Illuminations and Insights
We shine a light on our partners, the work we've done across the country, and insights from our team members.
Supporting COVID recovery: Strengthening state capacity to identify evidence-based improvement strategies
Through the Wisconsin-Minnesota Comprehensive Center – Region 10, EA has partnered with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to provide support to districts in developing plans to use COVID-19-related funding to implement evidence-based improvement strategies.
Monitoring statewide academic recovery after COVID-19: Evidence from South Carolina
We have been using interim assessments across the state of South Carolina to monitor learning lag and recovery. Here, we present results from analyses using data from Fall 2021 and suggest data-driven approaches for targeting accelerated learning strategies to the students most in need.
Delivering evidence-based interventions: How Future Forward adjusts dosage and develops graduation criteria to best serve students at scale
EA’s Future Forward Literacy program is a highly effective evidence-based tutoring program. Such programs have become even more needed in the wake of COVID-19 school disruptions. In this blog, we describe Future Forward and discuss how dosage can be adjusted, including through the development of “graduation” criteria, so COVID-related funding can be used for interventions for as many students as needed.
Flexibility during COVID-19: What we can learn from California’s use of interim assessments in the 2020-21 school year
Many local education agencies (LEAs) in California administered an interim assessment instead of the state’s summative assessment in 2020-21. Using data from 47 LEAs, we compare participation and proficiency rates in 2020-21 with pre-COVID rates, as well as highlight the work of one school that excelled in supporting their students’ learning during COVID-19.
Measuring the impact of test opt-out on achievement and growth
When examining patterns of test opt-out and its impact on student achievement and growth in South Carolina, EA found that test participation in 2021 was higher than expected, but still lower than historical rates. We found some evidence of the negative impact of test non-participation on aggregated achievement.
What on-track measures can tell us about high schoolers during COVID-19: A worrisome pattern in grades and attendance
To understand the impact of COVID-19 on high school students, we need to turn to other sources of data beyond test scores on interim assessments, which are not as readily available for students in grades 9-12. In this blog, we explore how EA's ongoing work to produce measures of students' on-track status towards post-secondary readiness reveals worrisome patterns in many high schoolers' grades and attendance during the pandemic.
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