Academic Achievement Trends Post-2019 Pandemic

ASER 2024: Learning Recovery and the NIPUN Bharat Impact The recently released ASER 2024 report presents promising trends in foundational learning levels across India, showcasing significant progress in the aftermath of pandemic-induced disruptions. Not only have learning levels fully recovered, but in some cases, they have also surpassed pre-pandemic benchmarks—particularly in the primary grades. Reading Proficiency: The proportion of Std III children reading at Std II level had fallen sharply from 27.3% in 2018 to 20.5% in 2022. However, by 2024, it has rebounded to 27.1%, nearing the highest levels recorded. Similarly, for Std V, reading fluency improved from 42.8% in 2022 to 48.8% in 2024, almost reaching the 2018 peak of 50.5%. Arithmetic Skills: The share of Std III children able to perform basic subtraction rose from 28.2% in 2018 to an impressive 33.7% in 2024, marking the highest level in the last decade. Early Childhood Education: The proportion of 3-year-olds enrolled in early education programs climbed to 80%, reflecting an increasing emphasis on pre-school exposure in rural India. The driving force behind these improvements is the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which has introduced a nationwide focus on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN). (i) According to the ASER survey, 83% of schools reported receiving government directives to implement FLN activities, 78% confirmed FLN teacher training, and 75% had access to teaching-learning materials. (ii) The policy has catalyzed a systematic, national push to improve foundational outcomes, offering long-term hope for addressing India's learning crisis. The report highlights substantial variations across states. While some states have fully recovered or exceeded previous levels, low-performing states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu have shown remarkable improvements, setting a strong example of targeted interventions driving results. You can access the full report here: https://lnkd.in/dRquH_5T #ASER2024 #EducationRecovery #FLN #NEP2020 #FoundationalLearning #IndiaEducation #EarlyChildhoodEducation #ReadingSkills #ArithmeticSkills #PolicyImpact #LearningOutcomes #EducationReform #RuralEducation #IndianEducationSystem #PandemicRecovery #StateWiseProgress #TransformingEducation

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted education globally, with school closures affecting over one billion children. These closures, intended to curb virus spread, led to significant learning losses, particularly in mathematics and science. Using data from TIMSS 2023, which evaluates fourth and eighth-grade achievements across 71 education systems, this study examines how the length of school closures impacted learning outcomes. By applying mixed-effect models to estimate deviations from pre-pandemic trends, while adjusting for demographic factors, the study reveals a global average decline of 0.11 standard deviations in student achievement. Longer closures were associated with more severe losses. Notably, students from disadvantaged groups—low performers, girls, and linguistic minorities—faced even greater setbacks, with effect sizes reaching up to 0.22 SD. These findings underscore the lasting impact of school closures and the urgent need for targeted recovery strategies and international collaboration to ensure equitable education in the post-pandemic era. https://lnkd.in/eS9ypCTu

📢 Finally out in Economic Policy 🚨   “The Legacy of Covid-19 in Education” w/ Katharina Werner   Longitudinal evidence from 2 German school lockdowns on how the pandemic affected education & skill development of school children   Free link 👉 https://lnkd.in/dzAr6m57 Permanent link 👉 https://lnkd.in/dUGQVxhx Ungated version 👉 https://lnkd.in/dZiTxemC Will the pandemic leave a lasting legacy in human capital?   Our survey of >2,000 parents during 2nd German school lockdown provides 1⃣ new measures of socio-emotional development 2⃣ panel evidence on how students’ time use & educational inputs adapted over time Students’ learning time was cut in half during 1st closures (from 7.5 to 3.7 hours per day) Only modest rebound (to 4.6h) one year later Particularly substituted by gaming & online activities Parents see effectiveness of an hour of learning at home lower than in school Only 7% of schools provided daily online instruction during 1st closures 25% one year later Value-added model: Introducing daily online instruction strongly related to increased student learning time (by 1.1h per day) No relation of learning time w/ other school activities Parental assessments of children’s socio-emotional development are mixed Increasing share (from 36% to 48%) saw school closures as great psychological burden for their children 55% think that school closures harmed social skills But most parents do not report changes in most dimensions of their children’s socio-emotional wellbeing (SDQ) compared to pre-pandemic times Reduction in bullying as strong positive aspect Deterioration in ability to concentrate 59% of parents think their child learned much less during school closures Some positive effects on students’ digital skills & self-regulated learning Unless remedied, skill losses may leave substantial lasting legacy in reduced economic outcomes: ⬇️skill development ⬇️lifetime income ⬇️economic growth ⬆️inequality

