"Testing and repetition have become dirty words in education," says Justin Skycak, who leads curriculum at Math Academy.
American schools drown in standardized tests. Testing became synonymous with accountability theater - measuring schools, not helping students learn.
Yet Justin also notes that self-testing - where students quiz themselves to pull information from memory - is one of the most effective learning techniques. (You can read his blog post here.)
The irony is that if schools used the kind of testing that actually builds learning, students would ace the accountability tests without trying.
Fact: Students who test themselves retain up to 80% more than those who just re-read material.
The classic experiment went like this: Take college students learning prose passages. Split them into groups. One group studies the material 4 times (SSSS). Another studies 3 times and takes one test (SSST). A third studies once and takes 3 tests (STTT).
Five minutes later, the study-only group performs best. But check back in a week, and the test-heavy group retains 61% while the study-only group drops to 40%.
Without reinforcement, 70% of information vanishes within 24 hours.
This is one of the most robust findings in education research. It's been replicated over and over since the early 1900s, and the latest study confirmed it again: practice tests boost retention and help students transfer knowledge to new problems.
The takeaway: Self-testing beats studying for long-term retention.
Hear how Math Academy helps families solve the problem of kids forgetting what they just learned:
– Charlie (the OpenEd newsletter guy)
P.S. We officially closed fall applications, but we're holding a private door open through July 10. If you have a friend or family member who missed the window, current OpenEd families can share this link: opened.co/friends-and-family.
