Pandemic Schooling Mode and Student Test Scores: Evidence from US School Districts
American Economic Review: Insights
vol. 5,
no. 2, June 2023
(pp. 173-90)
Abstract
We estimate the impact of district-level schooling mode (in-person versus hybrid or virtual learning) in the 2020–2021 school year on students' pass rates on standardized tests in grades 3–8 across 11 states. Pass rates declined from 2019 to 2021: an average of 12.8 percentage points in math and 6.8 in English language arts (ELA). Focusing on within-state, within-commuting zone variation in schooling mode, we estimate that districts with full in-person learning had significantly smaller declines (13.4 pp in math, 8.3 in ELA). The value to in-person learning was larger for districts with larger populations of Black students.Citation
Jack, Rebecca, Clare Halloran, James Okun, and Emily Oster. 2023. "Pandemic Schooling Mode and Student Test Scores: Evidence from US School Districts." American Economic Review: Insights, 5 (2): 173-90. DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20210748Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H75 State and Local Government: Health; Education; Welfare; Public Pensions
- I12 Health Behavior
- I18 Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
- I21 Analysis of Education
- I28 Education: Government Policy
- J15 Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination