Reading impact study

For a new study, researchers looked at 26 previous studies and a total of 25,090 students and found that differences in reading comprehension could explain 8.4 percent of the variation seen in college grades. The lead author said: "It's about the same magnitude as high school GPA, and high school GPA is historically regarded as the best predictor of college GPA." 

Clinton-Lisell, V. (2022). Performance on reading comprehension assessments and college achievement: A meta-analysis. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 

• https://doi.org/10.1080/10790195.2022.2062626

Online Versus In-Person Courses

According to a study, students taking the course in-person earned roughly a B- grade (2.8) on average while if they had taken it online, they would have earned a C (2.4). Additionally, taking a course online reduces a student’s GPA the following term by 0.15 points; and, if we look only at the next term GPA for courses in the same subject area or courses for which the course in question is a pre-requisite, we find larger drops of 0.42 points and 0.32 points respectively, providing evidence that students learned less in the online setting. The study also finds that taking a course online, instead of in person, increases the probability that a student will drop out of school. The study suggests that continued improvement of online curricula and instruction can strengthen the quality of these courses and hence the educational opportunities for the most in-need populations.

Bettinger, E., & Loeb, S. (2017). Promises and pitfalls of online education. Evidence Speaks Reports, 2(15). https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ccf_20170609_loeb_evidence_speaks1.pdf