Fixing the Pandemic Learning Loss; Will Students Make a Full Recovery?

Though the federal government has disbursed nearly $200 billion in funds to support schools’ COVID recovery efforts, new data shows this may not be adequate. According to The 74 , data now suggests that the cost to “erase the damage to learning caused by COVID” is closer to $700 billion. With new national assessment results being released, the circumstances are becoming even more worrisome.

The most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores include data from both fourth and eighth-grade students, painting a more robust image of where American students stand.

“What’s new about all of these results is that every single demographic went down,” explained Emily Mitchell , Vice President of Education at Sylvan Learning . “That has never happened before. In both fourth and eighth grade, every single demographic went down.”

Learning loss impact

The assessment of students in fourth and eighth grade is important as it shows a longitudinal, systemic picture of student achievement over time. Traditionally, the end of third grade is thought of as a time when students make the switch from ‘learning to read’ to ‘reading to learn.’ Therefore, if fourth graders are scoring poorly on standardized assessments, it is likely that they missed that key milestone.

If a significant portion of students is still struggling by the time they get to eighth grade, it can be much harder to fill in the learning gaps than it would be if the issue was identified and remedied while the students were still in elementary school. Students who move through multiple grade levels without a strong foundation of prerequisite skills become more disadvantaged, falling further behind with each year that passes. This equity gap has been a concern for many years prior to the pandemic. School disruption during covid has widened the gap even more.

Trends of increasing chronic absenteeism also exacerbate the issue. Compared to data from the 2018–19 school year, nearly every state had an increase in absenteeism rates in the 2020–21 year. Even more recent data available from California, Connecticut, Ohio and Virginia indicate that absenteeism may be even more prevalent.

“If the rest of the country saw rates as high as those in California, Connecticut, Ohio and Virginia, that would mean over 16 million students missed large chunks of the 2021–22 school year,” Linda Jacobson wrote for The 74.

In addition to the challenges students are already facing, school systems struggle to attract and retain an appropriate number of fully qualified educators. In an effort to combat the immediate issue, many districts are loosening the requirements for teachers, recruiting veterans without teaching certifications or expediting education students’ learning to place them in classrooms even sooner.

“Though well-intended, these short-term fixes will only perpetuate ongoing shortages,” Emma García , a senior researcher at the Learning Policy Institute, said in an interview with Brookings. “[Other states and districts], however, are leveraging state money and federal relief dollars to stabilize and strengthen their educator workforce through long-term solutions such as competitive compensation, investments in preparation and improved working conditions.”

These practices, in conjunction with the already-decreasing pipeline of college students majoring in education, have led to an estimated 163,000 underqualified teachers working in classrooms throughout the U.S. With older educators retiring and fewer education graduates available to take their places, this shortage has turned into yet another persistent issue that will have long-term effects on students.

Recovery efforts

Current projections indicate that it will take three to five years for students to recover from pandemic-related learning loss. For younger — elementary and middle school — students with adequate support, there may still be time to make a full recovery. However, there is a strong likelihood that high school students will age out of the public school system before they are able to fully recover.

Another data point, ACT scores, reflects these losses. For the first time in over 30 years, average ACT scores have dropped below 20 . Nationwide, students are achieving an average of 19.8 points out of the 36 possible on the college admissions test. Though this decline cannot be attributed entirely to COVID, as scores have been decreasing since 2018, the pandemic accelerated the drop.

Students from low-income families scored, on average, 17.4 on the exam, and only 8% demonstrated college readiness in all four subjects.

Though some higher education institutions have begun to make testing optional, these scores and college readiness statistics represent an overall lack of preparedness among older students. Whether they want to obtain a four-year degree, attend a technical school or enter the workforce immediately, they simply do not have the same educational foundation as the students who came before them.

According to a McKinsey & Company analysis, “unless steps are taken to address unfinished learning, today’s students may earn $49,000 to $61,00 less over their lifetime owing to the impact of the pandemic on their schooling.”

Addressing the issue

To fix the pandemic learning loss, parents, schools and other community leaders must take action. Though the available funding falls short of the estimated $700 billion needed, there are still resources that can change students’ trajectories.

Over the next three to five years, school systems need to spend the money provided for learning recovery.

“A lot of schools are carefully studying how to spend the money, which is admirable on the one hand, but on the other hand, we’re in an emergency situation,” Mitchell said. “There’s a sense of decision paralysis as schools try to decide how they can spend the money in a way that will make things better long term. As they spend time weighing the pros and cons, time is ticking by, and we’re quickly approaching the August 2024 expiration date.”

With funds pre-approved to be used for tutoring, schools can fund high-dosage tutoring for students — a proven way to combat this learning loss.

Another crucial part of this ecosystem is the parents. Parents have the ability to learn more about their child’s individual needs and schools’ test scores, and that information can empower them to ask questions at the district and state levels regarding how funds are being spent.

Understanding whether a student is ‘COVID behind’ or truly behind is also key. In some cases, students may be receiving high marks in class, but they are excelling within the bounds of slowed-down learning expectations.

“If a parent has their child’s individual test information, there should be a place on the results report, regardless of what the test is, it shows how the child did compared to the rest of the school, district and nationwide,” Mitchell added. “That can be a helpful comparison, but the caveat is that you will be comparing your child to other kids, and we know that other kids are also behind. You aren’t comparing your child to the ‘ideal’ or where they should be.”

Pairing this understanding with thorough knowledge of what steps the school system has taken to combat learning loss on a wide-scale basis sets parents up to take any additional steps necessary to support their children.

Taking control of the information at hand and getting a child enrolled in tutoring or scheduled for testing, which has six-to-nine month wait lists in some areas, as soon as possible positions students in a way that will allow them to make the most of the supplemental resources offered to them over the next few years.