Education experts worried, as the onset of COVID-19 sent students into remote learning, how those students would be affected. There was concern that learning loss could affect students for the rest of their academic careers. We may not have given enough credit to their ability to bounce back.
Education Next studied data in Ohio that suggests we may already have turned a corner in recovering from the learning gap created from 2020 into 2021.
“Overall, the results provide grounds for some optimism about the trajectory of students’ academic recovery, but also suggest that the students hit hardest by pandemic learning disruptions have also made proportionately smaller gains since then, causing many inequities to persist,” Vladimir Kogan wrote for Education Next.
Among factors that may have contributed to a smoother recovery than anticipated is that when teachers are forced to think outside the box, they’re smart enough to recognize when they’ve hit on an idea that should stick around even after circumstances change.
But, as the analysis points out, there are students who will need more help. Rather than look for a one-size-fits-all approach, it is important we let teachers do what they need to do for those kids, too.
