School District and Community Factors Associated With Learning Loss During the COVID-19 Pandemic

We analyze data from approximately 7,800 school districts to describe variation in pandemic-related learning losses among communities and student subgroups. We attempt to understand mechanisms that led to learning losses, as well as explore how historical data from those districts can inform our expectations for how quickly districts will rebound from such losses. We show that learning losses during the pandemic were large and highly variable among communities. Similar to previous research, we find that losses were larger in lower-income and minority districts and in districts which remained remote or hybrid for longer periods during the 2020-21 school year. Among districts, the math learning loss per week of remote/hybrid instruction was larger in high-minority and high-poverty districts. Within districts, however, White students and non-economically disadvantaged students lost about the same amount of ground as Black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged students. This suggests that the mechanisms driving losses operated at the district or community level, rather than household level. Several community-level characteristics were related to learning losses: broadband access, disruptions to social and economic activity, and trust in government institutions. However, no individual predictor provided strong explanatory power. Relative to historical years, losses during the pandemic were substantial, and an exploratory analysis of historical shocks to achievement suggests that the effects of the pandemic are likely to persist without continued concerted investments in student learning.