Perceived Parent Involvement and a Technology-Enabled Workbook Intervention Effect Analysis on Summer Learning Loss for 6th and 7th Grade Students Attending a Pennsylvania K-12 Virtual School

Abstract

The literature suggests that while the number of students attending virtual charter schools continues to grow in Pennsylvania, math student academic performance in 6^th and 7^th-grade math in students attending cyber charter schools falls well below the state average. Although it is tempting to assume that the concern of summer slide would be similar in virtual school students as traditional bricks and mortar students, there has been no published research specifically addressing summer slide among virtual school students. A computer-adaptive formative assessment may provide a solution, also increase student mathematics performance at the middle school level, and potentially reduce summer learning loss. The Computer Adaptive Formative Assessment (CAFA) K-Math Workbook is an ICT based assessment tool specially designed for coping with challenges in implementing the CCSS in mathematics.

The purpose of this study was to provide insight into three overarching gaps in the current body of research. It employed the use of an intervention as a tool to potentially minimize summer slide, utilized a survey to measure parent involvement, in examining the relationship between perceived parent involvement and summer slide, and examines the effect of perceived parent involvement onto the effect of the intervention in summer slide in 6 ^th and 7^th grade students, within the confines of a K-12 virtual school in Pennsylvania.

The researcher employed the use of paired t-test and regression analyses to answer the research questions. The results of this study indicate that the intervention was effective as a means of preventing summer slide in 6 ^th and 7^th-grade middle school students. It also reveals that higher levels of parental involvement reflect higher levels of student achievement. Statistical analyses explained that while not statistically significant, pre-test scores/intervention explained a small amount of variance in summer slide above and beyond parental involvement, and the additional effect of perceived parental involvement and the intervention explains a variance in summer slide. In addition to a more detailed description of the results, rationale for the results, theoretical backgrounds, research design, policy/practice implications, and future directions for research are presented.