The National Education Policy Center (NEPC) recently published a brief mentioning our program. It is important that we provide clarity on the assumptions and claims made in this brief, in order to ensure our partners have factual and reliable information on the Summit Learning program.
Student privacy is our top priority.
Gradient Learning has one of the toughest privacy policies in the field. Protecting student privacy is our top priority, and data is solely used for educational purposes and never sold. There are no exceptions to this, and we share our privacy policy on our website in our dedicated Privacy Center for full transparency. Common Sense Media — one of the most trusted and objective independent evaluators — gave Summit Learning one of the highest possible scores in a recent evaluation. You can find their evaluation of the Summit Learning program on its website here.
In addition to having one of the highest possible privacy scores, we also go above compliance to ensure student information is safe. On top of our compliance with federal privacy laws like the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), we voluntarily comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and are committed to the Software & Information Industry Association and Future of Privacy Forum’s Student Privacy Pledge.
Educators know what their students need, and they choose to join the Summit Learning community to drive change.
Schools and districts across the country seek out our program — offered at no cost to those who meet requirements — in part due to our adaptable curriculum that helps students build skills and habits that will prepare them for the rest of their lives. When we partner with educators, schools and districts, we commit to helping them in their efforts to improve education in their communities, and in turn, they commit to providing open and honest feedback on how to improve our program. It is a journey we take together to drive positive change forward.
Across the country, Summit Learning students are thriving — even under the most challenging circumstances.
We’re proud of the progress and positive data we are seeing in our partner schools across the country. Schools and districts across the country using Summit Learning have reported positive impacts of the program, including higher test scores, increased student engagement, stronger attendance rates, and improvements in student behavior. In a 2019 survey of more than 1,700 Summit Learning teachers, 95 percent said that Summit Learning positively impacted their students and 94 percent said Summit Learning made them better teachers. Many of our partners expressed how much better prepared they were to navigate COVID-19 school closures because they had been using the Summit Learning program. From New Jersey, to Colorado, to Ohio, to Arkansas, educators were able to keep students engaged and learning despite the challenging circumstances.
Here are several more examples of the ways students are thriving using Summit Learning.
- The University of Michigan’s School of Education found that Dexter Community Schools students who participated in the Summit Learning program earned significantly higher standardized test scores in Reading and Math when compared to students who weren’t in the Summit Learning program. Students using the program also reported more positive classroom experiences, felt content was more relevant to their lives, and felt more accepted at school. You can read the report here.
- Farmington High School, located in Davis Utah, reported the highest average ACT composite score of any high school in the school district after just one year in the program. The local news covered Summit’s role here.
- Greeley educators noted that the Summit Learning program helped them make an easier transition to remote learning during at the onset of the COVID-19 crisis while ensuring rigor remained high. The school leaders detailed Summit Learning’s impact in the Greeley Tribune.
We are an independent organization of educators.
As a note of clarification, Gradient Learning (the independent nonprofit that operates the Summit Learning program) is an entirely separate organization and should not be conflated with Summit Public Schools. Gradient Learning was launched on June 1, 2019 to operate the Summit Learning program, including its platform. As such, Summit Learning is not under the operation of Summit Public Schools.
We are proud of our partners and the work they are doing for their students. If you would like to learn more about our program, or the rigorous professional development our teachers are doing this summer to prepare for the upcoming school year, please reach out to media@summitlearning.org.