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Young, C. J. To quantify the potential impact of COVID19, one can look up the scaled scores associated with the 10th, 25th, and 40th percentile ranks in each scenario and figure out what percentile rank would be associated with those scaled scores at the end of the year. Click below to visit our Privacy Hub. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. And more importantly, it may not be necessary. It is 9:00, one hour past their bedtime. The tests are linked to grade level content standards in every U.S. state, the District of Columbia, and the United Kingdom, and are used to monitor student progress and growth. Focus prevents kids from becoming distracted by their thoughts or external events. Skills Used: Focus, Self-Awareness, Reading, LQ: 9.59 Combined with formative assessment, were able to paint a picture of each childs growth rate and any core areas theyve missed out on so we can then group children and deliver targeted interventions to catch up. All rights reserved. Sustained focus and effort are also needed for many of the more complex, multi-layered games where players are likely to encounter obstacles to reach their goals. This could involve coaching them through their first few homework problems or prompting them to start a chore at home. For math, the impacts appear to be more spread out and differential across states, so instructional focus may need to change depending on state with the important caveat that growth in student math ability, as noted in the assessment section, often tends to be higher for early grades. Find the best apps and games for learning, personally selected for each unique child. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website.

Usage of myON Reader, which was offered free of charge for a limited time, increased by over 51% compared to the early part of 2020 prior to the school closures. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Procrastinate and have difficulties getting started on tasks. Given that many students are likely to be behind when schools reconvene in the fall, education leaders at the state and local levels will likely have to make key instructional decisions regarding what material to cover in the 20202021 school year.

Educators using myON Reader can track digital reading progress through reports that provide insight into reading activity and student reading habits. official website and that any information you provide is encrypted Gewertz, C. These achievement gaps would appear to be greatest for early grades where growth in math and reading ability tends to be highest. , While it is possible that results may be differ for other providers, it seems likely that many of our findings would generalize given that findings of increased student growth in early grades are common in K12 tests, our instructional data was from all U.S. states and the District of Columbia, and the increased utilization of Renaissance's practice programs was consistent with data reported by other providers. Learn more The authors would like to thank Katie McClarty, Gene Kerns, Julianne Robar, and Jess Youngblood for their work to build, analyze, and communicate the value of learning progressions and the role Focus Skills can play in fall 2020 and beyond. Data from Freckle Math and myON Reader reveal sharp increases in signups and usage when compared to statistics from earlier in 2020 prior to many school closures. For reading, one would probably anticipate, consistent with what was observed for the assessment results, that the earliest grades may be impacted to a greater degree and that more skills may have been missed in the lowest grades. Given these oddities, we decided to turn our attention to a simpler and more idealized method to quantify the potential impact of COVID19 using data from Star. Focus is a core skill for learning academic skills and school-based information. It is important to point out that our study used data from one educational technology provider. A large portion of myON Reader's increase was due to expanded usage among students who had been using myON Reader prior to school closures. Download our 5 Top Tips for Learning Progressions. The thinking skill of focus is a compilation of three executive skills identified in Dawson and Guares model. Taken together, these results suggest that one may expect lower performance when students start school in 2020, there may be more students potentially in need of support and intervention, and that schools may need to leverage decisionmaking frameworks such as MTSS/RTI more than ever to identify needs and target instruction where it matters most. The measurement and assessment industries are not immune to the impacts of COVID19. Reward stick-to-it-iveness.

Goldstein, D. With the closure of schools in the United States, many districts and schools seemingly stopped testing altogether, while others greatly reduced their use of assessments (Strauss, 2020). Provide external support for your child that tapers off over time.

For example, some children are better able to focus on a reading assignment using an e-reader rather than a paperbound book. For the first time, we are offering all UK schools free access to the literacy and maths Focus Skills.

