Pandemic-period gains from fall 2019 to fall 2021 fell short of pre-pandemic growth norms¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2021 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · recheck by 2026: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Student gains across the pandemic period lagged pre-pandemic norms in reading and math. → Karyn Lewis 2021

Evidence¶

Karyn Lewis 2021¶

Karyn Lewis, Megan Kuhfeld. (2021). Learning during COVID-19: An update on student achievement and growth at the start of the 2021-22 school year. NWEA Research brief. https://www.nwea.org/research/publication/learning-during-covid-19-an-update-on-student-achievement-and-growth-at-the-start-of-the-2021-22-school-year/

q3 · i? · associational · r2

The brief's stated analysis compares gains across fall 2019 to fall 2021 with pre-pandemic trends using MAP Growth data; the results paragraph reports these gains "lagged pre-pandemic norms." No effect sizes are printed in the available text.

"this brief examines how gains across the pandemic (from fall 2019 to fall 2021) and student achievement in fall 2021 compare to pre-pandemic trends"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• 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
• 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
• Student achievement at the start of the 2021-22 school year lagged pre-pandemic norms, especially in math — related
• Low achievers experienced larger initial pandemic impacts and less improvement during 2021-22 — related
• Growth for all race/ethnicity groups lagged pre-pandemic trends in 2023-24, with marginalized students furthest from recovery — related
• Reading and math gains during 2020-21 were diminished compared to pre-pandemic trends, especially in the latter half of the school year — 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 — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• 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% — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• First graders in 2021–22 grew less in math and reading than a typical prepandemic year, by 6–7% — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• BIPOC students' math achievement in fall 2020 dropped substantially relative to pre-pandemic national norms, with the largest declines in grades 4-6 — related
• Pandemic achievement gaps in math and reading continued to narrow from spring 2021 through fall 2022 — related
• Projected fall 2020 reading gains for returning students are approximately 63 to 68% of a typical school year's learning gains — related
• Projections indicate students may return in fall 2020 with 37-50% of typical math learning gains — a narrower finding that bears on this claim
• The report examines how school shutdowns impacted student achievement at the start of the 2020-21 school year — related
• The 2021-22 COVID learning study investigated fall 2021 achievement versus pre-pandemic fall 2019 levels and fall 2019 to fall 2021 gains versus normative growth expectations — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• The NWEA COVID-19 visualization provides state-level insights into 2020–2021 MAP Growth performance to inform academic recovery — related
• Updated norms are heavily weighted toward 2021/22 pandemic-era performance, with lower norm-group performance than the prior norms — related
• The webinar presents research comparing student academic trends during the pandemic year to a more typical 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. — related
• AI-supported PBL offerings showed higher A-rates and fewer low grades than pre-integration control offerings when including the COVID-19 year — related
• Student growth during 2023-24 fell short of pre-pandemic trends in nearly all grades, continuing stalled pandemic recovery — related
• The brief investigated the degree to which students' reading and math test scores became more variable as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic — related