In today’s data-rich environment, quick, focused conversations about students’ work and goals known as “data chats” can build relationships and boost academic achievement.

To prepare for these quick conversations, teachers gather information about the student’s performance, whether from local or state standardized assessments, performance-based assessments, or monitoring progress toward a goal. With Otus, these types of student data are centralized to make accessing the insights easy and efficient for educators.

Summer learning loss has challenged educators each year going back decades. However, our understanding of what extended breaks mean for learners is evolving. 

Based on advances in research methods as well as insights from real-world disruptions—most notably the COVID pandemic, the emerging picture of who is affected (and how much) is nuanced. Researchers are also looking into differences in how achievement is measured and gauging what prevention and recovery strategies are most effective.