A philanthropic initiative launched in 2022 to get students back on track from COVID learning loss is returning promising results, a new study suggests: just four weeks spent in the program last year helped students regain nearly one-fourth of their reading skills and one-third of math skills, compared to students who didn’t participate in the program.

The initiative, underwritten by and other funders, serves charter school students about to enter grades 1 through 9.  

Researchers at Arizona State University examined over 35,000 Summer Boost students in eight cities, finding that in just 22 days of programming, on average, students saw about three to four weeks of reading progress and about four to five weeks in math. In reading, that works out to making up about 22% of COVID learning losses; in math, it’s about 31%.

While students across all demographic groups got a boost, English Language Learners saw the strongest growth, achieving about seven to eight weeks worth of learning in just over four weeks. Researchers said students moving into grades 4-8 saw particularly accelerated growth.  

Students took part in the study in Baltimore, Birmingham, Indianapolis, Memphis, Nashville, New York City, San Antonio and Washington, D.C. 

Schools participating in Summer Boost are free to use either a provided curriculum or a high-quality one of their choice, but researchers found that about a third of schools used a “balanced kind of curricular approach” that reserved time for both academics and engaging enrichment activities, said ASU’s Geoffrey Borman, who led the research.

Schools that struck that balance, he said, had “the most positive impacts for kids.” 

In summer school more broadly, Borman noted, the biggest challenges are getting kids to show up and stay engaged across the summer — and attracting high-quality teachers at a time when “both teachers and kids would probably rather be on summer break.”

To that end, schools in the program are encouraged to use as much of their budget as possible to pay teachers, said Sunny Larson, K-12 Education Program Lead at Bloomberg. The incentive, she added, “really got those veteran educators back into the classroom.”

Many prioritized hiring teachers who had already worked with these students during the school year. That allowed a continuity “that I also think was beneficial,” said Borman. 

Previous research suggests that pandemic recovery has essentially stalled for most students, with many needing the equivalent of about four more months in school to catch up to pre-pandemic levels. Ninth-graders need a full year of extra school to catch up, according to 2023 findings from the assessment provider NWEA.

Morgan Polikoff, a professor of education at the University of Southern California, said the findings were promising, but that he’d like to know whether the effects persist throughout the school year.

“While I think many have the perception that summer school is rarely effective, these results show that well designed summer programs can indeed be a helpful tool to help catch children up or accelerate their growth,” he said. The results suggest the impact of Summer Boost is “very promising — on par with regular school-year learning rates.”

‘Effective guardrails’ in place

The program includes at least 90 minutes each of English Language Arts and math instruction daily with a 25:1 student-teacher ratio. Summer programs must maintain an average daily attendance rate of 70% to get full funding — “effective guardrails” that ensure high quality, Borman said.

While they have flexibility in how they recruit, they’re encouraged to seek out students who can most benefit. 

Summer Boost originated in 2022, when Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor and a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, likened stalled academic progress from the pandemic to “the educational equivalent of long COVID.”

“Summer is the most underused — and unequal — time of year educationally,” said Harvard University researcher Thomas Kane, who served as an adviser to the research. “With so many students far behind, I hope this study inspires more school districts to expand their summer learning options.”

Kane noted that to expand the school year beyond 180 days incentivizes districts “to replace what students lost during the pandemic, which was instructional time.” 

Kristen Huff, vice president of assessment and research at Curriculum Associates, whose helped gauge the program’s effectiveness, said she was glad to see its positive impact. 

“There is real urgency to use summer programs to provide specific, personalized support for struggling students so that they can return to school ready for grade-level work,” she said. “Assessing students relative to grade level standards is the most accurate way to understand where they are and what support they need.”

Huff noted that Curriculum Associates will soon release research showing student academic growth “still has a way to go” to recover to pre-pandemic levels, especially for the youngest students. “The Summer Boost program results underscore this, and show that when given the right supports, students can accelerate their learning.”

In the new ASU study, researchers noted a few caveats. For instance, they admitted that the findings are based on only one year of data and can’t provide evidence of impact over time. It’s possible, they said, that the findings may change as more years of data are added and the sample size increases. 

They also noted that many student records in the sample were incomplete, missing either math or reading pre- or post-test scores.   

Also missing: key student demographic data, meaning that researchers couldn’t analyze all of the students’ scores in relation to indicators such as race, gender and socioeconomic status. And the data don’t include how students ended up in the program, limiting researchers’ ability to compare it to other types of summer learning programs that may have different enrollment requirements. 

But Borman noted that research on such large groups rarely yields such strong results, “And the fact that these outcomes are seen pretty consistently across thousands of kids and multiple cities, I think that lends even more power to these results.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified Michael Bloomberg’s party affiliation when he ran for president in 2020.

In a sampling of 12 districts, fewer than 10% of students had received tutoring services during the fall semester of 2023. School officials in Indianapolis, for example, say a focus on quality made immediate scaling difficult and that they plan to enroll a higher number of students in tutoring programs moving forward. According to the Council of Chief State School Officers, at least sixteen states have established their own tutoring programs using a collective $470 million in federal COVID aid. Despite the challenge of reaching students, states like , , and continue to announce new tutoring initiatives and investments.

In other funding news, the Education Department granted extensions to the amount of time that at least seven states and D.C. have to spend down the first tranche of COVID-19 school relief funds received during the height of the pandemic. Originally required to be spent by the end of January 2023, . The states include, in addition to D.C., Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina, Mississippi, Ohio, Texas and Wisconsin. A smaller handful of states additionally received extensions to spend down Governor’s Emergency Education Relief dollars. 

Looking beyond issues of COVID relief funding, below are updates from nine other states about how school systems are confronting the challenges posed by COVID-19 and its variants — and working to preserve student progress amid the pandemic:

MISSOURI — New Testing Data Show K-12 Student Performance Dropped Dramatically

Missouri is reporting that to levels that would typically, had a pandemic not taken place, see school systems lose accreditation. State education leaders say they will “not downgrade” any school districts based on the data, but are focused on driving resources and improvements to help schools and students recover academically. 

MARYLAND — Schools to Receive Added $600 Million as Blueprint Funds Flow to Districts

School districts across Maryland are preparing for double-digit increases in K-12 education spending as a historic statewide investment called the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future drives over $600 million in additional funding to budgets next school year alone. The Blueprint, a statewide law heralded as one of the most transformative education plans ever approved, aims to infuse nearly $4 billion in added school funding over its ten years of implementation, increase teachers’ salaries to a base of $60,000, and prop up universal preschool programs.

OREGON — Lawmakers Weigh Kotek Plan for More State Authority Over School Districts

Gov. Tina Kotek has proposed a bill that would create a sizable shift in oversight for public schools. Citing limited action the Oregon Department of Education is allowed to take when schools are out of compliance, SB 1045 would create . Gov. Kotek’s education advisor, Melissa Goff, “portrayed the bill as a balance between providing support and tightening accountability, with an emphasis on the latter,” writes Rob Manning in coverage for OPB. The proposal has been met with criticism among some Oregon education leaders, organizations and other stakeholders, who claim the bill is solely focused on compliance without sufficient emphasis on support.

INDIANA — How Literacy and the ‘Science of Reading’ Get a Big Lift from Bus Drivers at One School

One Indianapolis school’s is drawing attention to both the need for schools to be flexible and innovative amidst sharp staffing challenges, as well as the growing pressure educators at all levels feel to zero in on the “science of reading” to address long standing concerns in literacy achievement. Statewide, Indiana lawmakers are now considering stronger action to ensure early educators are teaching reading in an evidence-based way via Senate Bill 402, which, if passed, would ban the use of the critiqued instructional method called three-cueing and would require schools to adopt reading curriculum aligned to the science of reading. 

ALABAMA – Teachers Could Get $1,000 for Classroom Supplies

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey is proposing to this year, delivering on a promise made by state superintendent Eric Mackey in 2018, when the average supplies stipend was just $422. State officials have raised the amount dedicated to teachers for supplies every year since then.

COLORADO — Denver’s Reforms Led to Huge Academic Growth, Study Finds. But Will They Last?

A new study is raising up over a decade of education reform and innovation in Denver Public Schools that, according to researchers at the University of Colorado Denver, has “led to some of the most significant learning gains ever measured.” Between 2008 and 2019, the district went from one of the ten lowest performing systems in Colorado to between the 60-65th percentile in math and ELA. Officials say the substantial gains in academic achievement were a testament of a suite of reforms — from flexible governing models and growth of charter schools to the closure of the lowest-performing schools and an innovative school ratings system. “The evidence we have is that students benefited from these reforms,” says Parker Baxter, the study’s lead author. 

PENNSYLVANIA — Gov. Shapiro Touts Tax Incentive for New Teachers as a Way to Ease Shortage

To bolster Pennsylvania’s teacher recruitment and retention efforts amid a slowdown in the issuance of teacher certifications, Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed . The financial incentive is one of three solutions to remedy issues like teacher retention and recruitment, infrastructure, and student mental health brought on by the pandemic. In addition to the tax incentive, Gov. Shapiro has proposed an increased 2023-2024 education budget. “I believe in Pennsylvania every person, especially our children, should have the freedom to chart their own course and the opportunity to succeed,” Gov. Shapiro said. “It starts in our public schools.”

NORTH DAKOTA — Burgum Signs Bill Requiring K-12 Computer Science and Cybersecurity Instruction

Eight years after North Dakota’s Department of Public Instruction tasked a group with creating a vision for K-12 computer science and cybersecurity education, Gov. Doug Burgum has signed HB1398. The bill . EduTech, a division of North Dakota Information Technology, will provide examples of cybersecurity and computer science lessons that will support schools in developing their own plans to integrate the subjects. “Our students have more access than ever to computers and technology devices in our schools. It’s crucial that our students also learn cyber safety skills,” Burgum said. “The ability to manage technology is also important in helping our North Dakota students to get good jobs.”

NEW MEXICO — In Rare Move, State Adds Weeks’ Worth of Extra K-12 Class Time

New Mexico Gov. Lujan Grisham signed into law last month a bill that would increase the number of required instructional days by 27 for elementary students and 10 for middle and high school students. The law will increase instructional time in roughly 75% of school districts, with the remaining having already met the new threshold. The move is being praised by educators and advocates focused on addressing learning loss stemming from the pandemic. “We needed time for small-group tutoring and targeted instruction, time for enrichment, time to plan, time for addressing social-emotional needs, time for our students to catch up after the pandemic,” said Mandi Torrez, a former New Mexico Teacher of the Year. “Time was where we needed to start.”

This update on pandemic recovery in education collects and shares news updates from the district, state, and national levels as all stakeholders continue to work on developing safe, innovative plans to resume schooling and address learning loss. It’s an offshoot of the Collaborative for Student Success’ QuickSheet newsletter, which you can .

The report calls on the Institute of Education Sciences — the research arm of the Education Department — , including education technology, teacher education and workforce development, and civil rights policies and practices in schools. “When research is grounded in the needs and experiences of communities, then that community’s district and educators are more likely to use the findings of the research in his or her daily work,” Adam Gamoran, the chairman of the National Academies committee that wrote the report, . 

Elsewhere this week, K-12 policy expert Jocelyn Pickford turns her attention to in her latest CurriculumHQ blog.��

She first recognizes Nebraska, where officials are “investing in aligned professional development for Comprehensive Support & Improvement schools through their Communities of Practice partnership with TNTP” and providing statewide access to Zearn Math, a curriculum tool that has enabled over 8,000 teachers to reach 110,000 Nebraska students already. “Stories like these are helping me channel my math anxiety into something much more productive: optimism that educators + curriculum experts = collaboration that helps kids,” .