Last time I wrote about results, it was to celebrate the progress of NYC Reads. This time, NAEP results are sounding the alarm: national trends show concerning declines. But as Dan Heath reminds us, there’s power in looking for the bright spots. And a few districts are bucking the trend, showing what’s possible. The big question: What are they doing differently, and how can we replicate those lessons across the country? Because if some students are succeeding, all students can. What This Administration of NAEP Revealed: 1️⃣Across the board, scores were record lows. 2️⃣Few seniors displayed strong skills. Only 22% of seniors scored Proficient in math and 35% in reading; 45% were Below Basic in math and 32% Below Basic in reading. 3️⃣No post-pandemic recovery. Five years after the pandemic, this lack of recovery is a sobering reality check. Potential Drivers of the Outcomes: 1️⃣ Chronic absenteeism is eroding learning. In 2024, nearly one in three 12th graders reported missing three or more days of school in the prior month, up from one in four in 2019. Younger grades show similar trends, meaning millions of students are losing out on learning time. 2️⃣ Recovery has been fragmented and short-lived. Academic outcomes were slipping before COVID, and the pandemic accelerated the decline. Yet recovery efforts have been piecemeal, short-term, underfunded, and uncoordinated. 3️⃣Too few students receive consistent, high-quality instruction. Even when students are in school, many are not exposed to grade-level work or effective teaching. 4️⃣Accountability has weakened just as urgency is needed. Since ESSA, momentum for clear, data-driven accountability has stalled. Bright Spots: 1️⃣ Richmond, VA: Richmond Public Schools has seen notable recovery in reading. In the 2023–24 school year, 50% of RPS students were proficient in reading, up from about 47% two years prior. Reading proficiency for economically disadvantaged students jumped from the mid-30s (percent proficient) in 2021–22 to the mid-40s by 2023–24 – roughly a 10 percentage point gain over two years. 2️⃣Mississippi: Sustained gains in reading and math over the past decade. 2024 results showed Mississippi achieving its highest-ever NAEP proficiency rates, improving across all four main NAEP tests (4th & 8th grade reading and math). 3️⃣Louisiana: Major improvement in 4th-grade reading (above pre-pandemic level). Louisiana was the only state in 2024 to statistically surpass its 2019 fourth-grade reading score. 4️⃣Tennessee: Tennessee’s 2024 NAEP results showed gains in 4th and 8th grade, in both ELA and math, propelling the state’s national rankings upward by 10 or more spots in each category. What’s Working? 1️⃣ Guarantee coherent, evidence-based instruction 2️⃣ Invest in targeted, high-dosage interventions 3️⃣ Build systemwide coherence 4️⃣ Double down on accountability and leadership 5️⃣ Engage families and communities

18.6 million students enrolled in U.S. postsecondary education this spring. That number deserves more attention than it's getting. Here's what I'm watching inside it. - Undergraduate enrollment grew to 15.5 million. Graduate held flat at 3.1 million. The split matters. - Certificates surged 10.2%. Community colleges hit 5.8 million students, now 5.2% above where they were before the pandemic dip. - Health Professions crossed 1 million enrollments at four-year institutions for the first time. - Computer Science dropped 8.4% at four-year schools and 11.2% at two-year schools. Every major group within CS declined. - International undergraduate enrollment grew for the third spring in a row (+3.9%). But international graduate students fell 4.3%, driven by a 9.2% drop at public four-year institutions. Students are still hungry to learn. Certificates are up because people want skills, fast. Health and Engineering are rising because the workforce is pulling them there. But graduate programs are losing ground. And CS, the field everyone said was bulletproof, is contracting. The pipeline into higher education is alive. The question is where it goes next. Source: National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, Spring 2026.

