The effects of the interruption in in-person learning caused by the COVID pandemic are still being felt, and students are far from recovering, according to a new report.
Considered the “biggest disruption” in the history of American education, school closures meant no school for some, not just online learning. On average, schools closed for a period of four to six months, but more than half of students did not reenter the classroom for over a year, reported The Atlantic. The average American public school student went more than a third of a year without schooling.
Economic status also affected how much school students missed. Students who came from households with incomes below $25,000 went roughly 76 days—the equivalent of close to half a year—without schooling, while those who came from households earning $200,000 or more only lost about 54 days.
“A lot of parents misperceive how much students have lost,” Thomas Kane, faculty director for the Center for Education Policy Research, told The Harvard Gazette. “That has been one of the biggest things hampering the recovery, parents thinking things are fine now that kids are back in school.”
“When teachers came back, they said, ‘Wow, these kids have forgotten how to be students,’ and one of the things we saw pretty immediately was a rise in behavior issues,” said Heather Hill, a co-director of the teacher education program at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. In addition to behavior issues, absenteeism nearly doubled post-pandemic.
K12-Dive details the findings of the new report. Here’s the start of the story:
First, the good news: Despite temporary disruptions to how and where students learn, the COVID-19 pandemic has ignited a new emphasis on relationships in school communities and the use of agile school models, according to a report released Tuesday by the Center on Reinventing Public Education.
Now, the bad news: Because of interrupted in-person learning, the average American student who attended school during the pandemic is less than halfway to a full academic recovery. Most concerning, the report’s researchers said, is data that shows stalled progress for the youngest and oldest students, along with widening academic gaps and other challenges for students with disabilities, English learners and those experiencing homelessness.
There hasn’t been enough discussion about how the pandemic affected vulnerable student populations and the targeted strategies needed to help them, said Robin Lake, CRPE director, during a Monday press briefing. “I think that’s a really needed conversation.”
Next March will mark five years since COVID forced schools to abandon in-person learning and recreate lessons to be delivered remotely. Some districts held remote lessons for a few months, while others didn’t fully reopen in person for about a year.