An illustration shows a student’s decline in academic success due to the pandemic. School districts nationwide should provide additional support for students in order to make up for academic losses during virtual learning. Illustration by Lillian Sams
After over a year of adverse effects on education due to the pandemic, the academic success of K-12 students should be at the forefront of concern for American schools.
Since March 2020, students across the nation have endured severe disruption in their educational development and mental well-being due to COVID-19. Nationwide, 55 million children were out of the classroom once the pandemic hit, according to the World Economic Forum.
Pre-COVID educational and institutional issues within the U.S. education system were ever-present, such as opportunity and achievement gaps.
These inequities have been prevalent locally in the Clarke County School District. In 2019, “Achievement Gap,” a district-wide testing analysis, found that Black students in the district are, on average, 3.4 grade levels behind their White counterparts.
“In 2019, “Achievement Gap,” a district-wide testing analysis, found that Black students in the district are, on average, 3.4 grade levels behind their White counterparts.”
In terms of the pandemic, a report published by the Economic Policy Institute predicts that year-long virtual schooling, which Clarke Central High School students participated in, will further amplify institutional issues such as the achievement gap.
Moving forward into the next school year, those who work in education in the U.S. should be aware and prepared for the social and educational impacts 2020 has had on students in K-12.
Along with a change in environment to virtual schooling, many students have also experienced larger conflicts due to the external effects of COVID-19. Consequences such as increased unemployment, increased homelessness and in some cases loss of family members have undoubtedly impacted students across the nation and here in the CCSD.
While many local and national researchers are still trying to define exactly how COVID-19 has impacted K-12 education, the Economic Policy Institute published a report on Sept. 10, 2020 highlighting some of the possible consequences of virtual learning.
As the report states, the impacts of the pandemic that can already be noted represent new changes that came with COVID-19, such as the lack of access to laptops and Wi-Fi for lower-income students. The study also predicts that standardized testing data will be inaccurate as the limitations of these tests such as access to tutoring and coverage of a narrow skill set have been amplified due to the pandemic.
“The impacts of the pandemic that can already be noted represent new changes that came with COVID-19, such as the lack of access to laptops and Wi-Fi for lower-income students.”
Currently, the U.S. Department of Education, along with the Biden administration, has made efforts to collect data about the impact COVID-19 has had on K-12 schools across the country, according to an article published by PBS.
Yet, even without the new set of data, COVID-19 has certainly exposed the insecurities within the education system, calling for an absolute need of reform.
To combat these current and future issues in education, school administrators nationwide should make a collective effort to give support to teachers and students in the following years.
While the exact impacts of this year are still statistically uncertain, public school systems should place great importance on combating the widening achievement gap in education.
