The COVID-19 pandemic was an unprecedented global event that profoundly impacted education systems worldwide. In the United States, school closures forced a shift to remote and hybrid learning—a challenge that was unfamiliar to both students and educators. Even before the pandemic, students from low-income families and communities of color already faced pre-existing achievement gaps. However, COVID-19 further exacerbated these disparities, as under-resourced schools lacked the technological infrastructure needed to support remote learning. This created significant barriers for students of color and those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. A study examining learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic found that losses were 55% greater among students whose parents had lower levels of educational attainment, further widening the achievement gap (Engzell et al., 2020). Similarly, across California, student grades dropped significantly during the pandemic, with more students receiving D’s and F’s (CalMatters). As a result, these students faced greater challenges in achieving educational outcomes comparable to their white and more affluent peers. Our research uses the Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA) 2023 Version 5.0 dataset, which contains information on aggregated test scores (math and English language arts) of students with various racial and socioeconomic backgrounds across U.S. school districts between 2016 and 2023. This dataset is relevant because it allows us to analyze long-term trends in achievement gaps before, during, and after the pandemic, which helps us assess the pandemic’s impact. Given that the data highlights disparities, we believe schools must adopt targeted interventions and educational strategies to effectively address the needs of diverse student populations. If left unaddressed, these educational setbacks could have lasting effects on college readiness and socioeconomic mobility for affected students.