Looking beyond curriculum and research, here are eight other updates from across the country about how states and school systems are confronting the challenges posed by COVID-19 and its variants — and working to preserve student progress amid the pandemic:

ALABAMA – Governor Ivey Signs ‘Numeracy Act’ With Aim of Boosting Math Education

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey , approving an intended boost to math education in the state via the hiring of hundreds of new math teachers, investment in professional learning and development for teachers, and the establishment of an Office of Math Improvement and dedicated education task forces. “For our students to have positive educational outcomes and to have success later in life, we must ensure proficiency in both reading and math is achieved,” said Gov. Ivey, noting that the new law follows a 2019 law improving the state’s focus on literacy instruction.

CALIFORNIA — With Students in Turmoil, US Teachers Train in Mental Health

Despite a national return to in-person classes and overflowing school coffers, education systems are struggling to meet heightened mental health needs among students, families, and teachers that spiked during the pandemic. One coalition of mental health organizations says nearly every state in the U.S. , while teachers increasingly raise alarms for their students. “There’s more school violence, there’s more vaping, there’s more substance abuse, there’s more sexual activity, there’s more suicide ideation, there’s more of every single behavior that we would be worried about in kids,” one mental healthcare provider . In California, officials are leaning into an educator training course offered since 2014 to help prepare and equip teachers to identify and respond to mental health concerns among students. Though more than 8,000 teachers have taken the course, experts say such efforts will need to be expanded into communities that are currently without a similar resource.

NEW JERSEY – Midyear Test Scores Predict Continued Struggle With Learning Loss

New Jersey educators and officials are bracing for lowered student proficiency rates in reading and math as students sit for annual state exams this spring, . Across grade levels in both ELA and math, fewer than 10% of students are expected to score proficient. Newark Superintendent Roger León said his district is “taking the numbers very seriously because their implications are quite profound,” while also saying that the “road to recovery will be long” after years of disruption by the pandemic.��

CONNECTICUT – State Program Has High School Students Propose, Vote on Uses of Federal K12 Funds

Fifty-four high schools across Connecticut have now participated in the state’s Voice4Change initiative, encouraging high school students to submit and vote on proposals . So far, high school students have put their support behind projects like building school greenhouses, renovating common spaces, and bringing school communities together for special events. “I’m so happy that Connecticut, under the governor’s leadership, determined that with all the federal funding we were getting in the state, that this was an opportunity for students … to tell us how you’re choosing to spend some of our recovery funding,” said Commissioner Charlene Russel-Tucker, noting that the program is the first of its kind in Connecticut and the nation.��

OREGON – Districts Exceed Federal Expectation for Committing K12 Dollars to Unfinished Learning

Oregon school districts are funneling federal COVID-19 aid into efforts to address unfinished learning, say state officials. The federal government mandated that a minimum of 20% of pandemic relief funds be targeted to lost learning, but . Programs being bolstered by the funds include in-school supports for students and teachers and  partnerships with community organizations like the Boys & Girls Club, mental health providers, and tutors who can help meet student needs when kids aren’t in school.

NATIONAL — Funders Give Millions Towards Tutoring in Hopes It Can Aid Recovery Despite Big Challenges

A coalition of philanthropic organizations led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Overdeck Foundation feel the need for effective tutoring programs is paramount to address gaps in students’ learning growth that were exacerbated by the pandemic. The funders have organized , including staffing, capacity, uptake, and lack of research on online tutoring. The initiative, dubbed Accelerate, will be led by CEO Kevin Huffan, a former Tennessee superintendent, and Janice Jackson, formerly of Chicago Public Schools. Accelerate will work with both in-person and online partners with an end goal to take the “burden of quality control” off overtaxed schools and district leaders.

TEXAS — State Education Agency Says Flagging Attendance Won’t Reduce School Funding

In light of reduced enrollment and attendance due to the pandemic, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) within the first 24 weeks of the 2021-2022 school year. “Providing this adjustment to the 2021-22 school year will ensure school systems have the funding they need to retain the best and brightest teachers and provide quality education to all public school students across Texas,” said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in a statement. TEA also guaranteed essential funding support for school systems by providing full funding based on daily attendance, whether in-person or remote. Although grace is being extended to struggling districts, experts caution that incentives for school systems to keep students in school should remain in place to help address long-term enrollment concerns.

CALIFORNIA – State Task Force Recommends Investments in Literacy Programs, More Specialists

A task force assembled by State Superintendent Tony Thurmond to study and recommend action on flagging literacy in California . Citing heightened challenges during the pandemic, the task force also urged state leaders to pass a series of bills being considered by the legislature that would fund summer literacy programs, invest in bilingual initiatives and specialists, and boost library budgets and resources.

This update on pandemic recovery in education collects and shares news updates from the district, state, and national levels as all stakeholders continue to work on developing safe, innovative plans to resume schooling and address learning loss. It’s an offshoot of the Collaborative for Student Success’ QuickSheet newsletter, which you can .��

This article originally appeared at GreatSchools, as part of its collection.

When an angry parent approached Principal Michael Mann a few years ago about her daughter’s failing math grade, he was well aware of the problem. His school, in Newark, New Jersey, knew too many of his students were struggling to stay afloat academically. He saw it in the classrooms and he had the data. The numbers revealed in stark terms how incoming students from other schools were far behind in math and trying — and too often failing — to keep up with the charter school’s rigorous curriculum.

Mann had already set up weekly, teacher-led group tutorials for extra support, stretching educators to the limit of their schedules. He reassured the mother that her daughter was enrolled in the weekly teacher tutoring.

The parent’s response was eye-opening for the principal. He recalls her saying to him, “One hour? It’s not enough. She’s still failing. What are you going to do?” 

Mann recalls feeling blindsided by her anger and the truth behind her frustration. “At the time, I didn’t have another answer.”

Later in his office, Mann felt guilty. He couldn’t ask his already overtaxed teachers to take on more work. But the students needed more one-on-one intervention to succeed academically. That’s when he had an “ah-ha!” moment: Maybe some of his students might be up to the job of tutoring their peers.

Students helping students

Mann got to work setting up a peer tutoring practice at his school. His school’s program joins a growing number of high schools using peer tutoring as a way to raise academic success. The practice is simple enough: one student tutors another student. The goal, however, aims to help both students academically, inviting them to be active learners working in tandem toward academic success.

The practice of students learning from other students dates back centuries. But peer tutoring became more formalized in education during the 1800s and by the . It is now employed in schools from the elementary years to the college level. For schools with overstretched educators and limited budgets, peer tutoring is considered a cost-effective intervention that’s proven to benefit both the tutors and tutees.

Most often, more advanced students help their peers review and reinforce concepts learned in class, often during study hall periods or sometimes sessions outside of school. But there’s a range of peer tutoring models: Some pair students across a large age gap. Others match partners within the same grade level. Students might take turns as tutor and pupil. Small groups or even entire classes can take the place of one-on-one pairings.

A practice that leads to academic success

Peer tutoring has been shown to produce positive academic and social outcomes for students from kindergarten through their senior year of high school. A found students participating in peer tutoring showed academic gains across content areas and grade levels, including students with disabilities; students with emotional and behavioral disorders benefited most.

“I think what is most useful about these programs is not so much that they teach new material to the kids,” says Dough Fuchs, a professor of special education at Vanderbilt University. “But they give students an opportunity to practice intensively the skills that they need in these different academic domains like reading and math.”

A win-win for all students

The benefits aren’t just for students being tutored. In a in science, students reported tutoring motivated them to strengthen their understanding of certain concepts and helped them identify gaps in their knowledge. A showed that both tutors and their partners outperformed students in control groups on math and reading tests. “If you organize peer tutoring properly, then what you will get is gains from it for both the tutors and the tutees,” says Keith Topping, professor of educational and social research at the University of Dundee in Scotland.

Research has shown peer tutoring can also positively affect social relationships. In a , K-12 students participating in various models of peer tutoring showed improved social skills, increased positive social interactions with peers, and increased academic engagement.

For some learners, the greatest benefit is having someone in their corner. Kymani Fraser, a senior tutor at North Star in Newark, NJ says he advocated for his tutee with the student’s teachers. As a result, the student received more individualized attention in class, Kymani says, and made him feel more supported and motivated to learn.

“I felt like I was able to make a change in his life, and he was able to bring up his grades,” Kymani says. “Just having that impact on him really made me feel like my role was important.”

Peer tutoring to the rescue

North Star’s peer tutoring program started with small group sessions during study hall periods, and went virtual during the pandemic after students slipped behind in remote learning. Pairs meet twice a week in Zoom breakout rooms, and about 54 percent of students being tutored this year passed a class second quarter that they failed in the first quarter, Mann says. The program also aims to foster social connections and promote a , which is one of the reasons Mann allows tutors to request their partners.

“I think having someone who you’re a friend to, or at least an acquaintance, really helps because it establishes a sense of care and showing I’m caring about you,” explains freshman tutor Sage Jones. “I wasn’t just assigned to you as another person to be on your back. It’s someone who I genuinely care about, the work that we’re doing, and that I want to see you succeed.”

The peer tutoring approach at the (iDEA) also emphasizes collective success. It’s one of three high schools in Tacoma, WA that offer the BRIDGE program (Building Relationships in Diverse Group Environments.). BRIDGE tutors attend class with their student during the subject they’re struggling in to provide support ranging from help with to help working through connections and discussion themes.

iDEA Co-Director Zach Varnell says it’s not uncommon for a student to act as a BRIDGE in one class and receive help from one in another.

“There are certain strengths and areas of support that every student needs,” he says. “And so at the very beginning, the mission of the BRIDGE program was really to identify how students can both be leaders for other students in areas where they’re really strong, and then also be willing to lean on support from other students in areas where they need additional help.”

Supporting students at all levels

Peer tutoring programs are often launched to support students who are struggling the most. But it’s important to avoid symbolically labelling kids as “smart” or “not so smart.” So how can you develop a program that benefits all students?

For starters, don’t count anyone out, Topping says. Some students that educators might not immediately think of as ideal tutors — such as English language learners or those with learning disabilities — can have a big impact on their partners, he says, though they might need more guidance throughout the process.

Peer-mediated instruction is commonly used as a strategy to better serve and include students with disabilities. iDEA in Tacoma is an inclusive school where students with and without special education plans learn together in the same classrooms, and the BRIDGE program is part of what makes that possible, Varnell says. To implement something similar, schools should focus on creating a culture centered around community, he says.

“It has to be about every student recognizing that their job in going to school and the reason for going to school is not just to advance your own learning,” Varnell says. “It’s to be a part of the community and recognize that in the community you’re in, we only all succeed if everyone has a path to success.”

Topping advocates for class-wide tutoring, which pairs all students from two classrooms, typically at different grade levels, for tutoring during the school day. He says this avoids labeling students who need help as weak or underperforming, and allows all students to benefit. “If you do it on a whole-class basis, and you do it on a cross-age basis, then you can include absolutely everybody,” he says.

How to do peer tutoring well

The benefits of peer tutoring can be diminished if not implemented correctly. Here are some things to watch out for:

—To be effective, students need instructional training before you unleash them as tutors. One introductory training activity: Ask tutors to walk their partners through tying their shoelaces, step-by-step. This simple exercise helps students learn to teach methodically and thoughtfully.

—Ideally, sessions should focus on practicing skills and encouraging critical thinking rather than memorizing facts, and peer tutoring should supplement classroom learning, not attempt to replace it. “Peer-mediated instruction is not — I underscore the word not — meant to substitute for good teacher-led instruction,” Fuchs says.

—It might be tempting to pair the highest-achieving student with the lowest-achieving student, but Topping says tutoring is more beneficial for both students when they’re closer in ability. Learners see the most gains when there’s about a two-year gap in age or knowledge between them, he says.

