Lessons Learned from Five Years of Pandemic Learning Recovery in California

• In Event: Sociology of Education Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 10. Learning and Teaching in Contentious Times

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a four-year mixed-methods study of learning loss and recovery related to the COVID pandemic in California. Qualitative analysis includes a case study of diverse districts, along with statewide annual surveys of district recovery plans and coding of written district plans. The quantitative analysis uses student-level panel data for the entire state to analyze the impact of federal COVID spending. The analysis uses data based on the statewide survey and reading of spending plans, to analyze what specific programs worked and what did not work. Discussion will highlight conditions that support successful implementation at scale, implications of the discontinuation of ESSER funding, as well as efforts to understand programmatic impact on student outcomes.

Authors

• Varsha Nair

• Niu Gao, American Institutes for Research

• Bruce Fuller, University of California, Berkeley

• Julian Betts

• Jonathan Isler, California Department of Education