The Longer‐Term Impact of COVID‐19 on K–12 Student Learning and Assessment

Middleton, Kyndra V.

Due to the precipitous onset of the coronavirus disease, teachers and students across the nation were thrust into a new environment, and the impact of this new experience will be felt both shorter and longer term. This academic year saw “test pollution” with the switch to online instruction, and student learning was significantly impacted by stress, anxiety, illness, being forced to learn in a vastly different method than previously experienced, and the increased potential to fall behind due to lack of access to materials. Classroom assessment, teaching and learning, and measurement and interpretation of student growth are among the numerous areas that have been affected by the sudden switch of schools to online instruction that will require much thought in order to examine the impact of the significant deviation from the classroom norms on which much of previous research has been based. Educators, educational researchers, and policymakers have been presented with a challenge that does not have a definitive answer. There are many unknowns that remain as schools plan to move forward with instruction. However, through collaboration, the knowledge that each of these professionals can contribute ensures that adequate decisions will be made that will benefit all students equitably.