Absence of a COVID-induced academic drop in high-school physics learning

TL;DR

This study examined whether the COVID-19 pandemic caused a decline in high-school physics learning by analyzing incoming Stanford students' diagnostic exam scores before and after the pandemic, finding no significant change.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence that high-school physics preparation did not decline during the COVID-19 pandemic for Stanford students.

Findings

No significant change in physics diagnostic scores from 2019 to 2021.

Student preparation levels remained stable despite online schooling.

Challenges the hypothesis of an academic slide in physics learning due to COVID-19.

Abstract

At the start of the COVID 19 pandemic, the majority of secondary instruction in the United States transitioned to an online environment. In many parts of the country, online schooling continued for upwards of two years. Many experts have hypothesized an "academic slide" (a reduction in student learning) following this period of online instruction. We investigated the change in student preparation for introductory college physics in incoming Stanford university students between the Fall term of 2019 to the Fall term of 2021. We did this by looking at the performance on a validated physics diagnostic exam that all Stanford students intending to take a physics course took before enrolling in an introductory physics course. We found no statistically or educationally significant change in scores. Despite many anecdotal faculty reports, at least for this population, the level of student preparation in physics and related math appears to be unchanged.