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Oklahoma Policy Institute
eSchool News
COVID learning loss has substantially impacted math gains
COVID learning loss, especially in math, presents challenges for students and educators moving forward
By Laura Ascione, Managing Editor, Content Services
December 16
New research reveals concerning COVID learning loss, including
substantial math losses in grades 5-8 and modest reading losses across
grades K-8, as a result of the pandemic, according to Illuminate
Education.
The disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in
measurable learning loss. Researchers saw modest reading losses across
grades K-8, modest math losses in early elementary grades, and
substantial math losses in grades 5-8.
Math achievement losses are substantial in grades 5 through 8. In
grades 5 through 8 losses ranged from about three to four months. On
average, students would have to grow at nearly twice the annual rate
for three to four months to make up for these losses.
Early reading loss is of great concern. First grade is the transition
where most students begin to read connected text, making it critical
that these skills be shored up quickly, according to the research.
Although not as big as feared, the reading loss in Grade 1 is of
greatest concern because this is the transition where most students
begin to read connected text. It’s critical that these skills be shored
up quickly. The good news is that closing a gap of one month’s learning
during the first-grade year is possible if additional time for Tier 1
core instruction is provided.
“The data show that we’ve reached a critical point. If we don’t place
greater emphasis on remedying losses now, achievement gaps are likely
to widen later,” said Dr. John Bielinski, Sr. Dir. of Research &
Development at Illuminate Education. “Through regular screening,
support, and practice, we can work to ensure students aren’t left
behind.”
Earlier this year, Illuminate Education researchers reported projected
learning loss due to disruptions in instruction from the pandemic. The
new brief uses data from a national sample of students who completed
FastBridge’s aReading and aMath assessments in fall 2020 and compared
those results to a calculated baseline, which was established by
analyzing more than one million previous fall screening administrations
dating back to fall 2016. By comparing the data sets, researchers were
able to quantify actual fall learning loss.
Researchers offer key strategies to help combat COVID learning loss.
In reading:
• For students in kindergarten through Grade 2, additional reading
instruction for all students is the best way to close the gaps.
• Such instruction needs to be systematic and direct and focus on
phonemic awareness, phonics and fluency (National Reading Panel, 2000).
The typical recommended time for primary grades reading instruction is
90 minutes per day. This year, expanding that time to 120 minutes for
all students in kindergarten through Grade 2 will provide the
additional instruction needed for students to make up learning losses
by the end of the 2020-2021 school year.
• For upper elementary grades and middle school, decisions about how to
provide additional reading instruction are best made as part of a
multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). The number of students requiring
strategic or intensive support will determine how best to meet these
needs (Brown-Chidsey & Bickford, 2016).
In math:
Because math competency is largely built on mastery of math concepts
and skills, it is reasonable to speculate that students have lost some
of what was learned during the last school year and that some important
skills were never fully developed last spring. Notably, students
usually have fewer opportunities to practice math skills outside of
school.
The evidence from this national sample suggests that without greater
emphasis on math instruction and practice, the losses may become
permanent.
• As with reading supports at the upper grades, researchers strongly
recommend that schools use an MTSS to identify what types of math
instruction students need and then adjust both daily schedules and
teaching practices to meet those needs.
• Research is clear that the most effective math instruction includes
direct and systematic lessons that focus on mastery of basic facts
first (National Math Advisory Panel, 2008).
• In order to know each student’s current math skills and the best
starting points for instruction, universal mathematics screening is
recommended.
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