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Unequal Learning Loss: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Influenced the Academic Growth of Learners at the Tails of the Achievement Distribution

Scott J. Peters,
Meredith Langi,
Megan Kuhfeld,
Karyn Lewis

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in substantial unfinished learning for U.S. students, but to differing degrees for various subgroups. For example, students of color, from low-income families, or who attended high-poverty schools experienced greater unfinished learning. In this study we examined the degree of unfinished learning for students who went into the pandemic scoring in the top or bottom 10% in the math or reading achievement distributions. Our results show that students who scored at or below the 10th percentile grew less during the pandemic than their similarly-scoring, pre-COVID peers and, as of the end of the 2021 – 2021 school year, had yet to rebound toward pre-COVID levels of growth or achievement. Conversely, students who scored at or above the 90th percentile largely grew at rates closer to their pre-COVID peers. These students were harmed less academically and have recovered more quickly than their peers scoring at or below the 10th percentile.

Keywords
COVID-19, Unfinished Learning, Gifted, Special Education, Exceptional Learners
Education level
K-12 Education
Topics
Student Learning
Tags
Equity,
Covid-19 recovery
Download 06/2023
Document Object Identifier (DOI)
10.26300/z2ek-4937
EdWorkingPaper suggested citation:
Peters, Scott J., Meredith Langi, Megan Kuhfeld, and Karyn Lewis. (). Unequal Learning Loss: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Influenced the Academic Growth of Learners at the Tails of the Achievement Distribution. (EdWorkingPaper: -787). Retrieved from Annenberg Institute at Brown University: https://doi.org/10.26300/z2ek-4937

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