Personalized Learning Attenuates Learning Loss Among Rural Students (Poster 10)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Four
  In Poster Session: Digital Learning and Development

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted education around the world, leading to widespread learning loss. Educational technology—specifically, personalized learning—could help remedy this learning loss (Kaffenberger, 2021), especially in rural areas of the U.S., which were severely impacted by the pandemic (Mueller et al., 2021). Using a pretest-posttest design, we investigated the impact of one personalized learning platform, IXL, on rural students’ academic achievement in Arkansas, South Dakota, and Wyoming. We found that grade cohorts that used IXL outperformed those that did not use IXL on the 2021 math and ELA state assessments, and IXL usage was positively associated with achievement gains. These results suggest that personalized learning such as IXL could help attenuate the adverse educational effects of the pandemic.

Authors

• Christina C Schonberg, IXL Learning
  Presenting Author

• Xiaozhu An, IXL Learning
  Non-Presenting Author

• Bozhidar M. Bashkov, IXL Learning
  Non-Presenting Author