46; no. 3; pp. 581 - 590
Main Authors Kuhfeld, Megan, Soland, James, Register, Brennan, McEachin, Andrew
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.09.2024
American Educational Research Association
Subjects
Academic achievement
Education policy
Educational evaluation
Learning
Students
Summer
Teachers
educational policy
summer learning loss
achievement
test effort
hierarchical linear modeling
testing
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Summary:Summer learning loss is a perennial concern for educators and parents alike. However, researchers have recently questioned whether summer learning loss is just a statistical artifact driven by how achievement is measured across the school year. In this study, we empirically investigated a plausible critique of summer learning loss research, namely that students do not put forth their best effort on the fall test compared with the spring test. While we cannot conclude based on our findings that students do in fact lose ground during the summer, we did not find evidence that seasonal differences in test effort are a main driver of summer learning patterns estimated with MAP Growth assessments.
ISSN:0162-3737
1935-1062
DOI:10.3102/01623737231165027