Assuming linear within-year achievement growth is often not justified, particularly in reading¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 2 studies · 2 associational r2 · q2–q3
Currency · newest study 2021 · 1 of 2 entries checked against their sources (automated) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Within-year growth in achievement is frequently non-linear, and this is particularly the case in reading. → Megan Kuhfeld 2021

q3 i? Assuming linear within-year growth in achievement is often not justified, with the problem particularly pronounced in reading. → Megan Kuhfeld 2020

Evidence¶

Megan Kuhfeld 2021¶

Megan Kuhfeld, James Soland. (2021). The learning curve: Revisiting within-year linear growth assumptions. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 14:1, 143-171. https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/35099/

q2 · i? · associational · r?

The study's analysis of seasonal math and reading test scores reports that the linear within-year growth assumption is "often not justified, particularly in reading." No effect size is printed in the available text.

"Our results indicate that assuming linear within-year growth is often not justified, particularly in reading."

Megan Kuhfeld 2020¶

Megan Kuhfeld, James Soland. (2020). The learning curve: Revisiting the assumption of linear growth across the school year. NWEA Research working paper. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19345747.2020.1839990

q3 · i? · associational · r2

Large-scale analysis of math and reading test scores for over seven million K-8 students tested in fall, winter, and spring of the 2016-17 school year. The authors report that "assuming linear within-year growth is often not justified, particularly in reading." No effect size is printed in the available text.

"Our results indicate that assuming linear within-year growth is often not justified, particularly in reading."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Non-linear within-year growth has implications for extending the school year, summer learning loss, and racial/ethnic achievement gaps — related
• Policy decisions such as shortening or extending the school year depend on accurate within-year learning estimates — related
• A seven-million-student K-8 dataset spanning fall, winter, and spring of 2016-17 was used to test within-year growth linearity — related
• A seasonal analysis of roughly 2 million students examines racial/ethnic disparities in learning from kindergarten through eighth grade — related
• Seasonality affects estimates of school effectiveness — related
• Fall-to-spring growth rates in high school grades, particularly in reading, are often close to zero and can be negative — related
• The seasonal analysis of racial/ethnic disparities spans kindergarten through eighth grade — related
• Within-year (fall-to-spring) achievement gains decelerate linearly as students move through school, at roughly 1.4 to 4 RIT per year depending on subject and centering grade — related
• More of the variance in linear growth lies at the school level for fall-to-spring than for spring-to-spring estimates, in some cases twice or three times as much — related