Georgia Policy Labs Reports
Student Achievement Growth During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Author ORCID Identifier
Thomas Goldring: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1289-1819
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Document Type
Report
Publication Date
5-13-2021
Abstract
Using individual-level student data from three urban school districts in metro-Atlanta, we measure the impact of the pandemic on student achievement growth and how those effects vary across grades, subjects, student groups, and instructional modes. We use information on the learning trajectories of prior cohorts coupled with individual test score histories of students prior to the pandemic to estimate what each student’s scores would have been in the absence of the pandemic and compare that to their actual scores in fall and winter of the current school year. We find the pandemic slowed learning growth by as much as 7 months of learning in math and up to 7.5 months of learning in reading. These impacts vary considerably across grades, subjects, districts, and student groups, however. Based on these findings, we provide a menu of evidence-based strategies that school districts can use to meet the differing needs of students and get students back on track academically.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/30728958
Recommended Citation
Sass, T., & Goldring, T. (2021). Student Achievement Growth During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Georgia Policy Labs. https://doi.org/10.57709/30728958