Technical brief
Technical Brief Recovery still elusive: 2023-24 student achievement highlights persistent achievement gaps and a long road ahead
July 2024
Description
Based on data from 2023-24, this brief shares several key findings, including:
- Growth during 2023-24 fell short of pre-pandemic trends in nearly all grades. This continues the trend of stalled progress observed in the previous school year and indicates that pandemic recovery remains elusive.
- The gap between pre-COVID and COVID test score averages widened in 2023-24 in nearly all grades, by an average of 36% in reading and 18% in math.
- The average student will need the equivalent of 4.8 additional months of schooling to catch up in reading and 4.3 months in math. These estimates are similar to last year for math, and larger for reading.
- Comparing across race/ethnicity groups, growth for all students lagged pre-pandemic trends in 2023-24. Marginalized students remain the furthest from recovery.
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Equity, Growth
Associated Research
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