Empirical Investigation of the Summer Setback Phenomena Among Vocational School Students in the 9th Grade

Abstract

Numeracy is one of the basic skills to be developed in the education system, and we can rely on ample domestic history regarding its measurement and development. Our research focuses on 9th grade students who often start their vocational school studies with incomplete knowledge and are often characterized by lower SES-background. According to previous international studies, the summer set back, which has long been mentioned in the international literature, but has not yet been empirically tested in Hungary, affects disadvantaged students more severely. 9th grade students at a vocational school in Vác participated in our study (N = 91). The online test consists of several parts: in addition to arithmetic skills, we measured the performance on word problem solving, and one component of problem posing ability. The students completed the same test at two measurement times: first in June, then in September, in the following academic year. According to our results, there was no significant decline in the performances of students who produced results close to the ceiling effect. At the same time, the rearrangement of performances can be detected: the scattergram of the data of the two measurement points shows remarkable individual development paths. A medium and positive effect size was observed in the problem posing subtest.