Student Growth in the Post-COVID Era

Prior research has shown variable recovery patterns by student grade. Some work has shown middle school students making strong recovery, while others identify this group as the students most impacted. To provide more insight into these conflicting findings, Curriculum Associates extended the analysis completed in last years’ publication “Student Growth in the Post-COVID Era” to trace three years of academic growth post-pandemic for two middle school cohorts: the first from Grades 5–7 and the second from Grades 6–8. Utilizing longitudinal growth modeling, we compared three-year growth trajectories in reading and mathematics to those of pre-COVID cohorts in the same grades. Results show middle school students are keeping pace with historical growth rates in reading and show signs of recovery in mathematics. As of the latest full school year, in 2023–2024, both cohorts appear on par with, or close to, historical growth trends in both reading and mathematics. Similar to elementary cohorts, these patterns differed depending on student and school-level factors, with historically underserved communities the furthest from pre-COVID trends. Although more work is needed, these results help provide insight into a mixed landscape of academic recovery post-pandemic.