—When personality clashes happen, you can give students the option to be reassigned to a new partner, but Topping notes it’s best not to split up pairs that are working well.

Peer tutoring at your school

For parents:

—If your school has a peer tutoring program, ask how it’s organized and how tutors are chosen.

–If your school doesn’t have a program, start a conversation about peer tutoring by asking about how the school supports struggling students. “What are your early warning systems for knowing that she’s failing?” Mann says. “And then what will happen if and when she does?”

For educators and administrators:

—If you’re interested in launching a peer tutoring program, check out this free implementation guide for high schools created by , which includes testimonials from students, program development materials, example training activities, and more.

This article originally appeared at GreatSchools, as part of its collection. Meg McIntyre is a contributor to GreatSchools.org and was previously a New Hampshire education reporter with The Keene Sentinel.

“We urged our schools and districts to approach their federal funds wisely and with sustainability in mind,” said North Dakota Superintendent Kirsten Baesler. “We encouraged them to spend about one-third on meeting immediate needs, one-third on innovation and implementing new ideas, and a one-third on keeping what works going.” The briefs feature specifics about “big-bet” programs in the states that could lead to generational advances in areas like tutoring, teacher training, and summer learning programming. Check out to learn more. 

Elsewhere, districts across the nation are experiencing declines in the number of students getting referred for evaluation for special education services. The shift that students with the greatest need are less likely to receive the help they need emerging from the pandemic. From to to , Chalkbeat reports that referrals for special education services fell by nearly a third after the onset of the pandemic and have failed to rebound as schools approach the end of the second year in pandemic schooling. “We don’t want to leave a child behind if they need those [special education] services,” said Julie Rottier-Lukens, director of special education for the 90,000-student Denver Public Schools. “And yet we don’t want to make presumptions based on what we’re seeing in front of us right now and discount that kids have been through a lot.”

Looking beyond relief funds and special education, here are nine other updates from across the country about how states and school systems are confronting the challenges posed by COVID-19 and its variants — and working to preserve student progress amid the pandemic:

1 RHODE ISLAND – State Lawmaker Pushes to Require Measurement of Student Learning Loss

Rep. Julie Casimiro of Rhode Island has introduced a bill aimed at measuring learning loss after concern from local parents about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student achievement. “If we don’t address it as the adults in the room, it’s not going to get addressed. It’s not going to get fixed,” Casimiro said. The legislation in school districts across the state – and then come up with individualized plans to address it.

2 ILLINOIS – Chicago Public Schools Consider New Vaccine Strategies as Rates Dip for Younger Children

Chicago Public Schools says it continues to explore ways to improve access to vaccines and vaccine uptake after the district reported a sharp drop in the rate of vaccination for 5- to 11-year-olds three months after Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine received authorization from the federal government. At the time of reporting, — with rates especially lagging in schools on Chicago’s South and West Side.

3 MICHIGAN – Data Confirms Extent of Student Learning Loss

Michigan state education officials are reporting marked declines in student proficiency during the pandemic, with . A recent Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC) also found schools that kept students in the class year-round fared better than districts that relied more heavily on virtual learning. The data comes as Michigan schools continue to face and as state teachers unions urge leaders to relax attendance requirements for students in the face of continuing virus outbreaks, staffing shortages, and poor weather conditions.

4 NORTH DAKOTA – Districts Struggle to Find Substitute Teachers

North Dakota school districts are having difficulty finding substitute teachers as people are less willing or less interested in taking on the responsibilities of being a substitute teacher, said Rob Lech, superintendent of Jamestown Public Schools. “As our pool of substitute teachers continues to get smaller, the need is spread then really thin,” he said. The shortage of substitute teachers is not a new issue, said Rebecca Pitkin, executive director of the North Dakota Education Standards and Practices Board. She said .

5 OREGON – Districts Estimate Continued Enrollment Declines, Brace for Budget Cuts

Portland Public Schools officials are . “While we are forecasting fewer dollars to operate schools generally as a result of declining student enrollment, we are also grateful to have targeted state and one-time federal investments to limit the impact of this enrollment change school districts all across Oregon are facing,” said Guadalupe Guerrero, Superintendent of Portland Public Schools. 

6 ARIZONA – Families Eye Private Tutoring Options as Pandemic Learning Disruption Draws On

Parents are to keep up with online learning during the pandemic. Natanya Washburn, a Phoenix resident, says all four of her children are still feeling the impact of online learning that began in March 2020, especially her daughter, who is in high school and has special needs. Online tutoring platforms like Varsity Tutors report a huge increase in the number of customers in the Phoenix area, stating demand for STEM tutors is up 62% compared to last year.

7 NEW YORK – Defying National Trends, New York’s Graduation Rate Inches Up During Pandemic

Graduation rates across New York City and large parts of the state rose last year, defying national trends of flagging grad rates as the pandemic disrupted schooling. , while the statewide average climbed a single percentage point to 86%. City officials additionally noted that a record number of high school seniors received waivers of typically required Regents exams – 44,545 in 2021 compared to 8,000 in 2020. Statewide, 82% of seniors were granted an exemption from Regents exams last year. 

8 MISSOURI – State Among the Last to Approve Federal Funding Allocations

The Missouri legislature is targeted to K-12 schools and districts. Facing a March 24 deadline to allocate the funding, Missouri is among the last states in the nation to approve the distributions that will be based on school and district spending plans submitted to state officials. Once approved, the funding will need to be spent before September 2024 – a deadline shared with schools across the nation. 

9 COLORADO – Leaders Debate Changes to Teacher Evals As COVID Policies Shift, Universal Pre-K Begins

A bill being considered by the Colorado legislature by reducing the weight of student academic growth in a teacher’s evaluation, providing increased training for evaluators, and boosting teacher professional development. “The goal has always been to help develop and support excellent teachers,” said Jen Walmer, state director for Democrats for Education Reform. “The time is now to help streamline the system, make it less burdensome, restart the evaluation system, and set up the evaluation system to really help teachers grow.” The bill comes as the state prepares to launch a and as state leaders prepare the way for schools to treat COVID “,” a move some believe will allow schools to place the bulk of school disruptions in the rearview mirror. 

This update on pandemic recovery in education collects and shares news updates from the district, state, and national levels as all stakeholders continue to work on developing safe, innovative plans to resume schooling and address learning loss. It’s an offshoot of the Collaborative for Student Success’ QuickSheet newsletter, which you can . 

That’s how long it’s been since more than half the nation’s schools crossed into the pandemic era.

On March 16, 2020, districts in 27 states, encompassing almost 80,000 schools, closed their doors for the first long educational lockdown. Within nine days, the nation’s remaining districts followed suit.

Since then, schools have reopened, closed and reopened again. The effects have been immediate — students lost parents; teachers mourned fallen colleagues — and hopelessly abstract, as educators weighed “pandemic learning loss,” the sometimes crude measure of COVID’s impact on students’ academic performance.

To mark what will soon stretch into a third spring of educational disruption, ����Ӱ�� spoke with educators, parents, students and researchers about what Marguerite Roza, director of Georgetown University’s Edunomics Lab, called “a seismic interruption to education unlike anything we’ve ever seen.” They talked movingly, often unsparingly, about their missteps and occasional triumphs, their moments of despair and fragile optimism for the future. [You can scan through our expanding archive of testimonials right here.]

As spring approaches, there are additional reasons to be hopeful. More children are being vaccinated. Mask mandates are lifting. But even if the pandemic recedes and a “new normal” emerges, there are clear signs that the issues surfaced during this period will linger. COVID heightened inequities long baked into the American educational system. The social contract between parents and schools has frayed. Teachers are burning out.

“There are kind of two camps,” said Beth Lehr, an assistant principal of Sahuarita High School, south of Tucson, Arizona. “There’s the one camp of ‘This too shall pass,’ and then there’s the other camp of ‘Yeah, it’s going to pass, but I don’t know if I want to wait for it to.’”

But none of this was on anyone’s mind on March 16, 2020.

The World Health Organization had a pandemic only five days earlier. Two days after that, then-President Donald Trump called a . And in the Northshore School District, a system of 22,000 students northeast of Seattle, schools had already been closed for over a week. In late February, one of its schools shut for deep cleaning after an employee traveled out of the country with a family member who had become ill. The district’s closure offered a glimpse into what many thought would be a short-term disruption.

‘I realized it wasn’t science fiction’

Susan Enfield, superintendent of Highline Public Schools in Washington: A very good friend of mine who works in the called me, end of February, and said, “I think we’re going to close … and I think the rest of you won’t be far behind.” I said, “No way, there’s no way they’re going to close schools.” I mean, I really was incredulous.

Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education: I was having brunch with my sister in Kirkland, Washington, when the news broke that there were multiple cases and deaths at the Life Care Center nursing home just a few miles away. My husband sent me a text telling me to get out of Kirkland right away, and everything felt ominous.

Marguerite Roza, Seattle-based director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University: My daughter and I were driving to go pick up some fish for dinner. In the car, they announced the governor’s order — it was with a bigger lockdown kind of order — and we walked into the fish market place, and the guy behind the counter goes, “Have you heard anything yet?” We were like, “Yep.” And he goes, “What did he say?” We said, “Lockdown.” And he [grunts], “Uhhhh.” Already, the streets were pretty empty, and the first person we talked to was the guy packaging up our salmon.

Tony Sanders, superintendent, School District U-46, near Chicago: I was asked to serve on a statewide panel of superintendents … to provide guidance to school district leaders across the state. Our first meeting, held on Sunday, March 15, was attended by prominent legislators, state health officials, the deputy governor for education and state superintendent of schools. Hearing the projections of worst-case scenarios should we not “flatten the curve” was surreal. At the conclusion of that meeting, where we worked to socially distance, but had no idea yet about the need to wear a mask, I made the four-hour journey home in complete silence and disbelief.

Michael Mulgrew, president, United Federation of Teachers, New York City: We started tracking this during the Christmas holiday. We had some teachers who were in China. We had them quarantine when they came back. I didn’t realize [things had changed] until March 16, the day after the New York City public schools closed. I was in my car driving around the city and I was shocked that the streets were empty. That’s when I realized it wasn’t science fiction. 

Bridgette Adu-Wadier: freshman, Northwestern University, graduate of T.C. Williams High School in Alexandra, Virginia: By the end of March, Gov. Ralph Northam basically announced that all the schools would be closed due to the pandemic for the rest of the school year. I watched the livestream, and I was texting my friends. One of them was actually really upset and crying about it, just because it was such a stressful situation to be in — like, things are never going to be the same again.

‘We were completely unprepared’

Parents, superintendents and others — many in a state of shock — had little time to plan as events unfolded at frightening speed.

Toni Rochelle Baker: family liaison for Oakland REACH, a parent advocacy organization, Walnut Creek, California: They gave us curfews in our city and then they told us to stock up for food. I don’t live my life like that. I’m a single mother. I go grocery shopping when I can. We get what we need, and now you’re telling me to stock up on food? That was scary. I didn’t have a deep freezer. I didn’t have extra money just laying around [to] go spend $300 on food. I didn’t have Wi-Fi at the time because I didn’t really need it. I have my phone, and now I need Wi-Fi for three people.

Maria Amado, family child care provider, Hartford, Connecticut, who opened her program for school-age children during remote learning: [Translated from Spanish] Educators, including myself, sewed masks for the children, and we looked for resources to support each other. Some gave fabric to make the masks, others the elastic. It may not have been in big ways, but they all contributed. And now I remember this and think, “Where did I find the time to make the masks?” It was the adrenaline to survive, knowing this would protect me and I had to do it.

