BIPOC students' math achievement in fall 2020 dropped substantially relative to pre-pandemic national norms, with the largest declines in grades 4-6¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r3 · q2
Currency · newest study 2021 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2026: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Math percentile rank for BIPOC student groups fell across nearly all grades between fall 2019 and fall 2020, with the largest drops (3 to 13 percentile points) in the earliest grades examined. → Megan Kuhfeld 2021

Evidence¶

Megan Kuhfeld 2021¶

Megan Kuhfeld, Erik Ruzek, Karyn Lewis, Jim Soland, Angela Johnson, Beth Tarasawa, & Lindsay Dworkin. (2021). Understanding the initial educational impacts of COVID-19 on communities of color. NWEA Research Report. https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/understanding-the-initial-educational-impacts-of-covid-19-on-communities-of-color/

q2 · i? · associational · r3

Observational analysis of MAP Growth scores from 2.1 million BIPOC students in grades 3-8 comparing fall 2020 percentile ranks to fall 2019 against pre-pandemic national norms. The report states "the largest drops (ranging from 3 to 13 percentile points) were observed in the earliest grade levels we examined"; AIAN, Latinx, and Native Hawaiian groups were most affected.

"Overall, math achievement, when benchmarked against a national sample from before the pandemic, was lower in fall 2020 than in fall 2019 for nearly all grade levels examined in this report. However, the largest drops (ranging from 3 to 13 percentile points) were observed in the earliest grade levels we examined"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Race and Ethnicity — predictor: outcomes differ by group: a gap reflecting circumstances and treatment, not a cause

Related Claims¶

• Black, AIAN, and Latinx students made 55-68% of typical math gains and 73-86% of typical reading gains during the pandemic, while Asian American students made 88-100% — related
• Fall 2020 math achievement was 5 to 10 percentile points lower than pre-COVID-19 performance by same-grade students — a broader claim this one bears on
• American Indian and Alaska Native, Black, and Latinx students and students in high-poverty schools were disproportionately impacted by pandemic-era achievement declines, particularly in elementary grades — related
• Fall 2021 achievement was lower for all student groups, with disproportionately high impacts for historically marginalized students and students in high-poverty schools — related
• NWEA's 2024 technical brief examines pandemic impacts on science achievement and gains from 2019 through 2024, continuing research on COVID-19 school-closure effects on learning — related
• Students showed lower math growth in fall 2020 across grades 3-8 relative to peers in the previous, more typical year — related
• Male BIPOC students and BIPOC students in high-poverty schools made the lowest percentage of typical learning gains during the pandemic — related
• Pandemic achievement declines were uneven across racial/ethnic groups, with the largest declines still apparent for Hispanic, Black, and AIAN students in spring 2022 — related
• Pandemic-period gains from fall 2019 to fall 2021 fell short of pre-pandemic growth norms — related
• COVID-19 closures left schools and districts serving 55.1 million students in an unprecedented time — related
• The webinar frames pandemic learning impact as a concern particularly for students of color and students living in poverty — related
• The webinar presents research comparing student academic trends during the pandemic year to a more typical school year — related
• Students in higher grades report lower emotional engagement in science than third-grade students, with scores dropping below the grand mean from sixth grade onward — related
• The COVID-19 pandemic influenced U.S. science achievement, as shown by trends in science test scores across seven school years from 2019 through 2024 — related