Reading and math gains during 2020-21 were diminished compared to pre-pandemic trends, especially in the latter half of the school year¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr2·q2
Currency · newest study 2021 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2026: baselines and conditions change
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Gains across the 2020-21 school year in both reading and math fell below pre-pandemic trends, with the shortfall concentrated in the latter half of the year. → Learning during COVID-19: Reading and math achievement in the 2020-2021 school year 2021
Evidence¶
Learning during COVID-19: Reading and math achievement in the 2020-2021 school year 2021¶
Learning during COVID-19: Reading and math achievement in the 2020-2021 school year. (2021). NWEA Research. https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/learning-during-covid-19-reading-and-math-achievement-in-the-2020-2021-school-year/
q2 · i? · associational · r2
The brief's summary describes an analysis of within-year gains on MAP Growth assessments in reading and math for grades 3-8, stating gains "were diminished compared to pre-pandemic trends, especially in the latter half of the year." No effect sizes are printed in the available text.
"Reading and math gains in 2020-2021 were diminished compared to pre-pandemic trends, especially in the latter half of the year"
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- On average, students across most grades made reading and math gains during the 2020-21 pandemic-affected school year — related
- Students in grades 3-8 made reading and math gains in 2020-21 but ended the year with lower achievement than in a typical year, with larger declines in math than in reading — related
- Student achievement at the start of the 2021-22 school year lagged pre-pandemic norms, especially in math — 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
- Pandemic-period gains from fall 2019 to fall 2021 fell short of pre-pandemic growth norms — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
- Pandemic-period growth varied by pre-pandemic achievement status: higher achievers' gains were more consistent with projected normative growth while lower achievers more often fell short — related
- The average student demonstrated positive math and reading gains during the 2020-2021 school year — related
- The Learning during COVID-19 research investigated whether 2020-21 school-year gains and spring 2021 achievement differed from pre-pandemic trends and levels in reading and math. — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
- The report examines how school shutdowns impacted student achievement at the start of the 2020-21 school year — related
- The webinar presents research comparing student academic trends during the pandemic year to a more typical school year — a broader claim this one bears on
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
covid-2020-21-diminished-gains-latter-half-year |
title |
Reading and math gains during 2020-21 were diminished compared to pre-pandemic trends, especially in the latter half of the school year |
description |
Reading and math gains during 2020-21 were diminished compared to pre-pandemic trends, especially in the latter half of the school year |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2021 |
recheck_by |
2026 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-08 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — learning-during-covid-19-reading-and-math-achievement-in-the-2020-2021-school-year-2021 |
Frontmatter is the page's machine-readable record — see the Schema & Guide.