The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of a summer learning loss prevention program that is designed to improve the academic achievement gap. The target population for this research study was participants of the Power Scholars Academy (PSA) program. PSA is a collaboration of BellXcel, local school districts, and community organizations. BellXcel as the creator of the program, provided the curriculum for extended learning opportunities during out of school time. For this study, BellXcel partnered with the school district located in the second largest county in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The study analyzed 1,567 students who participated in the PSA program between 2017 and 2021. Participants came from low-income communities in Kentucky with many scoring in the low fortieth percentile on their Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test. The aim of the study is to examine the impact that the PSA program has on the summer learning of students. Data used for the study was pre-existing and provided from BellXcel. The following dependent variables were evaluated in the study: (1) pretest scores, (2) post-test scores, and (3) the correlation of the summer test scores, and the demographics of the population will be examined. A causal-comparative research design was used for the study to seek to find the relationships between independent and dependent variables within this quantitative research study. Study findings concluded the PSA program had a positive impact on overall student achievement in both literacy with +1.05 - +3.7 months’’ growth and +1.5 - +5.88 months’’ growth in math. Therefore, this study provides insight into how summer learning programming can work to mitigate learning loss for students and close the achievement gap.
","abstract_html":"<p>The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of a summer learning loss prevention program that is designed to improve the academic achievement gap. The target population for this research study was participants of the Power Scholars Academy (PSA) program. PSA is a collaboration of BellXcel, local school districts, and community organizations. BellXcel as the creator of the program, provided the curriculum for extended learning opportunities during out of school time. For this study, BellXcel partnered with the school district located in the second largest county in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The study analyzed 1,567 students who participated in the PSA program between 2017 and 2021. Participants came from low-income communities in Kentucky with many scoring in the low fortieth percentile on their Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test. The aim of the study is to examine the impact that the PSA program has on the summer learning of students. Data used for the study was pre-existing and provided from BellXcel. The following dependent variables were evaluated in the study: (1) pretest scores, (2) post-test scores, and (3) the correlation of the summer test scores, and the demographics of the population will be examined. A causal-comparative research design was used for the study to seek to find the relationships between independent and dependent variables within this quantitative research study. Study findings concluded the PSA program had a positive impact on overall student achievement in both literacy with +1.05 - +3.7 months’’ growth and +1.5 - +5.88 months’’ growth in math. Therefore, this study provides insight into how summer learning programming can work to mitigate learning loss for students and close the achievement gap. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Steele, Sharonda"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Doctor of Education (EdD)","degree_level":"Doctoral's","degree_discipline":"Educational Leadership and Policy Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2022-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:00Z","subjects":["Achievement Gap","Summer learning loss","Educational Administration and Supervision","Educational Methods"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2022 Sharonda Steele"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/765","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Steele, Sharonda"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Educational Leadership and Policy Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctoral's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Achievement Gap","Summer learning loss","Educational Administration and Supervision","Educational Methods"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2022 Sharonda Steele"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/765"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of a summer learning loss prevention program that is designed to improve the academic achievement gap. The target population for this research study was participants of the Power Scholars Academy (PSA) program. PSA is a collaboration of BellXcel, local school districts, and community organizations. BellXcel as the creator of the program, provided the curriculum for extended learning opportunities during out of school time. For this study, BellXcel partnered with the school district located in the second largest county in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The study analyzed 1,567 students who participated in the PSA program between 2017 and 2021. Participants came from low-income communities in Kentucky with many scoring in the low fortieth percentile on their Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test. The aim of the study is to examine the impact that the PSA program has on the summer learning of students. Data used for the study was pre-existing and provided from BellXcel. The following dependent variables were evaluated in the study: (1) pretest scores, (2) post-test scores, and (3) the correlation of the summer test scores, and the demographics of the population will be examined. A causal-comparative research design was used for the study to seek to find the relationships between independent and dependent variables within this quantitative research study. Study findings concluded the PSA program had a positive impact on overall student achievement in both literacy with +1.05 - +3.7 months’’ growth and +1.5 - +5.88 months’’ growth in math. Therefore, this study provides insight into how summer learning programming can work to mitigate learning loss for students and close the achievement gap.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/PDF"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Impact That The Power Scholars’ Academy Program Has On The Achievement Of Students In Reading And Math"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Steele, Sharonda"],"dc:description.abstract":["The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of a summer learning loss prevention program that is designed to improve the academic achievement gap. The target population for this research study was participants of the Power Scholars Academy (PSA) program. PSA is a collaboration of BellXcel, local school districts, and community organizations. BellXcel as the creator of the program, provided the curriculum for extended learning opportunities during out of school time. For this study, BellXcel partnered with the school district located in the second largest county in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The study analyzed 1,567 students who participated in the PSA program between 2017 and 2021. Participants came from low-income communities in Kentucky with many scoring in the low fortieth percentile on their Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) test. The aim of the study is to examine the impact that the PSA program has on the summer learning of students. Data used for the study was pre-existing and provided from BellXcel. The following dependent variables were evaluated in the study: (1) pretest scores, (2) post-test scores, and (3) the correlation of the summer test scores, and the demographics of the population will be examined. A causal-comparative research design was used for the study to seek to find the relationships between independent and dependent variables within this quantitative research study. Study findings concluded the PSA program had a positive impact on overall student achievement in both literacy with +1.05 - +3.7 months’’ growth and +1.5 - +5.88 months’’ growth in math. Therefore, this study provides insight into how summer learning programming can work to mitigate learning loss for students and close the achievement gap.
"],"dc:format":["application/PDF"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/765"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2022 Sharonda Steele"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["Achievement Gap","Summer learning loss","Educational Administration and Supervision","Educational Methods"],"dc:title":["The Impact That The Power Scholars’ Academy Program Has On The Achievement Of Students In Reading And Math"],"dc:type":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Educational Leadership and Policy Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Education (EdD)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:00Z"}