Schools Closed and Went Remote to Fight COVID-19. The Impacts Linger 5 Years Later; Impact of COVID-19 On Education Not Going Away, Study Finds, and other C-Virus related stories

Schools closed and went remote to fight COVID-19. The impacts linger 5 years later:

American schools and the ways students learn have both changed since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic five years ago.

After local and federal health officials ordered schools to closein March 2020, most campuses in the U.S. shuttered and educators pivoted to virtual learning. Many students lost fundamental reading and math skills after learning remotely for months and some teachers left the profession altogether by the time schools returned the next school year, national data from the U.S. Department of Education shows.

Educators nationwide have said that their students returned to classrooms after the pandemic with lower academic skills than before and it’s been a challenge to catch kids up.

Student academic setbacks are proving difficult to reverse. Recent national test scores from the National Center for Education Statistics show a bleak picture of recovery in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reading scores are worsening and math scores haven’t recovered on a national average.

“The abrupt shift to remote learning challenged student and teacher engagement, dramatically decreased instruc­tion­al time, and hindered student understanding,” reads a report about the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on education from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a philanthropy focused on ensuring young people have access to opportunity.

Michael Petrilli, president of the national education policy think tank Thomas B. Fordham Institute, said the recent test results showing dismal academic recovery lead him to believe American education won’t return to pre-pandemic levels until there’s “a generation of kids who were not impacted by the pandemic.”

Many of the kids affected by school closures during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and lost some of the most foundational skills in reading and math, Petrilli said.

“The fourth graders now were in kindergarten when they were sent home. Many were doing Zoom school,” Petrilli said. “It’s absolutely worth noting that this is a precious period – the early grades.”

While educational impacts linger, supporters of school closures have said it was the right choice. —>READ MORE HERE

Impact of COVID-19 on education not going away, study finds:

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student performance is well known, but four years after the pandemic, scores in college classes are not returning to their pre-pandemic levels. A University of Mississippi study might point to an answer.

In a study published in a special issue of the Educational Sciences journal, three Ole Miss researchers found that student performance scores started a downward trend following COVID-19. Dozens of studies have documented the pandemic’s negative impact on education, but the Ole Miss team discovered evidence of a deeper problem.

“We were a little puzzled at first because if learning was impacted by one big event, why didn’t scores drop and level off or start to climb again?” said Gregg Davidson, professor of geology and geological engineering. “Why did scores continue declining each year since COVID-19?”

A comparison between online and face-to-face classes was particularly troubling. Benefits normally provided by the structure of in-person classes, especially for lower-performing students, vanished after COVID-19.

“As educators, recognizing that this is happening is important in order to be proactive about identifying causes and remedies,” Davidson said.

The researchers—Gregg Davidson; Kristin Davidson, lecturer in computer and information science; and Hong Xiao, assistant professor of computer and information science—make the case that it was not just missed exposure to educational material during school shutdowns, but a loss of life skills normally developed in high school that prepare students to succeed both in college and future careers.

These skills include time management, self-motivation, critical thinking and social interaction.

Without these skills, students can struggle to stay engaged, manage coursework and seek help when needed, directly affecting their academic performance, the researchers said. —>READ MORE HERE

Follow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:

Study reveals impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on kindergarteners’ development



IRS Stimulus Checks: Millions Could Still Claim Up to $1,400—Deadline Soon



USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates

WSJ: Coronavirus Live Updates

YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates

NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest

Source

Jesus Christ is King