The purpose of this technical appendix is to share more detailed results and to describe more fully the sample and methods used in the research included in the brief, Learning during COVID-19: An update on student achievement and growth at the start of the 2021-22 school year. We investigated two research questions:

1. How does student achievement in fall 2021 compare to pre-pandemic levels (namely fall 2019)?
2. How did academic gains between fall 2019 and fall 2021 compare to normative growth expectations?

The purpose of this technical appendix is to share more detailed results and to describe more fully the sample and methods used in the research included in the brief, Learning during COVID-19: Reading and math achievement in the 2020-21 school year.

Two research questions were investigated in this brief:

1. How do gains across the 2020-21 school year compare to pre-pandemic trends?
2. How does student achievement in spring of 2021 compare to pre-pandemic levels?

How have COVID-19 school closures impacted student academic growth and achievement? New research using fall 2020 MAP Growth assessment data for 4.4 million students provides new insights, key findings, and actionable recommendations.

This technical brief provides additional detail on the samples, methodology, and results from analyses highlighted in the brief, Learning during COVID-19: Initial findings on students’ reading and math achievement and growth.

This study examined patterns of MAP Growth assessment attrition by schools and students from fall 2019 to fall 2020. Demographic differences between students tested in fall 2020 and attriters suggest impacts of COVID-19 on achievement are likely underestimated, highlighting the importance of considering students missing from school or assessment to best support growth and recovery.

This technical appendix outlines the methodology behind the projections in the NWEA research white paper, The COVID-19 slide: What summer learning loss can tell us about the potential impact of school closures on student academic achievement.