Tony Sanders: We needed to place emergency orders for Chromebooks and other devices. We had to completely transform our approach to food service so that by March 17 we were feeding our students and community at food pickup locations throughout the district. There were decisions that had to be made that I would never have thought of. We had to determine how we would ensure employees would continue to be paid. During the first days of the pandemic, I recall sitting alone in my office. The view from my window was a large parking lot with one vehicle.

Sherrice Dorsey-Smith, deputy director of programs, planning and grants, San Francisco Department of Children, Youth and Their Families: I had to figure out how we were going to open what we called emergency child and youth centers. These were spaces for essential workers to leave their children for the day while they were at work. Child care centers were closed, schools were closed, but some people needed or were required to continue working. They needed a safe place for their children during the day. I had to figure out how to get breakfast, lunch and snacks to all the sites. I remember working through the weekend nonstop, literally 48 hours.

Michael Mulgrew: It was a mad scramble to get everyone trained quickly how to get their classrooms up. How do we teach parents how to help their kids? It was non-stop. It was hundreds of decisions every day. Even though everything was closed, we were still moving stuff literally, like laptops and iPads and different things, trying to get them to our members’ houses so they had something to work off. [Former] Mayor [Bill de Blasio] had resolved never to close the schools, so he would not allow the Department of Ed to put any contingency plans in place. On the Friday before the schools closed, at 3 p.m., the mayor would be banging on the table saying he was going to keep the schools open. And that Sunday afternoon he closed the schools. So we were completely unprepared.

School, interrupted

As the deadline for lifting lockdown kept slipping away, some took longer to grasp the new reality: Life wouldn’t be returning to normal anytime soon.

Mariela Garcia: freshman at the University of Houston, graduate of Eastwood Academy High School in Houston: It was during spring break when we ended up having two weeks instead of one. And two weeks turned into three. This went on for a couple of weeks before we noticed that we weren’t going to go back to school. Stores started closing down, schools started closing, many things started closing because everyone was scared. That’s when I noticed that this was becoming very serious.

Dale Chu, senior visiting fellow at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute: I realized everything had changed … on May 10, 2020. How do I remember the date? My at-the-time 5-year-old daughter — after nearly two months on Zoom — drew a picture of her class for me. Seeing Kellan’s classmates through her eyes on a Zoom grid really hit things home for me.

Ricardo Miguel Martinez, president, Latino Parents for Public Schools, Atlanta: I had people worried about getting kicked out, evicted, lights being turned off, not having groceries. These are people who weren’t making excuses. The people who are fighting masks and stuff, they have a choice to either follow the data or not follow the data. God bless them in their fight. But these people didn’t have a choice. They got thrown into the chicken factories and died. They got thrown into manufacturing and died so that we could have chicken at the grocery store.

Mourning the lost

Some felt the pandemic’s effects up close: sick parents, dead teachers. This month, the number of deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. , with an estimated 2,200 of them educators. Many of the effects have been harder to measure, but are certain to leave lasting damage. Recent four out of five secondary school principals experienced “frequent job-related stress” last year, and educator surveys show over students’ mental health, including anxiety and suicidal thoughts.

Susan Enfield: We lost two middle school students to suicide early in the pandemic. We lost staff members.

Michael Mulgrew: I had to read the names of our members who passed away. I had to make the phone calls to those families. We lost a lot of members, and I always think that if we could have closed earlier, how many more would we not have lost.

Shawnie Bennett, a COVID-19 investigator, Oakland, California: I lost my brother [from COVID] in May of 2020. He was only 32. As a family, when we would gather to try and go see him or just sit outside the hospital window. We were afraid to touch each other, so it was hard to comfort each other. [My son] came home [from college] for Christmas, and he saw me so weak and broken. He had always seen a very strong Black woman as a mother. I was gone, emotionally wrecked, mentally, physically, and it broke him down to the point that he did not want to return to school. He’s in Atlanta now, got an apartment and he’s just trying to figure life out. He was very close to my brother. That loss, on top of what he physically saw me go through, was detrimental for him.

David Brown, principal, Hillcrest Heights Elementary, Prince George’s County, Maryland: Family vacations, going out to eat, visiting family — I think all of those things disappearing created a milieu where it was tough to manage. And when you’re in charge of leading a large group of individuals, how do you help and support them? How do you keep your teachers upbeat? Because the mental health of every adult who receives a paycheck from our county impacts the mental health and the wellness of children who are just simply here to learn. I remember there was discussion that we’ll be able to eat and enjoy ourselves come the 4th of July, and then that didn’t happen. You’re holding out hope that it’s going away, but it’s not, and [you’re] trying to remain that positive, invigorating leader that the principal has to be.

Bridgette Adu-Wadier: Graduation was a really tough time. I don’t remember enjoying it, honestly. Just collectively, it was like a year or so of the pandemic, and then also, my family was impacted a lot financially, which was stressful. I was basically helping my two younger brothers through virtual school for the whole year. I had a lot more family responsibilities, and it took a toll on me mentally. I had trouble balancing things, especially with Zoom class sessions while my brothers needed help or were playing loudly in the other room. I relied on music and audiobooks as a form of escape.

Ashiley Lee, tech and operations coordinator, Para Los Niños, a Los Angeles charter school, where last year she taught seventh-grade history: I remember being in a class full of blank screens, because we no longer required cameras on, and then after that, putting my grades in for the semester and realizing just how low they were. I was trying to brainstorm with my team: What is something, anything, we can do to encourage our students to at least get the one assignment we post a week in by the end of the semester? My kids, it was so funny, we started a joke where I would call on a student to answer a question and they wouldn’t be there — kind of a ghost in the call. And the kids would comment in the chat, “Ghostbuster! Ms. Lee caught him.”

Marguerite Roza: The hardest part was when it looked like there was no reopening school. This was November of 2020. The governor had established these metrics by which you could open schools, and as far out as the modelers had modeled, it was never going to reopen. My then-high school daughter [a cross-country runner] was getting more and more discouraged. You could just see it was really not healthy for her, just to be home all alone every day. And you, as a parent, start to feel desperate. I used to listen to press conferences constantly. You could see that there wasn’t going to be any movement. I was very worried about her. The sports season had come and gone. School was online. I think that was probably the darkest time, which coincides in Seattle with it being really dark, [at] like 3:45. 

Mariela Garcia: Hundreds and thousands of people were dying because of COVID, and I was scared. I remember I had no interactions with the outside world for — I kid you not — at least three months straight. My family just did not want to leave our home. At the time, we had to adjust to online school. I had no Wi-Fi or laptop at the time, so it was hard to be in class and even submit assignments from my phone. It was definitely a very hard time, especially when family members started to get COVID.

Toni Baker: I had two kids at the table with computers doing virtual learning and I had no idea what that meant. They told us to sign on to some Zoom that I’ve never heard of before. I’m in love with my kids, but my kids were on my last nerves during the pandemic. Those four walls just weren’t enough.

Couch sitting, watching ‘Friends’

The monotony of being stuck at home sparked new coping strategies: Cooking, at-home workouts, walking the dog — and of course . Some took long couch breaks. Others became entrepreneurs. Mariela Garcia started baking and ran a business from a local farmer’s market.

Mariela Garcia: My family actually bought the DVD set of “Friends” and we just watched “Friends” over and over and over. We’ve already seen each episode at least 10 times. We just keep it playing throughout the whole day because we don’t have any Wi-Fi or anything at home. I would not have started my business if it wasn’t for being in quarantine. I had so much more free time. I hate being that person, but the first time I ever tried my empanadas, they came out great, and I have not changed anything. 

Susan Enfield: A group of female superintendents from around the country — we refer to ourselves as “sister supes” — had a standing Sunday afternoon Zoom where we would just check in and get together. In the early months, that proved to be incredibly helpful, just remembering that we weren’t alone. Going for walks with my husband and also, frankly, allowing myself to feel pain and to grieve. I think as leaders we do need to inspire hope and let people know it’s going to be OK and be strong, but we also have to balance that strength and courage with vulnerability. There were weekends where I didn’t get off the couch. I’ve been pretty honest about that in conversations with others. I said to someone once, “If one more person says, ‘You got this,’ I’m gonna smack ‘em.” A year and a half ago, I didn’t “got this,” and people were just lying. I’m sorry, they were just lying. I don’t think we do ourselves or our colleagues or anyone any service by faking it.

Beth Lehr, assistant principal, Sahuarita High School, Sahuarita, Arizona: I do not check my email at all on the weekends.

Toni Baker: I had a support system. They gave us vouchers for food. They gave my kids free computers. They gave us Wi-Fi. They had these teachers — I don’t even know where they found these beautiful teachers with these loving hearts for these kids. There was a teacher who had a grandma’s touch and a mom’s heart, and she was just so warm. This is through a computer. I’ve never met this woman to this day in real life. I had the community of Oakland REACH behind me. I wouldn’t have made it without them.

David Brown: When we were in person, I had “lunch bunches” where I would eat lunch with the kids. So I went back to eating lunch virtually with the kids, and I found that really gave me a lot of positive energy. You find that you are equally, if not more, excited to see them in this virtual world than they are to see you. So it’s the, “Hey, Mr. Brown.” It’s the big smile. It’s the camera coming on. It’s the home environment. It’s the parents waving in the background. I think all of that does a good amount to lift your spirits.

‘The system itself is not changing’

Confusing guidance and vitriolic debate left many parents feeling lost. They watched helplessly as their children disengaged from learning, but also worried that their kids would get sick if they returned to school. School leaders were caught in what felt like a non-stop, high-volume war of words with unions, parents and state officials. 

Pedro Martinez, CEO, Chicago Public Schools; former superintendent, San Antonio Independent School District: Texas did not prioritize teachers [for vaccines] in the first round, but they were pushing hard and threatening districts about keeping schools open. Meanwhile, the positivity rate, I remember in San Antonio, was over 21 percent. The death rate was five times higher in my district than it was in the more affluent parts of the county. I just remember the frustration. You want these things, but yet you’re not providing vaccines to my staff, who actually want to keep the schools open. 

Michael Mulgrew: The city doctors are telling us it’s going to be nothing but a cold and the schools could remain open. The kids are going to be fine. They’re not going to get it, and we’ll create herd immunity, and we’ll be safer faster than everybody else. Literally, that’s the conversation I was having with the mayor and his doctors. Our doctors are telling us the absolute opposite. They’re saying, “Listen, children might not be getting this at this point in time, but this is a serious virus and people are going to die.” The big conflict was that first one. 

Marguerite Roza: I’m a data person. I really study the numbers, and I didn’t understand how a lot of people were driven by fear and couldn’t recognize what I was seeing. [They’re saying], “Your child could die,” and I was like, “Well, not really. The numbers here say, really, your child isn’t going to die. I promise you, driving to Grandma’s is more dangerous for your kid than this thing.” You’re having two different conversations if you’re talking about numbers and you’re talking about fear. The fear was so dominant that the numbers people probably felt, out of respect, we should step back and be quiet. I don’t want to tell somebody who’s having a panic attack, “You’re overreacting.” Looking back on it, I think that I probably kept my real views about the data quieter than I should have. I thought people were going to bounce out of it.

Mariela Garcia: We were able to pick whether to go back in person or stay online. I definitely wanted to go back. I missed my friends. I missed having class with a teacher right in front of me. My parents thought it was not a good idea. I was conflicted in making a decision, but for the good of my family, I decided to stay online for my whole senior year. That also meant no sports. I was so heartbroken because sports meant everything to me. I was unable to play my senior year. I had already claimed the captain position in my previous year playing, and I was looking forward to a great season. 