New data from the Education Scorecard, an annual analysis from The Educational Opportunity Project (EOP) at Stanford University and Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, should be a wake-up call for every education leader, policymaker, and elected official in the country. Reading scores are down in 83% of school districts compared to a decade ago. Math scores are down 70%. And while the pandemic accelerated the slide, the trend started years before COVID.  In a third of districts, students are reading a full grade level below where they were in 2015, with those who can least afford to lose ground falling furthest behind. Only Louisiana has fully recovered pre-pandemic levels in both subjects. No state has returned to 2013 levels, when two decades of hard-won progress began to deteriorate.  Our education system is in a state of emergency, and we must come together to address a challenge that affects us all. Our children’s ability to read and do math is foundational to their success as well as the long-term prosperity and progress of our nation.   We know that we can get this right because we’ve done it before. From the 1990s through early 2010s, achievement scores grew steadily, high school graduation rates rose, and college attainment increased. All students saw gains, but the students who had historically been left behind made some of the largest. Those results came from a sustained commitment to high standards, evidence-backed instruction, and real accountability for results.  Then we walked away from those principles, with predictable results.  At KIPP Foundation, we’ve been doing the hard work of recommitting to those principles, aligning around proven strategies like the science of reading and evidence-based math instruction, with coaching and support to ensure they deliver on their promise. In 2024-25, the first year that the entire network embraced those approaches, students across our regions showed meaningful gains in both ELA and math. We also know that students who aren’t in school are not learning, so we implemented a focused attendance strategy that drove an eight-point drop in chronic absenteeism, bringing our midyear rate below last year’s national average and well-below the rate at similar schools.     We have a long way to go, but we know what works. The question now is whether the country is prepared to meet this moment with the urgency it demands.     Read more in The New York Times: https://lnkd.in/e5maJuzA  

One of the challenges I wrestled with when I was in academic positions is my discomfort with the steady shift (at least in the U.S.) toward more flexible policies around grading and assessment. That is partly because I by temperament have a relatively traditional or hierarchical view of education and found that a very disciplined structure of assessment was beneficial for me as a student. It was also because I felt that offering a very wide array of accommodations ultimately undermined the efforts of students who did not request them, and weakened everyone's incentives. A new paper about the dynamic effects of flexible COVID-19 grading policies by Nuria Rodriguez-Planas and Ozsoy -- building on an earlier paper from the first author - provides some useful empirical evidence for me, and all of us, to reflect on. The first paper examines the impact of flexible grading policies implemented during the pandemic (the ability to convert courses to pass/fail) at a large public college (characterized by a very socioeconomically diverse student population) in NYC. The paper finds that among low-performing students, low-income students actually outperform their wealthier peers (in GPA) during the period of flexible grading largely because of their higher use of the pass/fail option. Though their grades under traditional grading would have been lower (than richer peers), the flexible grading policy counteracted this difference, and possibly allows them to better manage adverse shocks due to online learning. This seems like a positive story, right? (Though you might ideally want a grading policy that neutralizes differences based on socioeconomic status, not reverses them.) The new paper then looks at dynamic effects over time -- into the next academic year. Using individual fixed effects, the authors find students who did in fact use the flexible grading policy (pass/fail option) show subsequently lower GPA (0.1 standard deviations), interpreted as loss of human capital (failure to learn material in earlier pass/fail courses, worse study habits, etc.) This ultimately leads to a *27%* reduction in the probability of graduating on time. That is - a large adverse effect. And arguably, particularly serious for low-income students who may face a financial penalty (lingering debt) associated with education that has low labor market returns without a completed degree. While this is only one source of evidence from one context, to me this pair of papers very nicely crystallizes the debate. In the short-run, yes, the flexible grading policy did accomplish its expected aim. In the long-run, though, it seems to have had some very meaningful negative effects (especially for the most vulnerable students). These seem like negative effects we should take seriously.

