Back to School and Summer Learning Loss – University of Chicago Experts Available

Each summer, students lose some of the knowledge they gained in the previous school year. This loss, known as the ‘summer slide,’ disproportionately impacts students from low-income families. As the new school year nears, this week’s Monday Outlook gathers UChicago experts who can discuss strategies to combat learning loss, threats to student data privacy, the significance of Chicago’s inaugural school board elections, and much more. As always, reporters can find scholars on any topic through our Media Resources page and @UChicagoNews on Twitter. If you are on deadline and need to speak to someone, contact Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz, associate director of media relations via email at [email protected].

PERSONALIZED LEARNING
Monica Bhatt, senior research director at the UChicago Education Lab, leads the Lab’s Personalized Learning Initiative. She can discuss a related recent study of high-dosage tutoring that suggests a pathway to scaling tutoring so that more students might benefit, which is key to battling pandemic-induced learning loss.

DEGREES OF LEARNING LOSS
Ariel Kalil studies economic conditions, parenting, and child development. She directs the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy and co-director of the Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab. Kalil can discuss ways to combat school absenteeism and explain how income-based gaps can produce differing degrees of learning loss among students.

PROVIDING YOUTH SERVICES
Kim Smith is director of programs for the UChicago Education Lab and Crime Lab. The Crime Lab recently wrote a policy brief on the implementation of Chicago’s Back to Our Future program. Smith can discuss the Lab’s findings on engaging youth, youth violence trends, and recommendations for how to provide services to underserved youth in Chicago.

DATA SCIENCE EDUCATION STANDARDS
Zarek Drozda directs Data Science 4 Everyone, a coalition of data science educators and stakeholders based out of UChicago. He can speak to the proliferation of ChatGPT and other emerging tech in education and the need for data science education curriculum standards to ensure students are prepared for a future impacted by AI.

STUDENT DATA PRIVACY
Marshini Chetty is a computer scientist studying human-computer interaction and data privacy. Her work has exposed the potential for bad actors to gain access to students’ sensitive information from education tech platforms. She can discuss recent data breaches impacting schools nationwide and how to safeguard student data.

POLICE IN SCHOOLS
Amy Arneson is senior research associate at the UChicago Consortium on School Research, and a former high school teacher. Her recent research has found that school climate and disciplinary outcomes went largely unchanged when Chicago schools removed school resource officers. She can discuss school safety and culture considerations.

SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Shanette Porter is director of the Equitable Learning and Development Group, leading the Cultivate framework and survey for Chicago Public Schools. Porter’s Investing in Adolescents report shows that schools that foster students’ socioemotional development positively affect their long-run trajectories, and she can discuss how to best support these skills.

STUDENTS’ LONG-TERM SUCCESS
Dominique (Dom) McKoy is executive director of the To&Through Project, which provides data tools and other resources to support improvements in practices and policies in schools and districts. He can discuss what data reporters can use to evaluate students’ post-secondary and long-term outcomes.