Mapping Educational Inequality: The COVID-19 Impact on St. Louis Public Education (Poster 8)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Friday 3:45pm
  In Invited Poster Session: 2026 AERA Undergraduate Fellows Research Poster Fair

Abstract

In 2019, the average student in St. Louis Public Schools was 3.3 years below national test score averages in math, reading, and history compared to millions of same-age students in 41 other states. By 2022, St. Louis students had fallen another 1.6 years behind national averages in some subjects. It was among the biggest declines nationally. My research sought to: (1) examine how the pandemic affected learning, attendance, and discipline across 24 St. Louis districts; (2) create online tools and maps to share my findings publicly with parents, educators, and administrators. Using the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education online database, I obtained Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) test scores, attendance data, and discipline rates for all 24 public school districts in St. Louis, 2017-2024. I obtained state averages for the same outcomes in the same years. MAP scores included math, reading, and science for grades 3-8. I obtained 2018 census tract level data on race and median household income from the U.S. Households Survey. Analyses explored how COVID’s impact varied by race, household income, and geography, and across grade levels, MAP content areas, and school districts. School districts in poorer, African American areas lagged other districts for all outcomes– lower MAP scores, worse attendance, higher discipline rates– and many had not recovered from COVID declines. Across all districts, regardless of race, geography, or income, attendance declined during COVID; no districts had returned to pre-COVID rates by 2024. Almost 83% of districts experienced increases in discipline incidents.

Author

• Cal Marshall Kreuter, Occidental College