Students Of Color Falling Behind In Math & Reading As A Result Of School Closures

When COVID-19 forced most schools in the country to go virtual, many students, particularly children of color and economically challenged students, took the biggest hit, according to an analysis of student test scores. 

The study was conducted and reported by NWEA, formerly the Northwest Evaluation Association. They analyzed MAP Growth assessment results of nearly 4.4 million U.S. students in grades three through eight this fall. They found that that most of these students were lacking drastically in math, scoring an average of 5 to 10 percentile points behind students who were tested on the same subject matter. They also concluded that with reading, most students performed at pre-pandemic levels. However, this was not true for Black and Hispanic students and those who attend high-poverty schools, whose test scores were behind their fellow White students, or those who attended affluent schools. 

“It’s a reason for concern, and it’s a reason to really focus our attention on helping catch kids up,” said Megan Kuhfeld, an NWEA senior research scientist and the lead author of the study.

The MAP Growth assessments are given to students at thousands of U.S. schools multiple times a year to track their progress in math and reading. Kuhfeld says that these tests will continue to show learning disparities in vulnerable children if educators and parents do not act fast.

“They could fall further and further behind if they have holes in their learning.”

Unfortunately, 1 in 4 students did not take the assessment this fall due to a wide range of occurrences such as no internet access to connect to their virtual class or quarantine measures. One study estimates that 3 million homeless students or students in foster care could be displaced from school altogether. 

“The students we’re most worried about are likely the ones who are missing,” Kuhfeld said.

Renaissance Learning, Inc. conducted a similar study to that of NWEA’s that yielded similar results. Renaissance reviewed more than 3 million test scores from Star, another widely used school assessment. They found that reading scores in U.S. students in grades one through eight were down slightly, and math scores were down extensively compared to a typical non-pandemic year. Also, similar to the NWEA test, Renaissance found a drop in the number of students who took its assessments this fall.