Talks archive, 2020–2026 – Using Interim Assessment Data to Measure COVID’s Impact on Learning: National, State, and Local Perspectives

Using Interim Assessment Data to Measure COVID’s Impact on Learning: National, State, and Local Perspectives Damian Betebenner Center for Assessment CCSSO National Conference on Student Assessment June 24th, 2021

Why this work is necessary and important • We’re (hopefully) coming out of a once in a century event that disrupted education on a scale not seen in our lifetimes. • Evidence (and common sense) suggests that academic impacts of the pandemic were NOT uniformly felt. Evidence suggests: • Differential impact by content area • Differential impact by demographic student group (e.g., ethnicity, SES) • Differential impact by state, district, and school • Differential impact by mode of education • Differential impact by student academic subgroup (e.g., students receiving special education services) • Probably numerous other relevant groups. • Ameliorating impact will necessary be targeted and require understanding academic impact by these groups. Understanding Indiana WIDA-ACCESS Pandemic Related Academic Impact

Interim Assessments FTW • With the onset of the pandemic in spring 2020, state assessments (had they been given) would have been of little use in determining academic impact. • Interim assessments, often given in Fall, Winter, Spring we’re ideally timed to investigate academic impact as of Fall 2020 and Winter 2021. • Renaissance STAR assessments have a vertical, cross-grade, cross-year scale allowing for pre-pandemic to pandemic comparison of student attainment. • Renaissance STAR assessments have a baseline referenced growth measure to compare (difference in difference) growth pre-pandemic to pandemic growth. • Spring 2020 interim assessment data will be problematic to work with due to the onset of the pandemic. • State summative tests will be a critical piece of data in the coming weeks to help us better understand the academic impact of the pandemic. Understanding Indiana WIDA-ACCESS Pandemic Related Academic Impact

Transitioning from Impact to Recovery • States are at different points of dealing with the pandemic and its impact on education. • Some students have returned to in-person learning early in the 2020-2021 academic year. • Other students are still learning remotely. • If the goal is to (at least) ameliorate the academic impact of the pandemic on students, focus should be on finding ways to accelerate student learning. • A big concern going forward should be differential recovery where (on average) the “haves” recover and the “have nots” don’t recover. Understanding Indiana WIDA-ACCESS Pandemic Related Academic Impact

Tests are necessary but not sufficient • Learning loss or unfinished learning? Assessments won’t tell us. • Assessments (at their best) tell us where we are on our academic journey. They don’t tell us how to get to our destination. • With a clear understanding of the magnitude of the academic impact, we can sensibly “right-size” efforts to recovery. • Bigger impacts necessitate longer recovery times and (possibly) more intensive interventions. • Smaller impacts necessitate shorter recovery times and (possibly) less intensive interventions. • The data is there to guide us if we choose to use it sensibly! Understanding Indiana WIDA-ACCESS Pandemic Related Academic Impact

Questions Understanding Indiana WIDA-ACCESS Pandemic Related Academic Impact

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Using Interim Assessment Data to Measure COVID’s Impact on Learning: National, State, and Local Perspectives — CCSSO National Conference on Student Assessment, June 24, 2021.

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