Learn How Our Programs Improve Academic Outcomes

To ensure our hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) programs maintain the highest educational standards while inspiring students across the country, for over 30 years the National Inventors Hall of Fame^® has partnered with independent research organizations.

In one of our recently published white papers, “SEI Research Shows NIHF Program Boosts Attendance, Grades and Test Scores,” we explore our ongoing partnership with the Summit Education Initiative (SEI). This paper discusses how one program’s positive results add to a growing body of scholarship supporting the effectiveness of high-quality out-of-school-time (OST) programs.

We invite you to read an excerpt from the paper below, detailing the positive impact of our customized programs during the summer of 2022.

Key Findings From Innovation 365: Wraparound, Summer 2022

Because our goals at the National Inventors Hall of Fame align with those of SEI, for the past five years we have partnered to conduct research on the effectiveness of our summer programming. The most recent study, published in early 2023, analyzed the impact of Akron Public Schools (APS) Innovation 365: Wraparound, a four-week enhanced English Language Arts (ELA) version of Camp Invention^®, the flagship K-6 summer STEM program from the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

As SEI studied Innovation 365: Wraparound in the summer of 2022, they found improvements across the board in participating students’ GPA, i-Ready standardized test scores in mathematics and reading, and school attendance the following academic year.

Increased GPA

According to the SEI report, the mean GPA for APS students who attended our program increased during Marking Period 1 of the 2022-23 school year.

Increased i-Ready Mathematics and Reading Scores

First administered during the summer of 2011, the i-Ready Diagnostic assessments “align to college and career ready standards so that results can inform student placement decisions, offer explicit instructional advice and prescribe resources for targeted instruction and intervention.” Following multiple studies supporting the validity and accuracy of this assessment, as well as its consistency with educational standards across the United States, 21 states have approved the i-Ready Diagnostic as an assessment, instructional resource or intervention.

For students who attended our program, during the 2022-23 school year, both average (44) and median (40) percentile scores in math were higher than the district average for all students, including students who attended other summer programs during the same time period. Additionally, most of the participating students for whom i-Ready scores were available maintained their performance level on this assessment from spring to fall.

For i-Ready reading scores, both average (47) and median (43) percentile scores for students who participated in the program were higher than the district average for all students, including all summer program participants as a whole. Most of the participating students for whom i-Ready scores were available maintained their performance level on this assessment from spring to fall.

Increased Attendance

Students who participated in our program during the summer of 2022 had fewer absences (1.9) during Marking Period 1 of the 2022-23 school year than the overall school average (3.3). These results are significant and speak to our program’s power to enhance student engagement long after its duration.

Diana Kingsbury, SEI’s senior director of research and analytics, highlighted these results in particular when speaking with the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

“There’s really no doubt that students who participated in National Inventors Hall of Fame programs – likely just by virtue of participating in that program – were staying on track for academic success,” Kingsbury said. “We believe as an organization and in our work with the Out of School Time Network that engagement for students outside the classroom is critical for student success.”

Download the Full White Paper for Free Today

To read this white paper in its entirety, we invite you to visit our website.