Meta-analysis of 19 states reveals huge challenge facing educators post-pandemic
- Cancellation of state standardized testing in spring 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic was prudent and logistically necessary, but that meant the loss of crucial data on student learning. In response, CREDO devised a multi-step process to create estimates of student-level achievement, with 19 states included in this meta-analysis.
- Educators will need new approaches for many students if they are to have any chance of catching up. Conventional models of classroom-based instruction – a one-to-many, fixed pace approach – will not meet the needs of students in the 2020-2021 school year. High quality instruction must be made available in different settings, calling on different skills.
- The communities whose schools have the largest estimated loss of learning are far less likely to have the means and capacity to create and implement recovery plans on their own. Insistence on local autonomy in this case will not yield equitable responses.