Each test has separate norms for each grade placement; the grade placements roughly correspond to the month that a student tests. Get it now: Behind A Workforce Game Changer for Gen Z. One can see, as expected, that all three scenarios resulted in a greater percentage of students below the benchmarks than the typical endofyear values with the effects being greatest if students declined a month in learning. With these resources, teachers can zoom in on the skills most critical for future learning, and toggle back and forth between grades to see what key concepts their students may have missed in the disruptive end of the 20192020 academic year. Teachers' approaches to instruction, practice, and assessment were varied as was the level of participation in the instruction, practice, and assessment by different students (Hamilton etal., 2020). Information on the Focus Skills by state and subject and can be found at: www.renaissance.com/focus-skills. In the United States, COVID19 has resulted in the loss of close family members and friends, changes in the way that hospitals, businesses, churches, universities, and schools operate, pay cuts and job loss, and a host of other changes. Instructional data on Focus Skills suggested that if learning was stopped or reduced that impacts in reading would appear to be greatest in early grades, while impacts in math appeared to be more evenly distributed across grades and may differ across states. (2020, May 22). The progressions were initially developed using content expert judgment and then refined using quantitative skill difficulty information collected from Star CATs. Many teachers decided to greatly reduce the amount of instruction, practice, and assessment given to their students and the amount of time that students spent learning seems to be much less than it would have been if students had been physically present in school buildings (Hamilton etal., 2020). Take, for example, the ability to connect sounds with particular letters. Popescu, A. Innovators, leaders, and trendsetters shaping the future of learning + a different edtech cartoon with each new issue! Skills Used: Focus, Self-Awareness, Reading, LQ: 9.55 PMC legacy view The Star assessments provide nationally representative norms of students and schools in the United States with the most recent set of norms being introduced in 2017 (Renaissance Learning, 2019a, 2019b). Encourage your child to participate in activities that require their full attention. (2014). National Library of Medicine Finally, it is important to mention that school for 20202021 will probably look much different than it has in the past. assessment, COVID19, instruction, practice, student learning, Prioritizing the common core: Identifying specific standards to emphasize the most, A metaanalysis of growth trends from vertically scaled assessments, Practical Assessment, Research and Evaluation. We light their path toward growth. Teaching all the skills and standards that the students missed from the spring of 2020 may not be logistically feasible, in addition to having to cover the full year of standards for 20202021. Lambert, D. A personalized stream of advice, articles, and recommendations. Future research should also consider how these different school configurations may impact student learning. Before In order to complete the task, persistence and sustained effort are necessary. In myON Reader, students can select titles from recommended reading lists that are personalized based on their interests, age, and reading level or browse the extensive digital library. Sustain their attention to digital media-based academic content that might not otherwise interest them. Your Thoughts: What is the State of EdTech? accelerated Tools like Focus Skills have helped us hone in on the most critical building blocks they need at each stage in their development. Diliberti, M. , , Updated: Free resources for schools during COVID19 outbreak. , & Preliminary investigations of Star Reading and Star Math assessments suggested that approximately 5% of the students that had completed assessments during the winter 20192020 testing period completed an assessment during the spring 2020 testing period. In music, they should be encouraged to play instruments that are a regular part of the band or orchestra rather than something like cymbals, which are rarely used. Michael Tidd, Headteacher, Schoolworks Academy Trust said: Addressing the gaps caused by Covid-19 shouldnt be about cramming in every single thing pupils missed. %PDF-1.7 % With these resources, teachers can zoom in on the skills most critical for future learning, and toggle back and forth between grades to see what key concepts their students may have missed in the disruptive end of the 20192020 academic year. HannahJones, N. government site. It consists of sustained attention, which Dawson and Guare describe as the capacity to attend to a situation or task in spite of distractibility; task initiation, which Dawson and Guare describe as the ability to begin a task in a timely fashion; and goal-directed persistence, which Dawson and Guare describe as the capacity or drive to follow through to completion of a goal and not be put off by other demands or competing interests. The Learning Works for Kids thinking skill of focus combines these three components into a skill identifiable by parents and educators as the capacity to get started on a task and sustain ones attention and effort to complete the task. Richards, E. 2022 Renaissance Learning. Schaffhauser, D. , Focus aids children with the process of putting thoughts into writing as ideas come to them. ,

