Educational Lessons Learned From COVID-19

As the country moves towards a post-pandemic phase and students return to school, it’s become increasingly clear the COVID-19 virus has left major gaps in learning. A recent study estimates that COVID-related learning loss has put students behind anywhere from one to five months, with the biggest gaps seen among students of color.

School shutdowns have compounded racial disparities in learning, shining a bright light on the inequity that existed in our public school system even before the pandemic hit. Everyone knew it was there — now, we have a mountain of proof it’s there.

While no one would ever wish for a global pandemic, the resulting gap in learning has been the shakeup that our public education system needed. In the history of U.S. education, very little has changed. Essentially, the model has stayed the same for more than 100 years. The traditional school schedule, for example, still follows the agrarian school calendar, created to accommodate large farming regions in the U.S. where kids would be needed to perform labor on their family farms.

Federal funding opportunities

The silver lining is we now have the opportunity to make some big changes, thanks to new federal funding for schools struggling to get their students caught up to avoid a generational education crisis.

But it’s not going to be easy.

In a traditional classroom, kids can hide in a class of 25 or 30. It’s harder for a teacher to determine each student’s level of understanding in the moment. That’s part of the reason why research shows that small group tutoring is the most effective way to remediate students who have fallen behind.

Most school staff say that smaller class sizes would be a huge benefit. However, smaller classes mean more teachers, and many schools were already short-staffed before the pandemic began. For many teachers who were underpaid and overburdened, COVID was the last straw, causing them to retire or consider other career options. Teacher burnout is an issue that will play a factor in every school this coming year.

Meanwhile, schools have to figure out how to add two to three months of content to their already-packed curriculums. That might not sound like much, but it takes time to squeeze the unfinished learning into the next school year. The general wisdom among assessment companies who have studied this year’s scores is that it will take students two to three years to catch up from COVID-related deficits, especially when it comes to math.

Partnership and results

Because of the new federal funding, Sylvan has been able to partner with a number of school districts to bring our individualized learning model to students who otherwise might not be able to afford it.

Developed through academic research, teaching experience and technology, the Sylvan Method™ builds confidence, boosts skills, delivers better grades and results in up to three times more academic growth compared to students who don’t utilize Sylvan.

Our Sylvan partners, who are now playing hands-on, in-person roles at school districts across the country, are already seeing results in attendance and increased stamina — the ability to engage in learning for long periods of time — among children who in many cases never logged on at all during COVID-19 and are effectively more than a year behind.

A lot of students fell through the cracks this past year. Sylvan is able to determine where a student’s learning needs to start, and forge a path to a successful year ahead, and we do all of this in small group settings. We’re honored to play a role in addressing this issue.

Schools have a huge weight on their shoulders right now, but federal funding is giving them the opportunity to fix the things that have been broken if they use the money wisely.

With more than 40 years of experience and more than 750 points of presence throughout North America, Sylvan Learning is the leading provider of personal learning for students in grades K-12. Sylvan is transforming how students learn, inspiring them to succeed in school and in life. Sylvan’s proven tutoring approach blends amazing teachers with SylvanSync™ technology on the iPad® for an engaging learning experience.

Sylvan also leads the way with Sylvan EDGE — STEM and accelerated courses — and Sylvan Prep — college and test prep courses. Sylvan supports families through every stage of the academic journey. For more information, visit www.