DC Math and Reading Recovery Update
UPDATED WITH WINTER 23-24 DATA
Photo courtesy of DC Public Schools
COVID’s toll on DC students' academic wellbeing was evident in assessment data following the 20-21 virtual year, which revealed large gaps in math and reading skills, particularly for economically disadvantaged students. With federal aid, DC schools reopened for in-person learning in the fall of 21-22 and formulated strategies to address these challenges, but faced new obstacles such as the virus variants, staff shortages, absenteeism, and bullying.
Our winter 23-24 academic recovery data update, using results from nationally normed growth assessments administered by local education agencies (LEAs) to students in grades K-8, offers signs of hope and learning acceleration after COVID-era learning loss. Sustained academic acceleration is required, though, to ensure students are on track for postsecondary success. Key findings in the winter data:
Over the last year since winter 22-23, a cohort of continuously enrolled DC students in grades 4-8 scored academic gains equivalent to two additional months of learning in reading and one additional month in math than expected.
Early childhood reading proficiency rates in kindergarten through second grade posted the largest year-over-year gains since the pandemic this winter, improving eight percentage points and are on pace to return to pre-pandemic performance levels by this time next year.
This brief continues EK12’s examination of DC students’ academic recovery and progress post-COVID, using the latest LEA-administered assessment data. We highlight areas of progress and why sustained acceleration efforts are needed.
About Our Grades 4-8 Sample and Methodology
Every year since the COVID shutdown, EK12 has collected LEA administered assessments of math and reading for students in grades K-8 from DCPS and DC public charter schools to understand the pandemic’s impact and students’ academic recovery upon return to in-person learning. Collectively, the schools who participated in this year’s data share serve 88% of the DC public school students enrolled in elementary and middle school. We thank these schools for contributing to our collective deeper understanding of the progress students are making. A full list of participating schools can be found at the bottom of this post.
We focus our primary pandemic impact analyses on a sample of students who have been continuously enrolled in DC schools since winter 2019-20 and have taken the computer-based MAP or iReady assessment annually in the years since. These students, who were in grades K-4 when COVID forced schools to move to virtual learning, offer the best representation of COVID era shifts on learning rates. See Figure A below for information about our sample’s demographics compared with citywide numbers.
Figure A. Demographics of Grades 4-8 Winter 23-24 Sample
Note: The reading sample is disproportionately represented with more charter school students and economically disadvantaged students of color than the overall DC student population. Fewer students in K-2 complete computer-based reading assessment, contributing to lower sample sizes.
To calculate months of learning loss and learning gains, we re-calculate every student’s score regardless of their assessment to ensure all students’ growth is placed on the same scale. We then compute the average scale score growth for the sample and divide by the amount of growth students are expected to make over the course of one 10-month academic year. For example, a third grade student with a low starting score may be expected to make 15 points of growth in one year. If that student grows 18 points, or 22% more growth than expected, then we would say that student demonstrated an additional two months of growth beyond the expected 10 months in a regular academic year.
Math and Reading Recovery for DC Students Currently in Grades 4-8
The students who were enrolled in grades K-4 during 2019-20 were arguably the grade levels most impacted by the abrupt switch to virtual learning. Those students are now in upper elementary and middle school, and many have consistently completed computer-based assessments throughout the pandemic and recovery, providing us with the best measure of academic progress post-COVID. Students typically participate in MAP and iReady tests three times a year: fall, winter, and spring. The 2019-20 winter administration was the last full administration prior to COVID shutdowns, which makes winter data perhaps the most meaningful in understanding the immediate and long-lasting impact of COVID as well as how students’ longitudinal progress is tracking.
Over the last year since winter 22-23, DC students in grades 4-8 posted academic gains equivalent to two additional months of learning in reading and one additional month in math than expected, demonstrating true academic recovery and learning acceleration for most students across the city. This progress held true for every important student subgroup, closing some of the academic gaps that had widened over the last few years.
Figure B. Winter Math Performance of 2023-24 4th-8th Grade Cohort since 2018-19
Figure C. Winter Reading Performance of 2023-24 4th-8th Grade Cohort since 2018-19
In Figure D below, we show test score gains in instructional months for the 4th-8th grade cohort of students between winter of 22-23 and 23-24. Students in our sample demonstrated an average 11 months of growth in math and 12 months of growth in reading over the last 10-month instructional year. However, they remain more than ten instructional months behind pre-pandemic expectations in math and nine months behind in reading on average. At the current rate of improvement, most DC students will finish secondary schooling with skills that lag pre-COVID expectations.
Figure D. Winter Test Score Gains and Remaining Performance Gaps in Instructional Months
Early Reading Achievement in Grades K-2
Reading at grade level by third grade is a crucial milestone for students, as it marks the transition from learning to read to reading to learn. Students who do not reach this goal are more likely to struggle with academic content in later grades. According to research by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, students who are not proficient readers by the end of third grade are four times more likely to leave school without a diploma than proficient readers. The importance of early literacy is why EK12 collaborates with DCPS and DC public charter schools to analyze teacher-administered assessments of reading skills in kindergarten through second grade.
As of this winter, early literacy rates produced the largest year-over-year gains since the return to in-person learning, jumping eight percentage points for all students in our sample. Economically disadvantaged students, those designated as at-risk, improved ten points compared with their peers from more affluent families, who improved six points. If the rate of improvement continues for another year, each of these student groups are on track to return to pre-COVID reading attainment levels.
Figure E. Early Literacy Rates in Winter for Grades K-2 Since 2018-19
Review our previous reports on pandemic impact and academic progress from March 2022, November 2021, and December 2020.
Participating LEAs
EK12 thanks the following DC schools for participating in our ongoing research in pandemic impact and recovery:
Capital City PCS
Center City PCS
Cesar Chavez PCS for Public Policy
DC Prep PCS
DC Scholars PCS
Digital Pioneers Academy PCS
District of Columbia International School
District of Columbia Public Schools
E.L. Haynes PCS
Early Childhood Academy PCS
Friendship PCS
Inspired Teaching Demonstration PCS
KIPP DC PCS
Latin American Montessori Bilingual PCS
LEARN DC PCS
Lee Montessori PCS
Monument Academy PCS
Mundo Verde Bilingual PCS
Paul PCS
Perry Street Preparatory PCS
Rocketship Education DC PCS
Sela PCS
Social Justice PCS
Statesmen College Preparatory Academy for Boys PCS
The Sojourner Truth School PCS
Two Rivers PCS
Washington Yu Ying PCS