Elementary and middle school students in D.C. showed academic progress last school year despite remote learning — but growth rates were still far lower than before the pandemic, according to a study released Tuesday.

The analysis, which compared scores on math and reading assessments for students in spring 2021 with scores from spring 2019, found significant drops in performance among some of the city’s young learners. Black and Latino children and students from low-income families experienced the steepest drops, according to the research from EmpowerK12, a nonprofit that analyzes education data.

“These students were lower-performing before the pandemic and the pandemic has disproportionately impacted them,” said Joshua Boots, the founder and executive director of EmpowerK12.

The report adds to the increasing body of national research that has put into focus how severely the pandemic and remote instruction impacted learning. One report from McKinsey & Company, a consulting group, found students were behind an average of five months in math and four months in reading by the end of 2020-2021.

The research from EmpowerK12 analyzed thousands of math and reading scores from students enrolled in the city’s traditional school system, D.C. Public Schools, and at campuses run by more than a dozen charter operators.

For children in younger elementary grades, the study analyzed results from end-of-the-year assessments where students must read to teachers.

Fifty-one percent of students in K-2 were reading on grade level in the spring, an 18 percentage point drop from their peers in 2019, according to the report. Results for at-risk students, a group that includes children from low-income families, slipped further: just 31% of at-risk students in K-2 were reading on grade level in the spring, a 27 percentage point decline from two years ago.

According to the report, 40% of Black and Latino students in the lower elementary grades were reading on grade level in the spring. That’s compared to nearly 81% percent of white students and 82% of Asian students.

In second through eighth grades, the study examined scores on i-Ready and Measure of Academic Progress (MAP), assessments typically administered in the fall, winter, and spring. Those tests rank students’ scores by percentile.

Overall students in the spring fared worse than their peers who took the same assessments two years ago, performing an average of nine percentile points lower in English and 10 percentile points lower in math, the study says. At-risk students dropped an average of 14 percentile points in English and 13 percentile points in math.

In English, Black students in second through eighth grades fell 14 percentile points. Asian and Latino students slid about 7 percentile points. White students slipped 1 percentile point, the data show.

In math, the drop was similarly steep. Black and Latino students fell 14 percentile points. White students fell 9 percentile points and Asian students fell 7 percentile points.

Most children still demonstrated academic growth between the time they took their first assessments in the fall and their last assessments in the spring, according to the report. But those growth rates were lower than what is expected in a normal school year which, according to the report, put students behind academically by three or four months.

Boots said students who received some in-person instruction last year showed slightly higher academic gains than their peers who remained fully remote, adding he would have a clearer picture of how in-person learning influenced students’ progress after data is released from assessments administered this fall and winter.

EmpowerK12 also surveyed school staff about the wellbeing of their students. Most teachers said they are spending more time this academic year addressing students’ social and emotional health and behavioral challenges.

Education officials said they have directed millions of dollars to address the damage the pandemic has inflicted on schools. That includes hiring 240 mental health workers and spending $41 million on intensive tutoring.

“This important report confirms the toll this pandemic has had on our city’s learners – both academically and emotionally – after 18 months of virtual and hybrid learning,” said Deputy Mayor for Education Paul Kihn. “These new, targeted supports are critical to our shared recovery.”

Full article: https://dcist.com/story/21/11/16/a-new-report-shows-how-drastically-the-pandemic-affected-learning-in-dc/