Learning during COVID-19: An update on student achievement and growth at the start of the 2021-22 school year - December 2021

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rhys

Learning during COVID-19: An update on student achievement and growth at the start of the 2021-22 school year summarizes how student achievement and growth changed in fall 2021 compared with fall 2019, using MAP Growth reading and math results from over six million students in grades 3–8. Achievement in fall 2021 was lower than typical-year benchmarks, with larger declines in math than reading. Historically marginalized students and high-poverty schools were disproportionately affected, and pandemic-era gains lagged pre-pandemic norms, especially for lower-achieving students.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Key Findings

Achievement lower at the start of 2021-22

Disproportionate impact on historically marginalized groups

Pandemic learning gains compared with pre-pandemic norms

CENTER FOR SCHOOL AND STUDENT PROGRESS BRIEF Learning during COVID-19: An update on student achievement and growth at the start of the 2021-22 school year DECEMBER 2021 Karyn Lewis and Megan Kuhfeld KEY FINDINGS • Student achievement at the start of the 2021-22 school year was lower compared to a typical year, with larger relative declines in math (9 to 11 percentile points) than reading (3 to 7 percentile points) . • Achievement was lower for all student groups in fall 2021; however, historically marginalized students and students in high-poverty schools were disproportionately impacted, particularly in the elementary grades we studied. • Student gains across the pandemic (from fall 2019 to fall 2021) lagged norms for prepandemic growth, especially in math. • Normative growth trends across the pandemic varied by pre-pandemic achievement status: higher achievers made gains that were more consistent with projected normative growth, whereas lower-achieving students were more likely to fall short of growth projections. This brief is a continuation of NWEA’s ongoing research agenda focused on understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected student reading and math outcomes .1 Here, we build on our previous findingsi, ii, iii to examine students’ academic progress at the start of the third school year impacted by the pandemic . The goal of this brief is to summarize student achievement and growth trends at the start of the 2021-22 school year so that educators and policymakers are equipped with the evidence necessary to guide decisions and make adjustments where needed as part of COVID-19 recovery efforts . Using data from over 6 million students in grades 3-8 who took MAP® Growth™ assessments in reading and math, we examined achievement in fall 2021 relative to fall 2019 (the most recent fall that was unaffected by COVID-19) . To gauge unfinished learning across the nation, we used a combination of cross-sectional analyses (comparing students in fall 2021 to same-grade peers in fall 2019) to understand how current achievement compares to typical pre-pandemic achievement and longitudinal analyses (tracking students over time and measuring their progress across the two years) to understand how growth during the pandemic compares to typical pre-pandemic growth.2 Fall 2021 math and reading achievement levels continue to lag historical averages, with larger declines in math To understand how achievement at the start of the 2021- 22 school year compares to a typical year, we calculated the median percentile rank (based on NWEA 2020 MAP Growth normsv) of students in fall 2021 and fall 2019 as well as the difference in median percentile rank between these two groups. As shown in Figure 1, we observed declinesin fall 2021 achievement relative to fall 2019 ranging in magnitude from 3 to 7 percentile points in reading and 9 to 11 percentile points in math. These declines are larger than the declines observed in fall 2020 (when reading scores were approximately equivalent to a typical year and math scores were 5 to 10 percentile points lower) but are roughly consistent with those we observed in spring 2021.3 Historically marginalized students and students in high-poverty schools continue to be most impacted, particularly in math and in the elementary grades Figure 2 shows differences in percentile rank between fall 2021 and fall 2019 disaggregated by student grade and 1 We use words such as “impact” and “affected” for simplicity, not to suggest causality. Our goal is not to identify the myriad factors that explain how the pandemic impacted achievement, but rather to document current achievement patterns relative to pre-pandemic trends. 2 To reduce the degree to which changes in the NWEA partner base may affect observed results, we restricted our sample of schools to a consistent set of US public schools that tested at least 10 students in a given grade in both fall 2019 and fall 2021. See the accompa

FAQs

What does the brief compare to measure learning during COVID-19?

It compares fall 2021 achievement with fall 2019 (the most recent fall unaffected by COVID-19) using cross-sectional analyses and longitudinal tracking across the two years to contrast growth patterns.

How did achievement change in fall 2021 relative to fall 2019?

Fall 2021 achievement was lower in both reading and math. Declines were larger in math (about 9–11 percentile points) than in reading (about 3–7 percentile points).

Which student groups were most affected?

Historically marginalized students and students in high-poverty schools experienced disproportionately large declines, particularly in the elementary grades the brief studied.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rhys