Parent power

The pandemic has dramatically changed parents’ relationships with their public schools, prompting some to seek new options and others to demand more from the schools their children attend. “I think the pandemic has created some sort of awakening in parents that we’ve not seen before,” Roza said. “I don’t think there’s any putting that genie back in the bottle.” 

Wendy Neal, executive director of My Child My Voice, a Houston-based advocacy group: I’m not saying the teachers are bad, I’m just saying that the parents were finding creative ways of being more of a teacher to their own child. Some parents were like, “Well, if you’re not going to help my child, I’m pulling my kid out of your school. Either I’m going to homeschool, go to an education pod or go to a private school.” Some of these parents really didn’t believe in charter schools either, and then all of a sudden, they’re putting their kid in a virtual charter school.

Marguerite Roza: In March of 2021, [my daughter’s school] finally got around to having their cross-country season outside, and they banned all parents from coming. They run three miles. They’re outside. It just got to the point where it was eye roll upon eye roll. A lot of parents showed up anyway, ’cause how are you going to keep parents off of a three-mile course, right? And we’re popping out of the bushes waving at each other. [It had been] a year, and we knew better. I should have marched out and said, “The evidence suggests we’re fine here,” but they were going to ban you and ban your team if you weren’t cooperating.

Sonya Thomas, executive director, Nashville PROPEL, a parent advocacy group: You would think that a pandemic would bring about a sense of urgency. We’re talking about decades of educational inequities, and what I’m seeing is that the system itself is not changing. It has actually grown richer in money. It has grown more savvy in messaging. And it’s hurtful. I’ve got tears coming down my face now. I just had a friend who died this weekend. He couldn’t read. And I have to ask myself, “What has changed?” 

Toni Baker: When this school year came around, the COVID was just everywhere. The previous year, they did the COVID tests, they did the sanitizer, they did the masks, they did all these precautions. And when school started back the next semester, all of that went out the window. I let it slide the first two days of school, but by the third day, I’m like, “What’s going on? Where are the masks? Where is this? Where is that? We’re still in this stuff, and it’s worse now.” I had to make an executive decision as a parent. My kid’s class got exposed and I didn’t like the safety of it. I was worrying, like I had knots in my stomach. I had to remove my children from there. [My son’s] class went on quarantine for a week and then I just never took them back.

Beth Lehr: I have one teacher. This is her ninth year. She has already resigned for next year. She said, “I can’t do this anymore. I dread coming to work every day.” She goes, “You know, I love the day-to-day of being in front of our kids. The second I have to open my email or grade their assignments is when I realize why I resigned.” The emails. The constant onslaught of the very vocal unhappy parents. We have some amazing families, but we don’t hear the “Thank yous” as often as we hear the “You sucks.”

Lost learning

Educators love jargon. It’s not surprising, then, that lockdown introduced new terms like “COVID slide” and “pandemic learning loss” to describe the academic fallout students experienced from months of remote learning. In June 2020, researchers at nonprofit assessment group NWEA were among the first to predict the extent of the chaos. The return to in-person learning helped. But as recently as December, from McKinsey & Co. showed that academic recovery has been uneven and gaps between Black and white students have widened. Educators also report challenges with student behavior, which many to the lack of socialization during remote learning.

Beth Lehr: The learning loss is going to be there. There’s going to be a new norm, but trying to jam more and more and more down their throats is not helping. Continuing to create these high-stakes environments and making kids feel less than because of something that was totally out of their control is not helping. Meeting kids where they are is. Why do they have to learn all these things, right? They have to learn it to be successful in the future. Great, what does that success look like? How are we redefining success, because honestly, right now, for some of these kids, success is getting out of bed and showing up.

Mariela Garcia: I’ve always struggled in math, and since it was online I feel like I wasn’t really learning as much as I could. When I got to college, I took trigonometry, and it was difficult. I had to get a tutor or stay after school. I had to study more on my own time. I had to take a test in person for the first time in two years. I struggled the first couple weeks, but once I got help and once I started studying, it’s just like riding a bike.

Ricardo Martinez: Seems like we’ve already stopped talking about it. A lot of people refuse to acknowledge it. They’re trying to change the conversation to CRT [critical race theory], anti-CRT. Let’s not worry about what’s not really happening and worry about what’s actually happening. Kids are getting more aggressive. They’ve lost social skills. We’ve lost a lot of learning, and I don’t think that the parents have been able to help because we barely know how to do what they’re asking us to do. I hope that we’re talking about learning loss until we catch back up, which should be in a few years.

Beth Lehr: [Students are experiencing an] emotional stuntedness, for lack of a better term. Freshmen are notoriously immature, but what we’re used to seeing as freshman behavior isn’t even freshman behavior. The “devious licks” stuff [a TikTok challenge that included school property damage] — that was 100 percent only freshman. Oh my God, the soap dispensers were destroyed over and over and over again. We had to replace sinks. We had to replace toilets — not because they were stolen, but because they were destroyed. The older students were super-annoyed by the freshman because then we ended up having to lock our bathrooms during lunch. We’ve also had an increase in sexual infractions — not necessarily assaults. It’s consensual, but it’s much more frequent on our campus this year. This is my seventh year as assistant principal, and this year, hands down, we have had more issues with kids getting caught in positions that high schoolers should not be in.

Hosea Born, art and robotics teacher at Hope Academy of Public Service, Hope, Arkansas: We will be talking about it as long as there is the overwhelming reliance on standardized testing. The pandemic has shown us that adaptability is key, yet we are still measuring our students on how well they can take a test. Teaching a non-tested subject has allowed me to see the flexibility and amazing ways that students learn when there isn’t a looming requirement hanging over their heads. Some of my students haven’t had an art class since the start of the pandemic, but it is key for students to be able to create, and when given the opportunity, they have jumped right back in, and to me, are exceeding all expectations. 

Pedro Martinez: Last year, our district had 100,000 students who were disengaged, including seniors who would have dropped out. We got the majority of seniors to graduate. Same thing happened in San Antonio. What I heard from teachers directly was, “These kids are coming every day. These are the same students who we couldn’t get to engage in remote. They’re coming every single day.” I saw the first-quarter grades. There are still gaps, but significant improvements over the remote year, and specifically with our kids of poverty and kids of color. That gives me a lot of hope. When we have the children in our schools, they actually do perform better.

Robin Lake: I think we will grapple with [learning loss] for as long as the COVID generation is alive. We’ll be looking at the immediate impacts for probably a decade, but there are sure to be lasting effects on individuals and on the economy for many decades unless we can change the trajectory of our response. The question is how we’ll be talking about it. Will the story be that we failed this generation of children, or will it be that we pulled together and found solutions for this generation, and designed a better education system for future generations?

A ‘five-alarm crisis’ for teachers

As they looked back, some recalled moments of doubt about perservering. According to from the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union, more than half of teachers intend to leave the profession sooner than they originally planned. While some are dubious about “the Big Quit,” NEA President Becky Pringle called teacher burnout and staff shortages a “five-alarm crisis.”

Michael Mulgrew: I think most people in this profession thought of quitting throughout this thing. There were some really really tough times. The only way out of this is to go through it.

Susan Enfield: I don’t think I ever thought of quitting. There were moments where I thought I don’t know if I can do this, but that’s different than quitting. I never just was like, “I’m out of here,” and my was not a response to the pandemic. I’m ready for a fresh challenge and Highline is ready for a fresh leader.

Beth Lehr: I’m so torn. I’ve applied for a principal position within the district, but at the same time I’m like, “Why? Why did I just do that? What am I thinking?” I haven’t yet gotten to the point where the stuff that I dislike about my job has outweighed the stuff that I like about it, but it’s hit or miss on a daily basis. 

‘I don’t use the term normal anymore’

Like a sequel to a bad horror movie, the Omicron variant arrived just as educators and families thought they’d made it through the worst of the crisis. The sparked a spike in cases, resulting in further school closures and quarantines. But now, with increasing vaccination rates and a recent decline in positive cases, some states are lifting mask mandates. The nation’s three largest districts aren’t ready to let masks go, but some are starting to use a word they haven’t uttered in a while: hope.

Pedro Martinez: We’re now at a point where cases have been very steadily declining. Our city is now close to an over-70 percent vaccination rate. There are still gaps within my district, but I’m seeing good momentum, especially with 5- to 11-year-olds. We’re close to maybe half of our district that should be fully vaccinated within the next couple weeks. Over 90 percent of my staff are fully vaccinated. So it really gives me hope that we’re on the other side of this. There’s a chance that by springtime we could be talking about not wearing masks.

Susan Enfield: I am hopeful that in the coming weeks and months we are going to collectively adapt to a way of living, a way of working, that will feel more familiar to what we knew prior to the pandemic. I don’t use the term “normal” anymore. I think entering that phase gives me hope.

Michael Mulgrew: The buildings built after the last pandemic have these really big windows. They actually were built that way so that you could open them to keep ventilation in case there was another pandemic. That literally became part of the code for schools after the pandemic of 1918. For a period of time last year, the teachers kept opening up the windows the whole way, and it’s like 7 degrees out. So, we had to produce this video for all the teachers about how you only have to open like half the windows about 3 inches each and you’ll be fine. One of the first cold days when we got back last month, I was in a school, and one of the teachers had windows open all the way. And I’m looking at the windows, and she touched my arm and she goes, “I know I don’t have to open it that much, but my team teacher for 20 years died of COVID a year ago.” I said, “You keep that window open any way you want.”

Shawnie Bennett: I don’t think I will ever take off my mask.

Mariela Garcia: I’ve always been the type of person to talk to anybody, but it was different seeing people that I’ve never met before [at the University of Houston]. People have been socially awkward, and it’s hard to start a conversation. With my personality, I’m a happy person and I talk to anyone. So I’m going up to someone [last fall] like, “Hi, nice to meet you,” and they’re just like, “Whoa, 6 feet apart.”

Beth Lehr: It’s so hard to see the end, and it’s so overwhelming. What I’ve heard more this year from my teachers than anything is, “We thought that last year was hard. This year is 10 times harder.” We’ve had very, very low turnover. I do not foresee that being the case next year. There are kind of two camps. There’s the one camp of “This too shall pass,” and then there’s the other camp of “Yeah, it’s going to pass, but I don’t know if I want to wait for it to.”

‘A true hunger for doing things differently’

Two years of scrambling and false starts has offered ample opportunity to think about what has — and perhaps more to the point, what hasn’t — worked for schools. If there’s another pandemic — and scientists say there undoubtedly , and soon — will anything change?

Christopher Nellum, executive director, Education Trust West: I think we now appreciate mental health in a different way. The past two years have been traumatic. We have been scared, sick, overworked, unemployed. We have missed vital human connection and even lost loved ones. We have witnessed a surge in racially motivated hate crimes and a national reckoning over police brutality toward Black and brown Americans. It’s OK to be struggling to feel OK in the face of all of that. It’s OK to talk about it. And we all deserve access to the resources we need to address it. 

Sonya Thomas: Parent engagement is not what we want. When you engage us, what you’re doing is bringing your own agenda and you’re saying, “This is what we’re going to do, so get with the program.” That’s what engagement means, right? “I’m bringing something to you, this is what you’re gonna get and you gotta just walk in line with it.” I think what they’re learning is that we’re not going anywhere and we want parent partnership. We don’t want to be engaged. Throw that in the trash. That has never gotten anything for our children. What we want is true partnership. We want school districts to partner with us, intentionally take our feedback and use it. That builds trust. It’s not a talking point or a PR move. 

Dale Chu: If anything, we’ve learned what doesn’t work. For example, asynchronous learning [without live teaching ] — homework, study hall — stunk. We also learned that huge doses of it left millions of students isolated from their peers, the toll from which we’re just starting to come to grips with.

