Research Library • Literature

LITERATURE & EVIDENCE MATRIX.

The initial governed corpus maps peer-reviewed research and state administrative evidence to two active paper streams: the foundation paper on predicate knowledge / apparent procedural competence and the developing PDPK working paper.

Governance rule. Source inclusion is not equivalent to proposition support. Every record carries a source type, extraction status, limitations boundary, paper mapping, and federal R&D use. Contrary/null findings are preserved rather than filtered out.

Peer reviewed

Kuhfeld, M., Robinson, G., Isaacs, J., Postell, S., Lee, J.-E., & Ottmar, E. (2025). High school math course-taking: Shifts in access and achievement post-COVID-19. AERA Open, 11(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584251353514

Finding / use: A mathematics achievement decline that emerged for students in eighth grade in 2020–2021 remained detectable in tenth grade in spring 2023; significant negative achievement effects were found among tenth-grade students taking Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II, while overall course-enrollment rates did not show statistically significant COVID impacts.

Boundary: Supports a longitudinal high-school bridge but does not establish that every later mathematics difficulty is caused by pandemic disruption.

Paper mapping: ACA-PAPER-001, ACA-PAPER-PDPK • Status: reviewed-core

Open source

Peer reviewed

Unger, V., Grünig, F., Hochweber, J., Brauchle, J., Hübner, N., & Kickmeier-Rust, M. (2026). The impact of COVID-19 on Swiss students’ learning. Learning and Instruction, 104, 102338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2026.102338

Finding / use: No statistically significant learning-loss signal during school closures was detected; a temporary acceleration effect appeared about one year later, and standardized test use increased during and after the pandemic.

Boundary: Contrary/null evidence demonstrating that pandemic-related learning outcomes are heterogeneous across systems and should not be treated as universal.

Paper mapping: ACA-PAPER-PDPK • Status: reviewed-core-contrary

Open source

Peer reviewed

Lee, S. W., & Mao, X. (2021). Algebra by the eighth grade: The association between early study of Algebra I and students’ academic success. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 19(6), 1271–1289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-020-10116-3

Finding / use: Included as prerequisite/course-sequencing literature relevant to early Algebra I participation and later academic success. Full claim extraction is pending before proposition-level use.

Boundary: Registry inclusion is a screening-stage mapping; do not use the summary as a causal claim until full-text extraction is completed.

Paper mapping: ACA-PAPER-001, ACA-PAPER-PDPK • Status: screened-extraction-pending

Open source

Government / administrative

South Carolina Department of Education. (2026). 2026 SC READY scores: Statewide by grade level and reporting category.

Finding / use: Grade 6 mathematics low-performance rates were 47.2% in Numerical Reasoning, 45.6% in Patterns, Algebra, and Functional Reasoning, 41.6% in Measurement, Geometry, and Spatial Reasoning, and 39.6% in Data, Probability, and Statistical Reasoning. Statewide Grades 3–8 mathematics Meets/Exceeds rose to 47.9% in 2026 from 43.9% in 2025 and 42.3% in 2024.

Boundary: Administrative performance categories are descriptive state evidence. Aggregate or domain-level results do not identify individual causes and should not be compared across changed standards or sequences without methodological controls.

Paper mapping: ACA-PAPER-PDPK • Status: reviewed-core-government

Open source

Paper crosswalk

Two active research streams

ACA-PAPER-001

From Procedure to Understanding

Core tags: predicate knowledge, apparent procedural competence, conceptual understanding, retention, explanation, transfer, and Algebra I performance.

ACA-PAPER-PDPK

Pandemic-Disrupted Predicate Knowledge

Core tags: cohort timing, post-pandemic mathematics recovery, domain-specific prerequisite weakness, later-course propagation, assessment governance, policy changes, and contrary/null evidence.

Current proposition under test

Aggregate recovery can coexist with domain-specific prerequisite weakness.

The registry currently supports investigation of the proposition that aggregate mathematics recovery may occur while substantial prerequisite-domain weaknesses persist and become visible later when students encounter courses that presume earlier competencies. This remains a research proposition rather than a concluded causal finding.

Open Machine-Readable Literature Registry