ATLANTA — Georgia State University won a big grant to study how remote learning impacted student achievement outcomes and look at recovery strategies.
The federal grant, $1.85 million from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, is focused on helping GSU study how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted student learning when lockdowns were underway to stop the spread.
According to a release from the university, the study will aim to understand why some students in K-12 school performed better than others while all were learning remotely, something the university said was still unknown.
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“The COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath provide an unprecedented opportunity to study the impact and effects of school closures and remote learning on students,” Distinguished University Professor Tim Sass, principal investigator for the study, said. “The combination of family disruptions, closures of schools and rapid transition to remote learning resulting from the pandemic substantially reduced achievement growth for many students, particularly those experiencing vulnerabilities.”
The study is expected to use surveys and “rich longitudinal data” in order to examine what factors were associated with higher achievement in remote instruction, and how some recovery efforts helped in different student outcomes.
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A report produced by the U.S. Department of Education called the Nation’s Report Card showed the achievement levels of students across the country from 2020 to 2023.
The report showed a number of deficiencies across the U.S. when it came to outcomes for reading comprehension and math.
Bluntly put, “Scores declined for many student groups in reading, and for nearly all student groups in mathematics,” during the pandemic, according to the report.
GSU said the research team expects their findings will give short-run benefits to education agencies that work to accelerate student learning, as well as provide some important insights for future research, as remote learning remains in use for post-pandemic education.
According to GSU, the researchers from GSU will produce and share policy briefs and rapid-response presentations of their research findings for district and state leaders, plus longer reports for district research staff, state agencies, and nonprofit educational organizations.
All of the briefs produced will be available to the public.
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