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Despite all the talk of getting back to normal, school hasn’t been the same for years.
Three years since the coronavirus pandemic closed schools across the United States, students have experienced one disruption after another: a COVID outbreak here, a flood there, an ice storm, a hurricane or a tornado there. Community events, school violence, and even water system outages disrupted the classroom.
New research published Monday in the journal Nature Human Behavior finds that the combination of pandemic-related school closures, the shift to virtual learning where it was even an option, and the toll on students’ mental health are pushing back children about a third of a year old. The analysis concluded as much based on a review of 42 other studies conducted in 15 countries. Almost the entire student population around the world has experienced school closures due to COVID.
It probably sounds familiar, but despite billions of dollars pouring into schools to make up for lost time, the gap hasn’t narrowed significantly over time — though it hasn’t widened either. The researchers concluded that the students’ math skills had plunged more than reading. Meanwhile, children in low-income families and countries have suffered the most.
“We don’t see a clear recovery pattern for this deficit,” said lead author Bastian A. Betthäuser, of Sciences Po in Paris. “It’s certainly concerning.”
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What is “learning loss”?
Educators have known for decades that students regress in math and reading during summer break. Only a small number of children in American schools attend classes year-round.
One solution has been high-quality summer schools to keep kids reading and doing math.
More school districts are turning to summer school offerings since the pandemic, RAND Corporation found in a survey. However, children must attend regularly and programs must last long enough to make a difference, and many school systems fail to consider what really works when setting up their summer schools.
“Kids don’t get after school or tutoring or anything if they don’t show up,” said Phyllis Jordan of FutureEd, a Georgetown University-based think tank.
In Los Angeles recently, where extra elective days were added to the school year during the winter break, less than 10 percent of students in the nation’s second-largest district showed up.
(Admittedly, there are many people who are skeptical about learning loss.)
American students have lost decades of progress in math, reading:Could this strategy be the solution?
What role do parents play in catching up with children?
While schools and teachers have been blamed for switching to virtual classes during the pandemic for months, and on and off for some time after that, it’s now up to parents to realize that kids aren’t doing well.
This means getting them into summer school, after-school academic programs, and extra school days and not assuming that good grades mean students have no room for improvement.
“There are these national surveys that suggest that parents think things are more or less on the right track,” researcher Dan Goldhaber recently told educational media The 74. “And I think there are good evidence that children are not yet on the right track. So we have what I would say is an “emergency gap”.
There is no time to waste, said Betthäuser.
“I really think there’s hope for politicians to reclaim the learning. We just have to do it,” he said.
If the United States and other countries don’t invest in the right solutions, quickly and make sure students are on board, he said, “I’m not sure we’ll be able to fully catch up.” those learning deficits we’re seeing.
“That’s potentially going to be a big deal for this generation.”
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