Robin Lake: I hear a true hunger for doing things differently. People are saying, “You know, the way we ask teachers to teach alone in a classroom, trying to be expert in all things and serve vastly different needs, is crazy.” I believe there is a powerful confluence of parents, educators and civic leaders who know things have to change and are determined to make that happen.

Michael Mulgrew: We never said [remote learning] was going to be the be-all-and-end-all. It was always a way for us to keep in contact, to keep our students engaged. Through the end of that [2019-20] school year, it really was more of a lifeline between teachers and students and their families. We thought it should have been more of a centralized process, but [the department] figured it’s better off to just let every teacher do their own thing. The majority of students really do regress in a remote setting. There was a small percentage of students who actually thrived in remote, so that says there’s something there we have to look at. If there’s a subset of children who were not doing well when they were going to school — and there’s all sorts of different reasons for that — who all of a sudden did really well in a remote setting, we have to look at this going into the future.

Marguerite Roza: We have seen districts jump in and be nimble in a way that we never thought districts could be nimble before. People always say, “You know, turning a district around is like turning an aircraft carrier.” I’m like, an aircraft carrier turns around in a day. Why is everybody using that as something that’s slow? I was in the military. [From 1988 to 1992, Roza served at the Navy Nuclear Power School in Orlando.] Aircraft carriers are pretty maneuverable. There are thousands and thousands of people on an aircraft carrier, and that thing could spin around and change direction with the wind. I do think that we had thought districts couldn’t adjust, and many of them did.

Beth Lehr: I’ve had a lot of teachers really rethink their philosophies — some of my most dyed-in-the-wool [teachers]. This has truly opened their eyes when they’ve seen the disparities. Not everybody’s home looks the same. When we first started doing all of the remote, we had a lot of really serious conversations about requiring cameras to be on or not. A lot of our teachers were like, well, “Why wouldn’t the camera be on?” They never took into account that there might be 10 people in a two-bedroom house. There might be somebody being slapped, hit, cut, whatever while they’re there. They might be embarrassed because they’re doing your class from their car in the McDonald’s parking lot.

‘So long and so short’

Seven hundred days have flown by for some and painfully dragged on for others. For many, it’s been a bit of both. 

Michael Mulgrew: It feels like 7,000 days.

Laurie Corizzo, counselor, Ridge Ranch School, Paramus, New Jersey: This whole pandemic, the virus, the water cooler conversations are never-ending. If someone isn’t discussing a vaccine, a booster, the virus, who has it, who had it, who passed, it seems that conversations are stagnant. My point is, it encompasses every single aspect of our lives. It is as if there were some sort of imaginary force field that prevents any semblance of any other conversation to happen anywhere on the planet. In a word, it is quite exhausting.

Christopher Nellum: I hope that 700 days in, we are seeing our education systems for what they are and what they have been for a long, long time: profoundly inequitable.

Susan Enfield: I didn’t know that 700 days could both seem so long and so short simultaneously. I think the last couple of years have felt like a lifetime in and of themselves, and yet, at the same time, it feels like it’s gone by in a flash.

Marguerite Roza: I mean, wow — what a seismic interruption to education unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Normally, we would say a 1 percent change in enrollment from one year to the next is earth-shattering to finance. We’re seeing 3, 4, 5, 6, 10 percent enrollment shifts in some districts. And some of those are large districts. Those kinds of things are going to change the structure of education forever.

Lead Image: Rippowam Middle School principal Matthew Laskowski looks on from a socially distanced cafeteria in September 2020 in Stamford, Connecticut. (John Moore / Getty Images)

Disruptions associated with virtual learning impacted over 600 million students worldwide, according to the report, while nearly 470 million children could not be reached by digital programs at all. The learning loss associated with global school closures appears “,” said Robert Jenkins, UNICEF chief of education.

In the United States, was seen in steep declines in the rates of students performing proficiently in math and English, including in states like Texas, California, Ohio, and North Carolina, as well as widespread drops in statewide graduation rates. Recent by Chalkbeat and The Associated Press specifically points to falling graduation rates in more than 20 states as an indicator that “the coronavirus may have ended nearly two decades of nationwide progress toward getting more students diplomas.”

Looking beyond global learning loss and America’s waning graduation rates, here are nine other updates from across the country about how states and school systems are confronting the challenges posed by COVID-19 and its variants — and working to preserve student progress amid the pandemic:

1NEW YORK – NYC Schools Show Broad Declines in Enrollment Amid Pandemic

According to New York state data, Chalkbeat reports that about this year, with nearly 23% losing 10% or more of their students.��Black and white students in grades K-12 saw the largest drops of all racial groups this school year, declining about 7.5% each; Asian American student enrollment dropped 5% and for Latino students, the drop was 4.5%. School systems across the country have also experienced enrollment declines this year, including nearly 6% in Los Angeles and , the nation’s second and third largest districts.

2 TENNESSEE – Gov. Lee proposes $1 billion boost for Tennessee education

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced . “The priorities laid out in the State of the State, including an additional $1 billion investment in education, an increase in teacher pay, and dedication to expanding career and technical opportunities for students, if adhered to, will make the 2022 legislative session a success for Tennessee’s students and their futures,” Adam Lister, president and CEO of Tennesseans for Student Success, a middle Tennessee-based nonprofit organization, said in a statement.

3IOWA – Gov. Directs Federal K-12 Funding to Increase Teacher Diversity

Gov. Kim Reynolds announced relying on federal relief funds to support high school students who want to earn a paraeducator certificate and associate’s degree and assist paraeducators who want to earn a bachelor’s degree. Lawrence Bice, chair of the task force, told the Iowa State Board of Education that the program is expected to bring in a diverse group of applicants. show more teachers of color are entering the profession, but not enough to keep up with student demographics. Of Iowa’s new teachers in 2000, 2.8% were people of color; two decades later, the figure grew to 5.7%.

4 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA – Health Department Issues Test-to-Stay Guidance for Schools

The D.C. Health Department issued new guidance that recommends as an alternative to quarantining and to keep more students in school. So far, the school system has launched a test-to-stay pilot program only in selected pre-kindergarten classes, whose students are not yet eligible for a coronavirus vaccine. The guidance also updates isolation rules for school staff and students who develop COVID-19.

5 LOUISIANA – New Orleans Becomes First District to Set Student Vaccination Requirement

New Orleans is set to be , though experts are warning that state laws will likely allow parents to easily opt-out their children. District officials recognized the status of state laws, but stated their goals were to eventually work with every student and family to either get vaccinated or obtain a proper waiver.

6 MICHIGAN – Public Poll Shows Priorities for COVID Relief Funding

A survey of hundreds of educators, parents, and community members in Michigan showed strong support for , which both rated among the top of a list of priorities. Despite widespread support for the priorities, the survey did show some differences in focus between parents and non-parents, as well as between Democrats and Republicans.

7 KANSAS – Lawmakers Resist Ending Limitations on Virtual Learning

Kansas lawmakers are standing behind a current state law , forcing districts to close schools instead when a COVID surge necessitates. “I’m almost glad that we passed this because now we can’t blame them for being virtual, even though they don’t have the choice. If they did, they would be blamed,” Kansas Senate Minority Whip Sen. Pat Pettey, D-Kansas City, explained.

8 ILLINOIS – Gov. Ptritzker Navigates Paid Leave, Vaccination Deal for School Staff

Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a new statewide compromise: public school and higher education employees across Illinois — as long as they’re fully vaccinated. “Vaccines are a vital tool in preventing the deadly effects of COVID-19, and those who take the steps to be fully vaccinated against this virus are doing their part to keep everyone safe,” Pritzker said in a statement. The Chicago Teachers Union lauded the agreement Monday, saying Pritzker “clearly understands the value of cooperating with workers, and we hope (Chicago Public Schools) follows his lead.”

9 ARIZONA – State Sues Federal Government Over Funding, Mask Mandates

Arizona sued the Biden administration claiming that the Treasury Department exceeded its legal authority by . This is in response to the Treasury Department threatening to rescind some of the $2.1 billion Arizona received because the state used the funds to establish two programs the federal government said undermine the use of masks in schools. “Treasury believes the rule is correct and allowed by the statute and Constitution,” said Dayanara Ramirez, a Treasury spokesperson.

This update on pandemic recovery in education collects and shares news updates from the district, state, and national levels as all stakeholders continue to work on developing safe, innovative plans to resume schooling and address learning loss. It’s an offshoot of the Collaborative for Student Success’ QuickSheet newsletter, which you can .��

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Civil rights groups ask Biden administration to commit to K-12 testing.

— U.S. News & World Report (@usnews)

“The letter includes recommendations for productive ways to discuss the future of assessments, including recognizing the need for aligned and comparable data at the state level, affirming that assessment data should be a tool for improvement – not a penalty, and publicly promoting the belief that assessments should be designed to benefit all students by advancing racial equity and the achievement of underserved students,”, the executive director of the Collaborative for Student Success, in a Forbes piece discussing the coalition’s actions.

Beyond issues of assessments, student data and school improvement, here are seven other updates from across the country about how states and school systems are confronting the challenges posed by the pandemic and the Delta variant — and working to preserve student learning amid the pandemic:

NEW MEXICO — Educators and Lawmakers Raise Concerns on Extended Learning Time

New Mexico lawmakers raised concerns about the length of the school year for many of the state’s public schools, saying that , prior to the pandemic. A court ruling in the same year focused education officials’ attention on extending the school year, bolstering before and after school programs, and building out summer offerings, though educators say little progress has been made while many of the resources set aside to supplement learning time go untouched.

State lawmakers expressed concern Tuesday about a large number of public schools that aren’t participating in programs extending classroom time to help improve outcomes for students and address the ruling in the landmark Yazzie/Martinez education lawsuit.

— Santa Fe New Mexican (@thenewmexican)

NEW YORK — NYC to Require Vaccines for All Education Staff

New York City mayor Bill De Blasio announced that “teachers, principals, custodians, and workers in the department’s central office” — without having the alternative to opt in for weekly testing. The decision comes as De Blasio faces for not offering a virtual learning options for the city’s 1 million students and as Hochul announced she would seek to put in place a statewide masking mandate. Across the Hudson, New Jersey Gov. Philip D. Murphy that all public, private and parochial schools employees in the state must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 18 or be tested for COVID-19 at least once per week.

CALIFORNIA — Some Schools to Mandate Vaccines for Students

Culver City Unified, a district outside of Los Angeles, became the first district to require “all eligible students and staff attending in-person school” to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. Superintendent Quoc Tran shared in an email to parents that students will need to show proof of vaccination by Nov. 19. Students who do not receive proper COVID vaccinations by Nov. 19 will be asked to take part in schooling remotely, via the state’s “independent study” policies. Dorit Reiss, a vaccine policy expert and professor of law at University of California, Hastings, warned, “They’re taking a legal risk here … I would be surprised if there’s no lawsuit.”

NEVADA — After-School Programs Limit Services Due to Staffing Shortages

A critical after-school program provided by the City of Las Vegas is experiencing staffing shortages, . The Safekey program is offered at over 80 schools and community centers across the city and, due to staff shortages, some have been unable to open up ahead of the return to classrooms. One parent, Damaris Mendoza, told the Las Vegas Review Journal that she was only able to sign her son up for one day of the after-school program, leaving her searching for much more expensive, private childcare options.

Clark County Safekey, the program for K-5 students in the Las Vegas area, is looking to fill several positions for the new school year.

