Journal article
Test score patterns across three COVID-19-impacted school years
July 2022
Educational Researcher. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X221109178
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a seismic and ongoing disruption to K–12 schooling. Using test scores from 5.4 million U.S. students in Grades 3–8, we tracked changes in math and reading achievement across the first 2 years of the pandemic. Average math test scores in the fall of 2021 in Grades 3–8 were .20–.27 standard deviation (SD) lower relative to same-grade peers in the fall of 2019, while reading test scores decreased by .09–.18 SD. Achievement gaps between students in low-poverty and high-poverty elementary schools grew by .10–.20 SD, primarily during the 2020–2021 school year. Achievement disparities by student race/ethnicity also widened substantively. Observed declines are more substantial than during other recent school disruptions, such as those due to natural disasters.
See MoreThis article was published outside of NWEA. The full text can be found at the link above.
Topics: Equity, COVID-19 & schools
Related Topics
COVID’s impact on science achievement: Trends from 2019 through 2024
This new report examines the pandemic’s impacts on academic achievement and gain in Science and continues ongoing research by NWEA® analyzing the degree to which the COVID-19 pandemic, and its associated school closures, influenced student learning.
Products: MAP Growth
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Equity, Growth
Technical Brief – COVID’s impact on science achievement: Trends from 2019 through 2024
This is the accompanying technical brief to the new report (Covid’s impact on science achievement: Trends from 2019 through 2024) that examines the pandemic’s impacts on academic achievement and gain in Science and continues ongoing research by NWEA® analyzing the degree to which the COVID-19 pandemic, and its associated school closures, influenced student learning.
Products: MAP Growth
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Equity, Growth
Reconciling Recent Evidence on Academic Recovery in the US from 2022 to 2023
A new analysis comparing latest NWEA and the Education Recovery Scorecard results to understand pandemic recovery, so far, and look at differences and similarities in those results.
Products: MAP Growth
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Equity, Growth
NWEA research report examining the impacts of the pandemic’s disruptions to learning and the status of academic recovery. This report features data from the 2023-24 academic year and underscores that unfinished learning continues to be a challenge due to lower achievement gains compared to pre-pandemic trends. This report is part of series tracking the on-going impacts.
Products: MAP Growth
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Equity, Growth
NWEA research report examining the impacts of the pandemic’s disruptions to learning and the status of academic recovery. This report features data from the 2023-24 academic year and underscores that unfinished learning continues to be a challenge due to lower achievement gains compared to pre-pandemic trends. This report is part of series tracking the on-going impacts.
Products: MAP Growth
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Equity, Growth
Effective summer programs: Practical guidance for district leaders
This report dives into the research on summer programs, their implementation and design, as well as the efficacy of those programs for literacy, math, and social-emotional learning (SEL) outcomes. It also provides recommendations for district leaders to use as a framework for planning and implementing effective summer programming.
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Growth, Guidance, Seasonal learning patterns & summer loss
High dosage tutoring for academically at-risk students
This brief provides a review of the research on high dosage tutoring as an intervention strategy for supporting at-risk students. It highlights the benefits and the non-negotiable factors for effective implementation and usage.
Topics: COVID-19 & schools, Equity, Growth, Informing instruction
