Racial Disparities in Education During and Following the Pandemic

 This study examines pandemic related racial and ethnic disparities in test scores, absenteeism, and disciplinary incidents for K-12 students in the State of Connecticut through the 2024-25 school year.

Consistent with prior studies, the authors find persistent negative effects of the pandemic on test scores, as well as substantial disparities in test scores along racial and ethnic lines.

For middle school, they also find persistent post-pandemic increases in both severe disciplinary incidents overall and racial and ethnic disparities in severe discipline incidents. However, they document substantial recovery in racial and ethnic disparities in attendance rates and chronic absenteeism by 2024-25.

For all outcomes, most of the increases in disparities are associated with Black and Latinx students attending schools that had worse pre-pandemic outcomes and higher pre-pandemic shares of students who are either economically disadvantaged or face learning barriers.