— KSNV News 3 Las Vegas (@News3LV)

INDIANA — Lawmakers Confront Learning Loss in Student-Focused Presentation

Indiana education officials told state lawmakers this week that caused by the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials cited sharp declines in math and English language arts performance for students across the state. Indiana Education Secretary Katie Jenner said that addressing the concerns would require “a multi-faceted approach to get students caught up, involving families, governments and community groups, in addition to teachers.” Officials discussed how to target millions of dollars in available grants to programs meeting student needs and driving learning acceleration.

PENNSYLVANIA — State Offers Weekly COVID-19 Testing to Schools

The state will provide as part of its reopening plans this school year. School districts will have to “opt-in” for the voluntary tests, while parents will have to provide approval for student testing. Pennsylvania’s program will be available to both public and private schools, excluding Philadelphia – which has already propped up its own testing plan. Mark DiRocco, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators, praised the program, saying he believes it will help schools maintain in person learning and minimize the spread of the rampant delta variant.

IDAHO — Expected Decline Seen in Student Progress, Officials Plan to Use Data for Recovery

As more states release the results from their statewide, summative assessments this spring, a national trend of declining English and math skills during the pandemic appears to be continuing in the Gem State. Idaho education officials . “We expected an impact, and now we can use these results to move forward to rebuild academic performance,” said Idaho Superintendent Sherri Ybarra in a news release. The newspaper reports that in the spring of 2021, nearly 163,000 students in grades 3-8, as well as high school sophomores, took the exam. Because of the pandemic, the last time all students took the test was in 2019. Participation rates are an important factor when considering test scores.

“We expected an impact, and now we can use these results to move forward to rebuild academic performance,” says Sherri Ybarra on decreased test scores in the state. More:

— Christine M. T. Pitts, PhD (@cmtpitts)

This July, the site coordinator with America Scores Los Angeles was back at Palms Elementary School, helping to lead one-on-one matches on the blacktop and reminding participants to keep their heads up as they chase the ball.

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He knows the value of the program, which combines the world’s most popular sport with literacy and cultural activities for children whose families can’t afford to play in a competitive league. He used to be one of those students.

“Some of the coaches I had were huge role models,” said Aquino, 28, now earning a degree in child psychology while working as a shift supervisor for In-N-Out, California’s iconic burger chain.

The program has many of the elements that experts look for in a high-quality summer experience — a blend of enrichment and academic support, a focus on relationships and a dedicated staff. Aquino isn’t America Scores L.A.’s only long-time staff member. A Palms Elementary special education assistant has been leading the academic side of the program for almost 20 years. That stability was especially important this year after months of missed in-person learning, said Brodrick Clarke, vice president of programs for the National Summer Learning Association.

“Programs that have long-standing relationships with families and are embedded in communities are thriving,” he said.

But in a year when parents and educators are looking to summer school to fill some of the gaps students have experienced because of the pandemic, some districts have struggled to find enough teachers to meet the demand. Districts are doing their best to hit moving targets around COVID safety, parent demand and the Delta variant, Clarke said. But even with dedicated federal funding for summer learning, newer programs have a “growth curve,” he said.

A July 29 from the Afterschool Alliance showed that more than half of programs have waitlists this summer, and 57 percent of the responding providers said they had concerns about their ability to hire enough staff members.

‘A pivotal year’

That means some students have been shut out of learning recovery efforts this summer.

Bryan Walsh, whose son Leo will be a third grader this fall in the Arlington Public Schools in Virginia, is among the parents who counted on their children participating in a summer program only to have it cancelled due to a lack of teachers.

In April, Walsh received notice that his son, who receives special education services, was automatically eligible for summer school. So he unenrolled Leo from camps offered by the local parks and recreation department, where he had already paid deposits.

But in mid-May, another email from the district stated that Leo’s program, which targeted students with special needs, had been cancelled. District spokesman Andrew Robinson said the district offered incentives— $1,000 for teachers and $500 for assistants — but still wasn’t able to recruit enough teachers.In the meantime, other camps had filled up and Walsh scrambled to find open slots. (He found space in cooking and musical theater camps, but said, “these aren’t academically oriented.”)

After a year in which Leo never had more than two shortened days of in-person learning a week, Walsh said he can’t imagine his son hasn’t fallen behind. But for a child who “couldn’t get out of the car fast enough” when schools reopened in March, he said was more concerned about him missing the “social-emotional interactions that are part and parcel of an 8-year-old’s existence in such a pivotal year.”

Robinson said 850 teachers and staff are still serving more than 4,600 students this summer and that the district will make “necessary and informed decisions as next summer approaches to further strengthen our program.”

‘Take out the friction’

Aaron Dworkin, CEO of the National Summer Learning Association, understands why districts have experienced challenges.

“Teachers are so exhausted, and they deserve to be,” he said. Districts have faced the opposite problem as well — parents registered their children, but then didn’t show up. The good news, he said, is that states and districts have three more summers to use the $30 billion set aside in the American Rescue Plan for summer and afterschool programs.

“We don’t need to try and make up for everything in six weeks,” he said.

Even so, there’s a sense of urgency about this summer. from nonprofit assessment provider NWEA shows students, on average, made much less progress in the 2020-21 school year than their peers did before the pandemic. Additionally, the and Dworkin’s have launched efforts to support states and districts in ramping up summer programs.

Dworkin said there are ways to make summer learning enticing for both teachers and students.

Setting up under a shady tree is one way.

That’s what Matthew Hathaway, a fourth-grade teacher at Owatin Creek Elementary School in Reading, Pennsylvania, has been doing since 2004. He began offering six students some extra help over the summer from his parents’ back porch, combining math and reading lessons with science activities in a nearby park.

Other teachers asked if they could join him with their students, and prior to the pandemic, his “passion project” had grown to include 120 teachers from 12 schools serving 1,500 students. While his nonprofit is called , the off-site locations include libraries and YMCAs. This year, with help from federal relief funds, the district has added breakfast, lunch and field trips.

Hathaway agreed with Dworkin that teachers especially needed time to recuperate this year. That’s why his part-time model, outside of the classroom, is attractive to teachers, he said. “Kids don’t want to be there all day either.”

Michele Stratton signed up her 9-year-old son Keegan for the program this year so he could get used to socializing with peers again and get some extra help on reading.

“It’s just a different atmosphere when you’re at a park with your friends, rather than sitting on the couch being forced to read by mom,” she said. She recently dropped by to see her son’s small group using different units of measurement to estimate the length of a slide. “In the classroom, you’re limited. Outside, the world is just open to these kids.”

During the school year, some nonprofits revamped their programs to create pods so students — especially those whose parents were essential workers — could have a safe place for remote learning. In San Francisco, the same community-based organizations that provided those “hubs” are now helping to meet the demand for summer learning, despite many obstacles those efforts faced during the school year.

A on the hubs described the political tensions between the school district, the city, the teachers union and community organizations that complicated the push to give the most vulnerable students a place to learn while schools were closed. The fact that non-union staff at the hubs provided in-person services to students was one point of contention for union supporters. “Finding ways around the union, in their view, amounted to carrying water for anti-union politicians,” the report said.

But now, new relationships between principals and afterschool providers have “transformed the conversation” about how they can work together, said Stacey Wang, CEO of the San Francisco Education Fund, which funded the report.

The partnerships have continued, with the school district providing about 10,000 slots for and the organizations that ran the hubs serving another 15,000 students.

Another challenge for districts — especially this year — is ensuring students who need support the most are the ones signing up for programs. Technology can help.

“The funding is there, but you have to take out the friction for districts,” said Rod Hsiao, who launched InPlay, a nonprofit that uses text alerts in multiple language to inform parents about free summer and afterschool opportunities and then simplifies the registration process. The program ensured “that our highest priority students were effectively recruited during our challenging pandemic year,” said Julie McCalmont, coordinator of expanded learning for the Oakland Unified School District.

But it’s what takes place when students arrive at those programs that Clarke, with the National Summer Learning Program, was evaluating when he recently visited Palms Elementary to see America Scores L.A. — one of six finalists for a national Excellence in Summer Learning . The honor recognizes providers that reach underserved students and make extra efforts to involve parents.

“I was blown away,” Clarke said. He was impressed by how active the students were in drills, despite wearing masks in the heat, and how they pitched in to gather equipment and hand out water and snacks.

But he was more taken with what was happening inside the classroom, where teaching assistant and history aficionado Oscar Gonzalez, posed “masterful” open-ended questions to students about what they think the White House looks like, why we shoot off fireworks on the 4th of July and why George Washington became the first president instead of a king.

As students began sketching and writing about their interpretations of the White House, Gonzalez gavea rising first-grader some extra help with letters and counting to 20. L.A. ‘s program, Clarke said, demonstrates that establishing connections between staff and students are essential before focusing on content.

“These are things I train practitioners to do all the time,” he said. He got the sense the soccer program’s staff members knew intuitively how to engage the students because they’ve known them for years. “It felt very authentic.”

Disparities in Learning by Region and Race:

• “Reduced access to in-person learning is associated with poorer learning outcomes and adverse mental health and behavioral effects in children.”
• “Disparities in full-time in-person learning by race/ethnicity existed across school levels and by geographic region and state. These disparities underscore the importance of prioritizing equitable access to this learning mode for the 2021-22 school year.”
• Massive differences in different parts of the country. More students (including students of color) were in-person in the South than in the West and Northeast.
• .
• Really good .

July 9, 2021 — The Big Three

COVID-19 and Schools — The Evidence for Reopening Safely: Via

• “A growing body of evidence suggests that schools can be opened safely. But that hasn’t quelled debate over whether they should be open and, if so, what steps should be taken to limit the spread of the virus.”
• “Equity also became a flashpoint in the debate. Researchers argued that remote learning would widen disparities between white students and students of color in many countries.”
• “One of the largest studies on COVID-19 in schools in the United States looked at more than 90,000 pupils and teachers in North Carolina over nine weeks last autumn. Given the rate of transmission in the community, ‘we would have expected to see about 900 cases’ in the schools, says Daniel Benjamin, a pediatrician at Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, North Carolina, and co-lead author on the study. But when the researchers conducted contact tracing to identify school-related transmissions, they identified only 32 cases.”
• “The bulk of the literature on transmission in schools … suggests that kids aren’t driving viral spread. Investigations in Germany, France, Ireland, Australia, Singapore and the United States show no, or very low, secondary attack rates within school settings.”

Vaccine Mandates at Colleges: A Washington Post report shows the percentage of two- and four-year colleges and universities that are

• “More than 500 colleges and universities plan to require coronavirus vaccination for at least some of their students and employees, according to data as of Tuesday from .”

Texas state test results reveal dramatic drop in the number of students on grade level: .

• “, and the number of students who met reading expectations dropped by 9 percentage points compared to 2019, the last time the test was administered.”
• “In districts with more than three-quarters in-person instruction, the number of students meeting math expectations only dropped by 9 percentage points and those who met reading expectations by 1 percentage point. Students of color and lower-income students saw greater gaps as well, although those gaps were smaller than the one between remote and in-person instruction.”
• “, from 50 percent of students meeting their grade level in 2019 to only 35 percent this year.”
• “This is probably this year as a result of COVID than in normal years,” Education Commissioner Mike Morath said. “It is important to remember that these are not numbers. These are children.”

Federal Updates

Infrastructure deal: .

• A Punchbowl News survey of senior Capitol Hill staffers finds that , and the American Families Plan and the full American Jobs Plan will be left by the wayside.
• “The White House’s long sought-after bipartisan infrastructure deal could ,” Politico reports.

