February 20, 2024

Source: Chalkbeat

Next month marks four years since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down or drastically altered most aspects of public life in the United States. While many parts of life seem to have bounced back, one major aspect of American life is still struggling: education. School systems across the country are suffering, even though the days of remote learning and hybrid schooling arrangements are in the rearview mirror. Two years of severely disrupted education created a phenomenon known as “pandemic learning loss,” and no school system has been immune to the fallout. 

Learning loss by itself is not new. It’s something most educators deal with to some extent at the beginning of a new school year. Ten to twelve weeks straight without classroom time in the summer can lead to students losing 25% of what they learned the previous school year.  

But the learning loss resulting from the pandemic is a different beast. 

On average, American students are not back to where they were in 2019. Some school districts are just shy of their pre-pandemic levels, but those gains are being made very slowly and in the face of disappearing federal aid. According to the Educational Recovery Scorecard, a study conducted by researchers at Harvard and Stanford, student test scores in many states are bouncing back. In Chicago Public Schools, for example, students' reading scores have exceeded pre-pandemic levels, making the district one of the top-ranked in the country for recovery among large school systems. 

(Image credit: Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian)

Why it matters now

Four years after COVID-19 swept across the globe and wreaked havoc on our lives, people of all stripes have been keen to move on from the pandemic. And that instinct makes sense. The pandemic has been a globally traumatizing event that many would like to forget. But the lingering effects on our society are still here, not just in terms of illness or runaway inflation. Children’s educational losses aren’t something that can be rectified in a year (or two or three, if recent history is our guide), especially if the funding meant to stem those losses is now drying up. Student rebounds are an encouraging sign, but they’re only the tip of the iceberg. 

Go deeper

• Students are making a “surprising” rebound from pandemic closures. But some may never catch up —The New York Times 

• Overcoming pandemic-induced learning loss —The University of Chicago 

• See how your school district is recovering from the pandemic —The New York Times 

• The Education Recovery Scorecard —a joint research project from Stanford and Harvard 

A final Reckon note...

There are many ways to measure the ongoing impact of COVID in our lives. We've touched on some of the bigger ones before (education and inflation, for example), but those topics scratch the surface.

We want to hear from you: What is one area of life the pandemic has changed for you? Reply to this email or use my email address below to let us know. Your answer may be the inspiration for a future edition of this newsletter.

Got something you want us to dive into soon? Let me know at avelasquez@reckonmedia.com.

That's all I've got for this week!

Thanks for reckoning with me,

Aria

PROMO: Texas Tribune x Reckon

Reckon is excited to partner with nonprofit politics and public policy newsroom, Texas Tribune , for an upcoming panel discussion on the intersection of extreme weather, utility rate hikes and quality of life in the U.S. “Spring Awakening: A look at how climate catastrophe impacts the cost of living,” will be co-hosted by Reckon climate reporter Christopher Harress and Texas Tribune energy reporter Emily Foxhall, and feature Capital B climate and environment reporter Adam Mahoney. Moderated by Texas Tribune editor Dave Harmon, the panel will focus on the Texas freeze of 2021 and how it reflects the ongoing inequalities that are a direct reflection of climate disaster and its unrelenting impacts on residents.

"Spring Awakening" streams live on YouTube on Wednesday, March 13 at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT. 

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