“This study, using data from six large CORE school districts in California, shows that average absenteeism is low during the regular school year: about 7 days on average, although this is higher in secondary school and for certain subgroups such as HL/FST and SWDs. There is reason to believe that a significant number of students were absent from virtual schooling opportunities for extended and longer-than-normal periods during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results suggest that if students missed more than a few weeks of cumulative instruction during the pandemic—which is likely, particularly among low-income and other disadvantaged students—their test scores and SEL outcomes are likely to be badly affected. Moreover, school closures and remote-only instruction continue through fall 2020 in most districts, and it is not yet clear whether adaptations to online learning as a result of the experience of this past spring will yield significantly greater engagement with instruction. These negative impacts are likely to hit students particularly hard in middle school and in mathematics. For SEL, the negative impact on elementary and middle schoolers of extended absences is significant. Moreover, students in certain subgroups, such as low-income students and SWDs, are likely to be the most affected. This study adds to the growing evidence on the potentially negative impact of COVID-19 on student development and the pandemic’s possible differential impacts by student subgroups and grade-level. Although COVID-19 presents unique circumstances, the evidence based on past experience suggests that many students will need intense academic and social-emotional support to make up for lost time.” Read article
Oct 22