What’s The Damage? Covid-19 Academic Impact Among High School Students

The COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted the learning of millions of American students and forced educators to modify their curriculums to meet the unprecedented challenges. Unfortunately, educators are wholly unprepared for the situation, and have little information about the collective impact of the pandemic. To remedy the situation, existing research on traditional summertime off, absences, and virtual instruction can be used to advise educators on the extent of academic achievement impact caused by the pandemic. The current study measures impact on high school student test scores by comparing differences in forecasted scores to realized student performance in January of 2021. Mean differences of -1.04 and -1.87 in math and reading indicate students are only slightly behind on average, though some students are much further behind. Findings can be used to inform educators of the current learning state of students and advise instructional changes in the following semesters.