Pandemic-related scientific losses hit underrepresented groups hardest

Key points:

When it comes to post-pandemic academic recovery, much of the debate centers on math and reading, but science learning losses persist and some groups are disproportionately affected.

TO new research report of GET ITa K-12 research and evaluation organization, explores trends in scientific achievements since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Wearing Map growth Assessment results for grades three through eight, NWEA researchers found a mixed story of academic recovery.

Similar to previous research on math and reading, science achievement declined early in the pandemic. Unlike pandemic-related math and reading achievement, science achievement in grades three through five has returned to near pre-COVID levels, while middle school grades, specifically grades seven and eight , continue to show signs of a difficult recovery.

“The trends tell a slightly different story than what we've seen in math and reading,” said Sue Kowalski, senior research scientist at NWEA. “On the one hand, our elementary students have almost returned to pre-pandemic academic growth and science performance, but our older students still struggle greatly.”

The new report is the latest in a series of NWEA investigations Examining the impacts of the pandemic on academic progress and achievement in the U.S. This report analyzed data from 621 U.S. public schools that consistently administered the MAP Growth Science assessment from spring 2017 to spring 2024 and They consistently assessed the same grades within those schools.

“Losses in science learning are smaller than losses in reading and mathematics. To contextualize the losses in science, the report's authors compared months of additional learning needed to catch up in reading, math, and science. Lewis and Kuhfeld (2024) found larger achievement gaps across grades in reading and math, with up to 9.0 months lost in reading and up to 9.3 months lost in math. By comparison, average achievement gaps in science are modest (up to 3.2 months lost in science),” according to the report.

“But modest averages, particularly in high school, belie the serious science needs of black and Hispanic high school students. Hispanic eighth graders were five months behind in 2021 and fell by a total of more than 11 months in 2024. Black high school students recovered in 2024 to pre-COVID performance levels, but remain behind. a delay of 13 to 15 months,” the authors noted.

Key findings include:

• COVID-19 school closures caused a drop in science performance early in the pandemic, resulting in between one and 2.3 months of unfinished learning in spring 2021.
• There is evidence of an uneven recovery in science achievement in the primary and middle grades by spring 2024. Science achievement returned to near 2019 levels for grades three through five, but continued to decline in grades seven and eight. Achievement gaps for sixth graders decreased by 2024, but the reduction was smaller than that for grades 3-5.
• The most significant drops are evident for eighth graders, who are about 3.2 months behind. This was true for students of all racial/ethnic groups, but in 2024, Hispanic students are far behind their 2019 peers, and Black students remain well below the overall 2019 average despite recovering.

“This is a first large-scale look at trends in science achievement, and while there are some differences compared to trends in reading and math, one area continues to raise concern and that is the lingering impacts for eighth graders.” Kowalski added. “This is particularly problematic if not addressed, given the increasing complexity of the science content they are about to encounter in high school.”

The research report provided several recommendations to educational leaders to address this uneven recovery, including greater integration of science into other subjects and continued use of summer programming provided to students who need it most.