Combating Pandemic Learning Loss: Providing Data-Driven Insights to Reduce COVID's Impact on STEM Learning

• In Event: National Studies on COVID-19's Effects on K–12 STEM Education Reported by Teachers, Students, and Families

Abstract

America has long struggled with diversifying the STEM pipeline. Now, as we grapple with how to best educate our high school students during the COVID crisis, this struggle becomes even more critical. The ways students received instruction in the latter part of the 2019-2020 school year abruptly shifted; and the 2020-21 school year is uncertain. All formal learning was delegated to the home—some of it digital learning provided by districts and schools, but often with households tasked with determining instructional approaches or supplementing with homeschooling. Prior studies have found differences in “summer learning loss” by students’ socioeconomic status (e.g., Burkam, Ready, Lee, & LoGerfo, 2004; Downey, Von Hippel, & Broh, 2004). Research has also highlighted the “digital divide” among homes with different income levels (Eamon, 2004) and racial makeup (Lorence, Park, & Fox, 2006). Poorer, minority households tend to have less access to online tools than their richer, whiter counterparts. We quickly observed the repercussions of this divide, as students struggled to get online when schools shut their doors and much of the assigned learning not happening. It is clear that “pandemic learning loss” will have major implications for STEM learning and subsequent career opportunities, especially when it comes to traditionally underserved students.
This study has multiple goals. First, we empirically measure and contextualize inequities in access to and engagement with STEM learning opportunities during the COVID crisis. Second, we delineate the varied ways the COVID crisis will shape high school students’ STEM trajectories, and ultimately, the makeup of America’s STEM workforce. Lastly, we will recommend strategies aimed at strengthening and diversifying the STEM pipeline to deal with the repercussions of the pandemic as it progresses.
We use two datasets to reach these goals—NORC’s AmeriSpeak Teen Panel Survey and Infinite Campus—to delineate high school students’ STEM trajectories pre-COVID, trace their informal and formal STEM learning behavior during quarantine, and track how their STEM trajectories changed post-COVID. AmeriSpeak is a nationally representative sample of ~2,000 students aged 13-17. The survey, which is being fielded in July 2020, includes questions about students’ access to and perceptions of STEM content during COVID, how these may have changed due to COVID, and their thoughts about the future. Infinite Campus is a national Student Information and Learning Management System used in 2,000 districts in 45 states, serving 2.5 million high school students. Districts and schools use Infinite Campus to track everything, including STEM class enrollment, class assignments, grades, attendance, test scores, demographics, and family composition. As schools pivoted to online learning, Infinite Campus quickly responded by launching a variety of online tools designed to support teachers as they implemented virtual instruction. These tools include online class attendance, grading, discussion boards, and learning outcomes. When schools resume in-person instruction, Infinite Campus will continue to collect the same types of data they were collecting pre-COVID-19, thus providing a national picture of student engagement and learning pre-, during-, and post-COVID-19.
Data collection is currently ongoing; data collection and analysis will be completed by April 2021.

Authors

• Debbie Kim, NORC at the University of Chicago

• Jennifer A. Hamilton, NORC @ The University of Chicago

• Quentin Brummet, Michigan State University