Before students can ace their next test or apply other thinking skills such as Organization and Working Memory, they need to be able to tune out distractions and pay attention to what they are being taught in the classroom. California takes steps to remove hurdles faced by prospective teachers whose training is stymied by coronavirus. One can see that for reading the pressure will be greatest in grades K2, where critical Focus Skills comprise half or more of the skills to be taught and there are a greater number of Focus Skills. Built by experts at the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), and available from Star Reading and Star Maths assessments, these Teacher Workbooks are available to download as PDFs. (2020, May 15). An important implication if these results were to hold when schools reconvene in the fall is that there may be a need to think about providing more resources at early grades to help students catch up in their learning or to prioritize what skills are taught in these grades.

These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. (2020, June 8). Watch the video to learn more about how video games can help your child improve their Focus thinking skill. 1035 0 obj <>stream The new PMC design is here! will also be available for a limited time. In short, Focus Skills are the key building blocks of understanding. West, S. Bethesda, MD 20894, Web Policies The findings of our recent survey revealed that over a quarter of teachers (27%) believe Covid-19 related disruption will be the biggest challenge this Autumn term. The three hypothetical scenarios we consider are if a student stopped learning when COVID19 started, if a student advanced a month in their learning after COVID19, and if a student declined a month in their learning after COVID19. [], See if this sounds familiar to you: You and your child are sitting at the kitchen table. Can read a lengthy novel or write a book report. The observed effects also appear to be slightly more pronounced for Star Math than for Star Reading. Recommended Age: 8+ To help educators concentrate on those truly critical skills, Renaissance has released tools identifying focus skills mapped to the standards of each state and every grade level. Is Efficacy Research Killing EdTech Innovation? , & Easily complete chores and homework without interruption. The graphs also show that students in the lowest grades would appear to be impacted to a greater degree as the lines were further from the baseline values in these cases. Critical skills in math are more evenly distributed by grade, though there is also greater variability across states as to when math skills are emphasized. It then involves remaining attentive to the task and ignoring other distractions or interests. Focus is a primary and necessary component for learning in any environment. Theyre even likely to pick that skill up along the way if theyve mastered more critical standards. The purpose of this article was to investigate the potential impact of COVID19 using data from several products offered by Renaissance. Learn to ignore extraneous activities and attend only to elements that are important within the game. Help us to fulfil our mission of accelerating learning for all. The tests can also be used to predict endofyear performance on summative tests. Lessons Learned in Re-Engaging Students in the Classroom, Making the Complex, Simple: Mumshad Mannambeth, https://www.edtechdigest.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/EdTech-with-sound.mp4. Some schools may decide to move back to facetoface instruction, other schools may opt to use remote learning, and still other schools may use hybrid approaches that are a combination of remote learning and facetoface instruction either by choice or out of necessity if there is another wave of COVID19 outbreak.

Impacts may also differ for different students within and across schools. See which states have cancelled spring tests because of coronavirus.

