From late spring of 2020 to the present, the U.S. educational conversation about learning in K-12 public schools during the pandemic has been about the fact that students did not learn as much, widening the achievement gap due to digital learning. Some K-12 public schools and school districts have reported no learning loss. This exploratory study…

This paper describes some indicators of the Colombian educational system considering the effect of the pandemic and assesses the causal effect of an alternation plan between face-to-face and remote education, conducted in 2020, on the results of an achievement test. Indicators reveal that the pandemic caused a greater demand for education services…

This data brief, featuring infographics, provides a statistical overview of students attending public schools in non-rural areas, such as cities, suburbs, and towns. It delivers essential information for school leaders, parents, educators, and other stakeholders and is updated annually.

The COVID-19 pandemic, along with historical inequities, resulted in a widening of the achievement gap between underserved populations and more advantaged students. In response to this issue, California took action by allocating additional funds to public school districts for out-of-school-time services through the Expanded Learning Opportunities…

Learning to read is essential, especially for our youngest learners, as the foundational skills for learning to read can determine the future success of our students. The disruptions to learning from the COVID-19 pandemic have affected education. Researchers are still working to understand the depth of learning loss students have experienced.…

We use data from the applications North Carolina public school districts and charter schools submitted for Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) to investigate the sense that educational leaders made of the pandemic as it unfolded. LEAs understood the pandemic as a multifaceted problem. Nearly all applications addressed four…

The needs of students grew substantially as they experienced nearly two years of disrupted learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The amount of lost learning time has greatly impacted student achievement, as measured through the National Assessment of Educational Progress--which indicated in the percentages of students scoring in the "below…

Using school-month-level learning mode data and high school completion rates across three school years from 429 Wisconsin public high schools, this study examines the impact of disruptions to in-person instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic on high school completion rates, with a focus on socioeconomic disparities. Findings reveal that a longer…

In this brief we examine how variability in students' math and reading test scores changed across the pandemic, including whether increased dispersion was concentrated at one part of the test score distribution. Using reading and math assessment data from a sample of 8 million students in grades 3-8 in 24,000 public schools who took MAP Growth…

The purpose of this technical appendix is to share more detailed results and to describe more fully the sample and methods used in the research included in the brief, "The Widening Achievement Divide during COVID-19." The authors investigated two main research questions in this brief: (1) To what degree have students' reading and math…

This research brief examines the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student achievement and progress toward academic recovery. Using data from 6.7 million U.S. public school students currently in grades 3-8, the study examined academic gains in the 2022-23 school year relative to pre-pandemic years. It also tracked the gap in…

Two years ago, the Heritage Foundation "Backgrounder" "Equity Elementary" (ED616087) first examined the extent to which the idea that educational institutions should have Chief Diversity Officers (CDO) had spread from higher education into public school districts. That "Backgrounder" also examined whether there was a…

National, state, and local governmental authorities have researched and reported the impacts of poverty on academic performance for multiple decades, providing guidance, legislation, accountability, equal access initiatives, and continuous monitoring for educators to address the ongoing dilemma. However, poverty performance achievement gaps are…

This is the technical index for the research brief "Education's Long COVID: 2022-23 Achievement Data Reveal Stalled Progress toward Pandemic Recovery." Using data from 6.7 million U.S. public school students currently in grades 3-8, the study examined academic gains in the 2022-23 school year relative to pre-pandemic years. It also…

When Maryland's governor ordered all schools closed on March 12, Baltimore was not a COVID-19 hot spot. But there was little doubt that the city would soon be profoundly affected by the virus due to its high levels of poverty, cramped housing conditions, and prevalence of blue-collar workers who had to continue working in close quarters. Sure…