IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecoedu/v50y2016icp63-74.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Knowledge decay between semesters

Author

Listed:
  • Dills, Angela
  • Hernández-Julián, Rey
  • Rotthoff, Kurt W.

Abstract

Summer learning loss has been widely studied in K-12 schooling, where the literature finds a range of results. This study provides the first evidence of summer learning loss in higher education. We analyze college students taking sequential courses with some students beginning the sequence in the fall semester and others in the spring. Those beginning in the fall experience a shorter break between the courses. We test whether the length of that gap explains the students’ performance in the subsequent course. Initial results suggest that a longer gap is associated with lower grades. However, including student fixed effects eliminates the observed knowledge decay with a few exceptions: knowledge decay remains for students in language courses, for students with below-median SAT Math scores, and for students with majors outside STEM fields.

Suggested Citation

  • Dills, Angela & Hernández-Julián, Rey & Rotthoff, Kurt W., 2016. "Knowledge decay between semesters," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 63-74.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:50:y:2016:i:c:p:63-74
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.12.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775715302867
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.12.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Graves, Jennifer, 2010. "The academic impact of multi-track year-round school calendars: A response to school overcrowding," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 378-391, May.
    2. D. Mark Anderson & Mary Beth Walker, 2015. "Does Shortening the School Week Impact Student Performance? Evidence from the Four-Day School Week," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 10(3), pages 314-349, July.
    3. Jennifer Graves & Steven McMullen & Kathryn Rouse, 2013. "Multi-Track Year-Round Schooling as Cost Saving Reform: Not Just a Matter of Time," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 8(3), pages 300-315, July.
    4. Graves, Jennifer, 2011. "Effects of year-round schooling on disadvantaged students and the distribution of standardized test performance," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1281-1305.
    5. Steven C. McMullen & Kathryn E. Rouse, 2012. "The Impact of Year-Round Schooling on Academic Achievement: Evidence from Mandatory School Calendar Conversions," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 230-252, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Insler, Michael & McQuoid, Alexander F. & Rahman, Ahmed S. & Smith, Katherine, 2021. "Fear and Loathing in the Classroom: Why Does Teacher Quality Matter?," IZA Discussion Papers 14036, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Kevin P. Belanger & Angela K. Dills & Rey Hernández-Julián & Kurt W. Rotthoff, 2019. "Class Size, Course Spacing, and Academic Outcomes," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 45(2), pages 301-320, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Graves Jennifer & McMullen Steven & Rouse Kathryn, 2018. "Teacher Turnover, Composition and Qualifications in the Year-Round School Setting," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 18(3), pages 1-27, July.
    2. Kevin P. Belanger & Angela K. Dills & Rey Hernández-Julián & Kurt W. Rotthoff, 2019. "Class Size, Course Spacing, and Academic Outcomes," Eastern Economic Journal, Palgrave Macmillan;Eastern Economic Association, vol. 45(2), pages 301-320, April.
    3. Thompson, Paul N., 2021. "Is four less than five? Effects of four-day school weeks on student achievement in Oregon," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    4. Thompson, Paul N., 2019. "Effects of Four-Day School Weeks on Student Achievement: Evidence from Oregon," IZA Discussion Papers 12204, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Depro, Brooks & Rouse, Kathryn, 2015. "The effect of multi-track year-round academic calendars on property values: Evidence from district imposed school calendar conversions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 157-171.
    6. Derek Wu, 2020. "Disentangling the Effects of the School Year from the School Day: Evidence from the TIMSS Assessments," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 15(1), pages 104-135, Winter.
    7. Takyi, Stephen Appiah & Azerigyik, Richard Apatewen & Amponsah, Owusu, 2019. "The effects of multi-track year-round education on the delivery of senior high school education in Ghana. Lessons from global MT-YRE systems," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    8. Gregory Gilpin, 2018. "Policy-induced School Calendar Changes and Teacher Moonlighting," CAEPR Working Papers 2018-009, Center for Applied Economics and Policy Research, Department of Economics, Indiana University Bloomington.
    9. Valerie Bostwick & Stefanie Fischer & Matthew Lang, 2022. "Semesters or Quarters? The Effect of the Academic Calendar on Postsecondary Student Outcomes," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 40-80, February.
    10. Jennifer Graves & Steven McMullen & Kathryn Rouse, 2013. "Multi-Track Year-Round Schooling as Cost Saving Reform: Not Just a Matter of Time," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 8(3), pages 300-315, July.
    11. Graves, Jennifer, 2013. "School calendars, child care availability and maternal employment," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 57-70.
    12. McMullen, Steven C. & Rouse, Kathryn E., 2012. "School crowding, year-round schooling, and mobile classroom use: Evidence from North Carolina," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 812-823.
    13. D. Mark Anderson & Mary Beth Walker, 2015. "Does Shortening the School Week Impact Student Performance? Evidence from the Four-Day School Week," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 10(3), pages 314-349, July.
    14. Thomas, Jaime L., 2012. "Combination classes and educational achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 1058-1066.
    15. Benjamin Hansen & Joseph J. Sabia & Jessamyn Schaller, 2022. "In-Person Schooling and Youth Suicide: Evidence from School Calendars and Pandemic School Closures," NBER Working Papers 30795, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Gregory Gilpin, 2020. "Policy‐Induced School Calendar Changes and Teacher Moonlighting," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(3), pages 989-1018, January.
    17. Steven C. McMullen & Kathryn E. Rouse, 2012. "The Impact of Year-Round Schooling on Academic Achievement: Evidence from Mandatory School Calendar Conversions," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 230-252, November.
    18. Agüero, Jorge M. & Beleche, Trinidad, 2013. "Test-Mex: Estimating the effects of school year length on student performance in Mexico," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 353-361.
    19. Figlio, D. & Karbownik, K. & Salvanes, K.G., 2016. "Education Research and Administrative Data," Handbook of the Economics of Education,, Elsevier.
    20. Murray, Alan T., 2016. "Assessing the impacts of traditional school year calendar start dates," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 28-36.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Knowledge decay; Sequential courses; (Summer) Learning loss;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:50:y:2016:i:c:p:63-74. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/econedurev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.