Renaissance has an integrated system of instruction, practice, and assessment solutions, which are currently used by approximately 16.7 million students in approximately 45,000 schools worldwide. College Board says it's investigating. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the HHS Vulnerability Disclosure, Help Focus is one of the most important thinking skills for academic success, as it helps kids begin tasks without procrastinating, maintain their attention in the presence of distractions, and continue tasks through to completion. Line graphs of different student learning scenarios for Star Math. To help educators concentrate on those truly critical skills, Renaissance has released tools identifying focus skills mapped to the standards of each state and every grade level. , These scenarios represent several hypothetical points in which one may expect students to be in their learning during the school year given that it is expected that student learning was much less than it would be in a typical school year. If students cannot sustain their attention and effort on a task, they are likely to encounter a great deal of difficulty when learning complex material. The Metaverse and Education: How to Prepare for Edtech Startup Festival Week of Digital Events. Focus helps children to re-read text when necessary in order to fully comprehend the material. Interactive digital media can be a great tool for enhancing focus in children who might otherwise find it extremely difficult. In the context of using assessments in a Multitiered Systems of Support/ResponsetoIntervention (MTSS/RTI) framework, schools may need to be prepared for more students to be identified as needing urgent intervention or intervention than in the past with larger impacts in lower grades. The norms are often used to define normative benchmarks to classify students into different performance categories in a responsetointervention (RTI) framework. Personalized learning profiles for up to 5 children. Assessing the executive function of focus involves determining how well children are able to begin tasks on their own and remain attentive throughout completion of the task. Support could also consist of helping them to form a list of the smaller tasks that each larger task entails, and to then assist them in identifying which of these tasks should be worked on first. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. At Renaissance, we believe that Focus Skills can help get students back on track by helping teachers focus on the reading and maths skills that matter most at each stage of primary and secondary education. Stacey, O. Altavena, L. ZQIPK}+HL1f9VA74yY:+:HlZb9U0/5%\V@btmjk-OZYv`F,Y,!LrlBKgeWduzIP9l}cIWI|c0&If Wwt In addition, it is widely recognized that parental assistance with and support of student learning has also likely varied depending on the age of the student as well as other social, economic, and familyrelated factors. Data from math and reading practice products suggested increased utilization during COVID19, and that many students were still practicing some key skills even if assessment and instruction may have been reduced or stopped. Focus helpschildren to sustain their attention on a multi-step math problem. Focus helps kids be persistent when faced with difficult math concepts that requireextended instruction. Get up and down frequently while doing their homework. Focus Skills are also transferable skills that help students achieve success in adjacent domains and subjects. One can use highlevel data from Freckle Math and myON Reader to evaluate whether learning may have stopped under COVID19. https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2020/05/22/the-decline-of-standardized-tests/, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/coronavirus-schools-attendance-absent.html, http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2020/03/which_states_have_cancelled_spring_tests_because_of_coronavirus.html, https://edsource.org/2020/california-takes-steps-to-remove-hurdles-faced-by-prospective-teachers-whose-training-is-stymied-by-coronavirus/630084, https://marketbrief.edweek.org/marketplace-k-12/usage-surges-18-ed-tech-products-covid-19-quarantine/, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2020/05/15/coronavirus-ap-exam-2020-college-board-troubleshooting/5194639002/, https://thejournal.com/articles/2020/03/13/free-resources-ed-tech-companies-step-up-during-coronavirus-outbreak.aspx, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/06/21/it-looks-like-beginning-end-americas-obsession-with-student-standardized-tests/. The decline of standardized tests: The pandemic may accelerate the demise of these measures of student achievement. Are easily distracted by noise and activities surrounding them. More intensive instruction and catch up may be needed in early grades for reading. Kerns, G. M. , & and transmitted securely. Turn in incomplete or hastily-completed schoolwork. Falk, T. This was probably due in part to many K12 summative assessments being canceled, and the fact many other assessments were not designed to be administered at home. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window). These cookies do not store any personal information. The LearningWorks for Kids Thinking Skills Assessment is based on the Executive Skills Questionnaire (ESQ), which measures focus primarily by assessing concerns regarding boredom, daydreaming, the capacity to transition from one task to another, and how effectively children are able to complete tasks such as chores, homework, or projects without interruption. Copyright 2022 The Gadget. Line graphs of different student learning scenarios for Star Reading. Educational Measurement, Issues and Practice. They also can be used to figure out placement into learning progressions and several of Renaissance's practice programs. For example, in baseball, have them play catcher, pitcher, or first base. For example, Grade 9/Algebra 1 represents the greatest relative concentration of Focus Skills across all grades in Texas and Virginia, whereas in many other states, including California, Illinois, and Washington, the greatest relative concentration of Focus Skills are apparent in grades 1, 2, 4, 5, and 7. Strauss, V. As classes go online, many students just aren't showing up. Please complete the form below to request more information about Renaissance products and how we support Multi-Academy Trusts. (2020, June 21). hY[S8zMo)j$d$3C`lu7nK6 !SUu,.:w(=9 Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this manuscript are those of the authors and are not necessarily the official position of Renaissance.

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