位于密苏里州堪萨斯城大学的堪萨斯城区域专业发展中心（RPDC）从密苏里州中小学教育部获得了一份为期两年、价值2900万美元的合同，旨在重新设计学术评估资源，以帮助教师更及时有效地识别和解决学生学习中的差距。
堪萨斯城RPDC位于威尼斯人娱乐城教育，社会工作和心理科学学院，将提供人员，设计，内容开发和项目实施，以支持从幼儿园到高中的学习损失研究。 该项目源于了解COVID-19大流行如何影响密苏里州的中小学教育的需要，但也有一个更大的目的，即开发一种工具，为教师提供他们正在教学的一年内学生理解能力的数据，以便在暑假之前解决学习方面的差距。
“Based on scientific knowledge this is a huge step,” Michael Pragman, Ed.D. RPDC的高级项目主管说。 “Typically, in the state of Missouri there are assessments that are officially measured starting with third grade. At that point you may be receiving data on a student entering fourth grade who is already behind.”
向教师提供数据，说明他们是否在学年内达到了学生的目标，这将是一个不同的因素，因为教师将收到当前学生的信息，并有时间在学生转到新年级和新老师之前解决这些问题。
普拉格曼预计，尽早解决学习挑战可能会对学业产生长期影响。
“If we wait until the end of third grade, a lot of students who are frustrated don’t care about school anymore. 我们从研究中得知，四年级的学生要么热爱学习，想要继续学习，要么感到无聊，他们的行为就是表现出来。 We think the results of this testing may abate some of that.”
教育、社会工作和心理科学学院的临时院长卡罗琳·巴伯博士说，对个人学习的关注是这项研究的重要组成部分。
“I think it's a testament to the work that the RPDC and the school has done to be a partner, not only in the Kansas City Metro, but to the state of Missouri. We are recognized for our expertise,” Barber says. “We didn’t start working with assessments like these because there was a crisis. Dr. Pragman and members of his team have been active in this area for years, which is what made us an attractive partner for the state of Missouri.”