In-Person Instruction and Educational Outcomes of K–8 Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVES: Quantify the relationship between district policy permitting in-person instruction and educational outcomes during the 2020 to 2021 academic year for kindergarten through eighth grade students. METHODS: An ecological, repeated cross-sectional analysis of grade-level proficiency of students enrolled in public school districts in North Carolina (n = 115 school districts) was conducted. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate the association between the proportion of the school year a district spent in-person and 2020 to 2021 end-of-year student proficiency in the district. We then fit a multivariable linear regression model, weighted by district size, and adjusted for district-level 2018 to 2019 proficiency and district-level factors (rural or urban, area deprivation). RESULTS: Compared to 2018 to 2019, there was a 12.1% decrease (95% confidence interval [CI]: 16.8–19.3) in mathematics and an 18.1% decrease (95% CI: 10.8–13.4) in reading proficiency across the state at the end of 2020 to 2021. Compared to a district that remained entirely remote for the 2020 to 2021 school year, a district offering full in-person instruction had 12% (95% CI: 11%–12.9%) and 4.1% (95% CI: 3.5%–4.8%) more students achieve grade-level proficiency in mathematics and reading, respectively. In-person instruction was associated with greater increases in mathematics proficiency than reading, and greater increases in elementary-level students’ proficiency than middle school–level. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of students achieving grade-level proficiency in 2020 to 2021 fell below prepandemic levels at each evaluated time point in the academic year. Increased time spent in-person by a school district was associated with an increased proportion of students achieving grade-level end-of-grade proficiency in both mathematics and reading.
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The movement away from in-person instruction during the 2020-2021 school year reduced student achievement, worsened children's mental health, and decreased school enrollment.
“There is a growing body of literature suggesting that the movement away from in-person instruction during the 2020-2021 school year reduced student achievement,8,10,11,12 worsened children’s mental health,13,14,15,16 and decreased school enrollment.17,18”
From Virtual Learning in Kindergarten Through Grade 12 During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Chronic Absenteeism (2024) · cites this paper as [11]
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- Authors
- Uthappa, D. M., Pak, J., McGann, K. A., Brookhart, M. A., McKinzie, K., Abdelbarr, M., Cockrell, J., Hickerson, J., Armstrong, S., D’Agostino, E. M., Weber, D. J., Kalu, I. C., Benjamin, D. K., Zimmerman, K. O., Boutzoukas, A. E., & Collaborative, A. S.
- Affiliations
- Duke University (US)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
- cDepartment of Pediatrics
- dDepartment of Population Health Sciences
- North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (US)
- gYadkin County Schools, Yadkinville, North Carolina
- hDuke Clinical Research Institute, Durham, North Carolina
- iDepartment of Family Medicine & Community Health, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- ORCID
- Venue
- Pediatrics
- Publisher
- American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
- Published
- 2023-07-01
- Volume
- 152
- Issue
- Supplement 1
- ISSN
- 0031-4005 (ISSN-L)
- 1098-4275
- PMC
- PMC10312276
- OpenAlex
- W4382919487
- Cited by
- 6
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 1
- FWCI
- 4.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- PEDIATRICS (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Amgen
- Pfizer
- Brigham and Women's Hospital
- Gilead Sciences (COVID-19)
- Atara Biotherapeutics
- Melinta Therapeutics
- Sun Pharma
- National Institutes of Health (U24TR001608, HHSN275201000003I, COVID-19)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1T32HD094671)
- Allergan
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (HHSN275201000003C)
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HHSN-275201000003I)
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (HHSN275201000003I)
- National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (U24MD016258)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (OT2HD107559, HHSN275201000003I, T32HD094671)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Education during COVID-19 pandemic
- Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
- Physical Sciences › Mathematics › Modeling and Simulation › COVID-19 epidemiological studies
- Keywords
- face-to-face teaching, COVID-19 pandemic, school closures, student academic outcomes, mathematics proficiency, reading proficiency, K-8 students, school district policy, distance education, North Carolina public schools
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, Child, Cross-Sectional Studies, Educational Status, Humans, Schools, Students, Pandemics
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