New Report: COVID-19 and Student Achievement on
Ohio

This thread summarizes the key findings from the fall 2020 administration of Ohio's third-grade ELA test

Full report available here: http://glenn.osu.edu/educational-governance/reports/

Overall, student achievement was considerably lower in fall 2020 compared to one year earlier. The decline was most pronounced among Black students, exacerbating existing achievement gaps.

Districts doing 100% remote this fall also saw test score declines about 1.5x larger than those that returned in person 5 days a week. Hybrid was in the middle. Note these differences hold after controlling for COVID economic and health impacts.

Although economy does not explain difference in impacts between virtual vs. in-person districts, the COVID economic shocks have huge implications for education. We estimate ~1/3 of overall test score declines in Ohio explained by higher unemployment.

What's new? (1) Proctored in-person exams (not at-home diagnostics, where cheating concerns have been raised); (2) Accounting and adjusting for drop in participation w/ detailed student data; (3) Comparison of different learning modes (and separating impact from economy, health).

Big takeaway: This is why state tests are important! We wouldn't know any of this without the assessments. Policymakers can identify groups most impacted and do something about. Hopefully Ohio will do spring tests (minus sanctions, report card grades)! https://www.dispatch.com/story/opinion/editorials/2021/01/31/editorial-year-all-years-we-need-data-school-tests/4279019001/

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