- Council of the Great City Schools
- Are Big City Schools Recovering Academically?
Investing in Academic Recovery and Progress in America’s Great City Schools
Page Navigation
- Introduction
- Overview
- Are Big City Schools Recovering Academically?
- How Did Schools Invest Pandemic Relief Funds to Support Academic Recovery?
- How Did Schools Invest Pandemic Relief Funds to Support the Mental Health Needs of Students?
- How Did Districts Invest in Facilities Improvements and COVID Mitigation?
- How Did Districts Invest to Ensure the Continuity of District Operations and Services?
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In January 2024, researchers from Harvard University and Stanford University released the Education Recovery Scorecard, a collection of data on student recovery from the pandemic for 30 states.
Despite the heavy toll that COVID-19 had on our major cities, the data show that between 2022 and 2023, 95 percent of the 44 Council member districts with math data reported exceeded the national average in recovery and 61 percent of the 41 districts with reading data reported exceeded the national average in recovery. Moreover, 26 of the 44 (60 percent) districts exceeded their state rate of recovery in math and 20 of the 41 (49 percent) districts exceeded their state rate of recovery in reading.
In fact, the recovery rates in many of those districts were the highest, or among the highest, in their state including Birmingham, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dayton, Detroit, Fresno, Oklahoma City, Norfolk, Portland (Oregon), and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County in math and Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Nashville, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Winston-Salem/Forsyth County in reading.
Sean Reardon, one of the lead researchers, shared in an NPR interview that students experienced “giant” national declines in reading and math after the pandemic – more than a half a grade level in math. These declines were significantly more pronounced in our urban school districts, who have higher concentrations of poverty and serve students with limited access to healthcare resources. Now, many urban districts are seeing improvement well above a third of a year—a “huge” increase by historical standards, as Reardon explains.
The graphs below illustrate mean loss and recovery in mathematics and reading, by district poverty rates, as indicated by the percentage of students eligible for free or reduced lunch programs. The dark blue arrows pointing downward represent test score declines due to the pandemic, while the light blue arrows pointing upward show mean rates of recovery. The charts reveal that districts with the highest poverty rates are recovering the fastest, showing the greatest gains in test scores in both mathematics and reading during the 2022-23 school year.
When we look at districts’ individual gains (available at https://educationrecoveryscorecard.org/), we see Cincinnati leading Ohio’s math recovery. Cincinnati improved math achievement by nearly three fourths of a grade equivalent above what is expected in one year. In other words, they nearly helped students recover two years of learning in a single year. Dayton (OH) and Norfolk (VA) were just behind Cincinnati in math, and Chicago (IL) was similar in reading. Jackson (MS) Public Schools exceeded a year of grade equivalent recovery in math and a half a year recovery in reading. Winston-Salem/Forsyth County (NC) exceeded a half year recovery in reading and math, while Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were just shy of a half year recovery in mathematics. Again, one-year gains like these are extraordinary in context and should signal to communities and lawmakers that our nation’s urban schools are on the road to recovery.
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