Remote learning exacerbated pre-pandemic disparities in no-credit grades for low-income students and students of color in grades 4-8, but within-school differences were small¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2022 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? No-credit rates in grades 4-8 rose from 12 to 46 percent for free-lunch-eligible students and from 14 to 47 percent for Black students in spring 2020, larger increases than for more advantaged groups; within the same school, differences by race and economic status were small. → Gwynne 2022

Evidence¶

Gwynne 2022¶

Gwynne, J.A., Allensworth, E.M., & Liang, Y. (2022). Student engagement in learning during COVID-19: Students' course grades in Chicago Public Schools. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Consortium on School Research. https://www.cps.edu/about/departments/office-of-equity/

q2 · i? · associational · r2

Descriptive analysis of no-credit grade rates by student background among 223,096 grades 4-8 students, with hierarchical linear models comparing students within the same school. The report finds rates "increased from 12 to 46 percent for students eligible for free lunch" and larger increases for students of color.

"Rates of no-credit grades increased from 12 to 46 percent for students eligible for free lunch and from 9 to 38 percent for students eligible for reduced-priced lunch, ( see Figure 5, Panel A ); no-credit rates increased from 14 to 47 percent and 11 to 43 percent for Black and Latinx students, respectively"

Discussion¶

Learner Variables¶

• Socioeconomic Status — moderator: an instructional effect differs by group

Related Claims¶

• Children from low-SES families were more negatively affected by COVID-19 school closures than children from high-SES families — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Course grades of students in grades 4-8 declined during remote and hybrid learning relative to pre-pandemic years — related
• Students in grades 4-8 were much more likely to receive no-credit grades during remote learning, with 41 percent receiving at least one Incomplete in spring 2020 — related
• High school course grades improved in spring 2020 and remained higher than pre-pandemic levels through spring 2021, with a slight rise in Fs — related
• No-credit rates during the pandemic varied considerably across elementary schools, including among schools serving similar student populations — related
• Payne argues that color-blind ideology in schools precludes discussion of how outcomes and privilege are distributed by race — related
• Achievement disparities by student race/ethnicity widened substantively during the pandemic — related
• As total enrollment shrinks, the shares of English Learners, students with disabilities, and low-income students are growing, concentrating higher-need populations in districts with less funding — related
• Socio-economic inequality in learning increased during the pandemic for most estimates, across subjects, grades and pandemic stages — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)