An Investigation of Standardized Assessment Performance for Middle School Students Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this study is to examine how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the learning of students in public education through the analysis of standardized assessment performance before and during COVID-19. The study also compares virtual learning and face-to-face students’ change in performance on the standardized assessments. To answer the research questions, the quantitative research uses 5th and 7th grade math and reading STAAR data from 2019 and 2021 for the same cohort of students at a suburban ISD in Texas. The casual-comparative research study suggests that there is a significant drop in students’ performance on standardized assessments in both math and reading. The results also suggest there is not a significant difference between student learning environment groups in change in standardized assessment performance in the math STAAR assessments, however, there is a significant difference between student learning environment groups in the reading STAAR assessments, with the virtual students outperforming the face-to-face students. The results of this study may inform educational decisions during and after the COVID-19 pandemic