Quantile Regression of Cognitive Ability and Achievement Inequality Before and After the Pandemic in One State

TL;DR

This study examines how cognitive ability and achievement gaps among Arkansas students changed before and after the pandemic, finding that gaps either stayed stable or slightly narrowed.

Contribution

The study introduces a quantile regression approach to assess distributional impacts of the pandemic on cognitive and achievement gaps.

Findings

Cognitive ability and achievement gaps did not widen after the pandemic, staying stable or narrowing moderately.

The relationship between cognitive ability and achievement weakened after the pandemic.

The study contributes to understanding pandemic-related learning changes using a large student database.

Abstract

This study draws from two cohorts of students (total N = 10,508) to examine cognitive ability and achievement inequality around the COVID-19 pandemic. Before and after the pandemic, two groups of Arkansas students were given both the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT), which is considered more of an ability or reasoning measure, and the ACT-Aspire, which is considered more of an achievement measure. We use a quantile regression framework to examine possible distributional impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results demonstrate that the cognitive ability and/or achievement gaps did not widen after the pandemic, instead they stayed stable or narrowed moderately across groups. Results also indicate that cognitive ability was a significant and consistent predictor of achievement before COVID-19, but the strength of this relationship attenuated noticeably after the pandemic. This work helps add to the literature on COVID learning changes (large losses for many students), drawing from a large database of students in one state.

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