This study investigates the relationship between mastery goal performance and achievement on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test. With policies like the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) placing increased importance on standardized-state assessments, schools are making efforts to improve scores, often by focusing…

It is now well established that the COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating and unequal impact on student achievement. Test score declines were disproportionately large for historically marginalized students, exacerbating preexisting achievement gaps and threatening educational and economic inequality. In this paper, we use longitudinal student-level…

Previous research provides evidence that developing a growth mindset--believing that one's capabilities can improve--promotes academic achievement. Although this phenomenon has undergone prior study in a representative sample of ninth graders in the United States, it has not been studied in representative samples of other grade levels or with…

In order to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools have been closed for several months as of March 2020 in Germany. The unplanned and rapid shift to distance learning formats has led to fears that extensive learning deficits will be created and educational inequality will be further exacerbated. This paper, therefore, investigates the…

Combatting learning loss in schools is as much a mental health issue as an academic one. With one in four students suffering from poor mental health since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for Tier I and Tier II resilience solutions is critical. Addressing these challenges requires comprehensive strategies focusing on academic recovery…

In October 2023, the California Department of Education released test scores for all students in Grades 3-8 and 11 for the 2022-23 school year. These results represent an opportunity to analyze whether and to what extent student learning has rebounded after the dramatic declines in scores resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and related school…

Following a massive wave of school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, educators found the need to be hyper-critical of how they spend their instructional time with students. Almost all students are expected to return nearly a full grade-level behind and would likely have to learn to navigate a completely new school environment. As a result,…

Sources of longitudinal achievement data are increasing thanks partially to the expansion of available interim assessments. These tests are often used to monitor the progress of students, classrooms, and schools within and across school years. Yet, few statistical models equipped to approximate the distinctly seasonal patterns in the data exist,…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the "Wit and Wisdom" ("WW") curriculum's impact on District A's student literacy in Tennessee, compare its effectiveness with similar districts, and analyze teacher perceptions, including variations in curriculum favorability, self-efficacy, and implementation. Spanning the academic…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the "Wit and Wisdom" ("WW") curriculum's impact on District A's student literacy in Tennessee, compare its effectiveness with similar districts, and analyze teacher perceptions, including variations in curriculum favorability, self-efficacy, and implementation. Spanning the academic…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the "Wit and Wisdom" ("WW") curriculum's impact on District A's student literacy in Tennessee, compare its effectiveness with similar districts, and analyze teacher perceptions, including variations in curriculum favorability, self-efficacy, and implementation. Spanning the academic…

In this brief we examine how variability in students' math and reading test scores changed across the pandemic, including whether increased dispersion was concentrated at one part of the test score distribution. Using reading and math assessment data from a sample of 8 million students in grades 3-8 in 24,000 public schools who took MAP Growth…

The purpose of this technical appendix is to share more detailed results and to describe more fully the sample and methods used in the research included in the brief, "The Widening Achievement Divide during COVID-19." The authors investigated two main research questions in this brief: (1) To what degree have students' reading and math…

This report focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic in the Kalamazoo Public Schools District in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which closed its doors to students from mid-March 2020 to June 2021. During this time, instruction transitioned from face-to-face to virtual, with students having three options for virtual instruction. In addition to individual KPS student…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the progress being made to close the current achievement gap in Kentucky. Guiding the study is the following research question: Which districts are closing racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps at rates that exceed expectations? The authors assess districts' progress in closing racial and…