This week, we saw the results of SPM nationwide, equivalent to GCSE's 'O' Level examinations in Malaysia. While we celebrate 11,713 straight A scorers, some thoughts about the worrying trend of the future talents and skills among Malaysians. More than 10,000 Malaysians did not sit for SPM, that's a staggering number. 1,467 candidates failed in all subjects. Simply by offering them vocational training in a post-SPM will not address the shortage problems in the future, it goes back to the basics of learning and knowledge in schools. Yes, it can help them as a stop-gap measure, but lawmakers and the Education Ministry got to address the root problem. I was covering on semiconductor industry and Nikkei's Future of Asia over the past week, I couldn't help but to ponder, the risks and possible crises we cannot evade with such worrying trend of students not wanting to take up STEM subjects. Additional Mathematics and Mathematics recorded the highest rate of failures at 25.9% and 23.2%, while 11.2% failed in English. We cannot produce sufficient number of engineers and skilled talents if we continue to see such worrying trend. Without a doubt, Malaysia can produce world-class talents to be employed anywhere, with high paying salaries. Strengthening the foundation on key STEM subjects like Mathematics, Additional Mathematics, English and elective Science subjects like Physics, Chemistry and Biology will be pivotal. The effects of the lost generation of our students due to COVID-19 pandemic is real.

🔢 NAEP 2024 Math Data: A Tale of Two Eras The latest NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) math scores reveal a stark contrast in student performance—a widening gap between high achievers and struggling students that highlights deep-rooted educational challenges. Key insights from this data show that: ➕ Higher-performing students (75th & 90th percentiles) saw gains, while lower-performing students (10th & 25th percentiles) declined further. ➖ Only 28% of 8th graders scored at or above "Proficient", down from 34% in 2019. ✖️ 39% of 8th graders performed below "Basic", meaning they lack fundamental math skills—8 percentage points worse than in 2019. ➗ Student absenteeism remains high—29% of 8th graders missed 3+ days in the prior month, up from 22% pre-pandemic. 🔹 What does this mean? The data paints a troubling picture: higher achievers are advancing, while lower-performing students are falling further behind at a exponentially fast pace. Instead of closing gaps, our education system is deepening disparities—our most vulnerable students are in a free fall and are not able to catch up. We have to be able to attract and retain Math teachers in order to have any chance at all of getting back on track. That's going to take prioritizing things like special education math teachers, expert certified math tutors, and innovative programs and solutions to help connect teachers and students. https://lnkd.in/encKTF83 #NAEPResults #MathEducation #AchievementGap #EducationCrisis

The 35th edition of the Annie E. Casey Foundation's KIDS COUNT® Data Book is out today and I spent the morning participating in dozens of radio interviews across the country. The Data book examines the unprecedented declines in student math and reading proficiency brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on education. The latest data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress reveals that between 2019 and 2022, fourth-grade reading and eighth-grade math scores plummeted, representing decades of lost progress. This alarming trend underscores the urgent need for action to address the growing academic disparities among U.S. students. In the book we highlight how chronic absence (missing 10+ days of school per year) and childhood trauma (experiencing poverty, community violence, etc.) contribute to lower educational success for students. Unfortunately 30% of all kids were chronically absent in 2022 and 40% of all kids experienced one or more traumas. These are extremely common issues. We have a lot of work to do to help our children overcome these barriers to gain the high-level reading, math and problem-solving skills required in a competitive global economy. The failure to adequately prepare our children will have dire consequences for their futures and for the economic vitality of our nation. Read the full report by visiting our website at: https://lnkd.in/e-iVrnyb