Education Department:

• for South Dakota, Texas, Massachusetts, Utah, Arkansas, Rhode Island and Washington D.C.
• Is inviting states to complete the application for their share of the second disbursement of
• • Katy Neas, deputy assistant secretary, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
  • Toby Merrill, deputy general counsel, Office of the General Counsel
  • Hayley Matz Meadvin, senior adviser, Office of the Secretary
  • Chris Soto, senior adviser, Office of the Secretary
  • Antoinette Flores, senior adviser for American Rescue Plan implementation, Office of Postsecondary Education
  • Deven Comen, chief of staff, Office of Communications and Outreach
  • Abel McDaniels, special assistant, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

Emergency Connectivity Fund: The Federal Communications Commission officially opened the application window for schools and libraries to file Education Superhighway

National Center for Education Statistics: Total K-12 enrollment in 2020-21 compared with the previous school year. More via ����Ӱ��.

City & State News

Illinois: for reopening schools. The union is asking for:

• 80 percent of students 12 and older to be vaccinated against COVID-19 by October and 80 percent of younger students within 60 days after FDA emergency use authorization for their age group.
• Ventilation system upgrades at school buildings.
• A 10 percent increase in special education teachers, bilingual teachers, English language program teachers, teacher assistants and arts educators by Jan. 27 to support community recovery.
• The union also wants members who are medically unable to return in-person to fill positions at the district’s new remote-learning Virtual Academy for students with qualifying health conditions.

Florida: was up between July and September by 5,644 – a 98 percent increase – while the flexible virtual program saw course requests increase by 231,128, or 57 percent, from the same time in 2019.

Maryland: , writes Margery Smelkinson, an immunology and infectious-disease scientist.

Michigan: Health department which mostly points to CDC guidance.

New Jersey: “Nearly 80 percent of third-graders and almost 90 percent of fourth-graders would ‘not meet the passing score’ on the state math exams, according to a district analysis that was not made public,” .

COVID-19 Research

Delta Variant:

• In Los Angeles County, the pace of Delta’s spread has
• In the UK, due to Delta cases at the end of June — the highest number since children returned to school in March. That number jumped

Damage to Children’s Education — and Their Health — Could Last a Lifetime: Via . Long, but worth reading the whole piece.

Masks Can Prevent COVID-19 Transmission in Schools: (and an ): “Proper masking is the most effective mitigation strategy to prevent secondary transmission in schools when COVID-19 is circulating and when vaccination is unavailable, or there is insufficient uptake.”

Doctors Are Puzzled by Heart Inflammation in the Young and Vaccinated: Via

• “These events are, so far, not matching the most terrifying versions of the condition, which have been observed with coronavirus infections.”
• “Rather, compared with more typical cases of myocarditis, the ones linked to the vaccines, on average, involve briefer symptoms and speedier recoveries, even with less invasive treatments. Still, the incidents are showing up in the few days that follow each vaccine’s second dose at higher-than-expected rates, especially in boys and young men, and no one is yet sure why.”
• “All of these factors make the risk of this complication tough to quantify, and several researchers have criticized the CDC’s recent evaluation. But most of the experts I spoke with said that the calculations still come out strongly in favor of vaccination, in part because of another set of disconcerting ambiguities, this time on the side of the virus.”

What Parents With Unvaccinated Kids Need to Know About the Delta Variant This Summer: Via

Vaccinating Teens: , CNN reports.

• “It takes five weeks to be fully vaccinated with Pfizer’s vaccine, the only one authorized for adolescents ages 12 to 17. That means, for example, Atlanta students need to get their first shot by July 1 to be fully immunized by the first day of school on Aug. 5.”

Viewpoints

How COVID-19 is Inspiring Education Reform: Via

• “Big shocks have sometimes changed schooling for the better. The Second World War midwifed the Butler Act in Britain, which increased years of compulsory schooling and abolished the fees still charged by many state schools. After Hurricane Katrina inundated New Orleans, officials there embarked on sweeping school reforms. Nine years later graduation rates had increased by 9-13 percentage points.”
• “Struggling learners would benefit enormously if expanded tutoring schemes become core parts of education systems. A long-running tutoring programme at Match Charter Public School in Boston provides one model. Before the pandemic it offered all children in four grades daily tutoring in maths. It operates a longer school day than is common in its neighbourhood, so Match manages to slot these sessions into students’ timetables without them having to give up anything else.”

Make Telemedicine Services for Children Permanent: Kelly Wolfe, a former educator and advocacy leader for children’s health in Minnesota and vice president of strategic partnerships and regulatory compliance at PresenceLearning, writes at ����Ӱ��: During COVID, states let students get speech therapy, mental health counseling and other services online. Make those changes permanent.

Survey of Black Parents:

• Black parents remain less likely than white and Hispanic parents to vaccinate themselves or their children.
• Roughly half of Black parents believe it will be safe to send children back to school for in-person classes by September. But 31 percent said it will take longer.
• and .

How the Pandemic Helped Fuel the Private School Choice Movement: Via :

• “Six states had enacted new programs by July 1, and a bill to create a new program in Missouri awaited Gov. Mike Parson’s signature. Governors also approved expansions of 14 existing voucher and tax-credit scholarship programs by loosening eligibility restrictions or expanding their budgets.”
• “Among the biggest moves in states’ 2021 legislative sessions: West Virginia created the most-expansive education savings account program in the country, making most of the state’s students eligible for the Hope Scholarship Program, which will provide up to $4,600 in state funds per student. New Hampshire’s budget includes a new educational savings account program available to families with incomes up to 300 percent of the federal poverty line.”

The Pandemic Will Worsen Illiteracy. Another Outcome Is Possible:

Some Students Thrived Learning From Home — They Deserve a Permanent Model: Via

��#�ճܰ��԰ճ��ʲ�����ʰ�����𳦳�: The Walton Family Foundation and COVID Collaborative launched a that includes unique perspectives from parents, practitioners and thought leaders on what they believe the future of learning looks like.

• The project includes Common, Drew Furedi, Eddie Koen, Elmo, Emily Oster, Jessica Hamilton, Kaya Henderson, Maria Hinojosa, Mikala Streeter, Nekima Levy Armstrong, Shalinee Sharma, Sharon McMahon, Tim Shriver, Tom Frieden, Viridiana Carrizales, Zahir Mbengue and Ze Min Xiao.

…And on a Lighter Note

This Dad:

ICYMI @The74

Weekend Reads: In case you missed them, our top five stories of the week:

• Critical Race Theory: Chaos Theory — Amid Pandemic Recovery Efforts, School Leaders Fear Critical Race Furor Will ‘Paralyze’ Teachers
• Student Health: Spread of Delta Variant Marks ‘Most Dangerous’ Time in Pandemic for Kids, May Force Schools to Re-Up Safety Measures, Experts Say
• Looking Ahead: 12 Big Challenges From Last School Year That Could Now Define the Fall of 2021 — From Learning Loss to Restoring Trust, Closing Achievement Gaps & More
• Pandemic Recovery: Analysis: Most Students in Urban Districts Will Have Summer Learning Options, But Schools’ Plans May Miss the Mark
• Federal Data: Almost All Schools Offered In-Person Learning by Spring, But Attendance Varied Widely By Race

Disclosure: John Bailey is an adviser to the Walton Family Foundation, which provides financial support to .

America’s longstanding achievement gaps have been made more acute by the learning losses of the COVID-19 crisis. As a response, we have seen an increasingly strong admonition that states and districts adopt an strategy. Instead of the almost universally used strategy of remediation, in which schools try to teach students what they missed a year or more ago, acceleration looks forward: acceleration readies students for upcoming grade-level lessons.

Acceleration is easy to write about and extremely challenging to accomplish. It starts with establishing what students absolutely need to know, which requires accurate diagnostics geared to immediate learning targets. It also requires close linkages between the diagnostics and the curricular material that the teachers will use. Painfully but necessarily, it also means restricting the number of learning goals for the academic year: One cannot accelerate students who are seriously behind to the point at which every grade-level skill becomes accessible. A smaller number of key goals is crucial to success. Finally, additional professional support for school personnel is likely to be needed, while more typical supports such as tutoring, in-class differentiated instruction and Response to Intervention strategies may need restructuring.

To meet the challenges of accelerated learning, organizations such as TNTP and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute have compiled for school districts. But the devil is very much in the details: How, exactly, is a district to approach the nuts and bolts of addressing a very specific set of learning challenges? In an earlier , a school principal who had long used acceleration described her strategy around mathematics. It is compelling. But that was a story from a single school. The field needs broader but nevertheless concrete advice.

Districts (and states) that have large contracts with providers of instructional materials should expect publishers to be ready and able to partner with them to transition to acceleration in ways that meet the needs of district leaders, principals and teachers as they work to increase learning readiness for on-grade work this fall. Education leaders should also be asking themselves tough questions about elements of their own readiness:

• Are they using high-quality instructional materials that include diagnostic assessments, which will alert teachers as to which skills must be taught to which students, so all students in that grade are ready for grade-level work?
• If such materials have not yet been adapted, is the district working to ensure that teachers have the data to identify what extra instruction their students may need to be prepared for upcoming grade-level work? That work may include providing new diagnostic tools and/or new professional support for teachers.
• Has the district worked with teachers to identify a modified (reduced) number of grade-level learning goals in English Language Arts and math for students who are behind and getting acceleration support?

The key challenge here is fragmentation. Assessment results can come from multiple sources — in-class quizzes, curriculum-embedded diagnostics, nationally normed assessments and (until last year) state tests, among others. Trying to use multiple testing data from different sources to identify what to teach small groups of students then becomes a major headache, especially since some stand-alone tests (such as i-Ready) offer specific links to curriculum material that may or may not integrate seamlessly with the district curriculum teachers are supposed to use.

Now, consider how a large urban district, District A, sought to adapt materials it was already using to implement an acceleration strategy for early elementary foundational skills.

In early spring 2021, as many districts were raising concerns about immediate challenges, such as getting students back into schools, District A convened a task force to consider summer 2021 instruction. Its charge was to research and determine how to use that time to provide equitable access to instruction that would address learning loss among early elementary students. District A began examining options that could be delivered over four weeks. It consulted Wilson Language Training because it was already using the company’s Fundations learning-to-read program throughout the district.

Wilson Fundations is a structured literacy program that provides a pathway to develop students’ phonemic awareness, decoding and automatic word recognition, handwriting and spelling. It is a supplemental program that sequentially and cumulatively establishes foundational skills critical for reading and writing success — supporting the ELA program in place — based on evidence from the accumulation of research on reading and writing acquisition and instruction — the science of reading.

Although in years past Fundations had been used in various settings for summer programs, it had not been formalized into a set program for this purpose. Due to the urgent need and short timeline, WLT also put together a task force to determine key considerations for a 20-day, Fundations-based program that included teachers and school administrators who had experience using Fundations, and Wilson literacy specialists and advisers.

It quickly became evident that the teachers would need both professional learning and clearly specified lesson guidelines to be set out in a manual, so instruction would be efficient and highly focused. A key question was how to determine which foundational skills students had missed during this COVID-challenged school year so teachers might tailor individualized instruction accordingly.

Because Fundations is cumulative, building upon previously mastered skills and including both spiraling back for review and layering as new skills are introduced, the conversation led to a rethinking of the idea of “filling in” missed skills. Rather than evaluating all that had been taught during the previous year and seeking to address many of those skills during the summer, the task force focused on what rising first- and second-graders would encounter at the beginning of the 2021-22 school year. Its members came to the realization that:

• It is impossible to teach all things from a one-year curriculum in 20 days.
• If assessments determined skill gaps, teachers would need to expertly group kids and efficiently teach a variety of skills in a short amount of time.
• Professional development would be difficult, as teachers new to Fundations would need to learn how to teach a full-year curriculum.
• With a laser focus on the identification of and guidance on teaching a manageable number of key skills, teachers could be prepared for instruction and students could master them in the given amount of time.
• Instruction that targeted key skills would best prepare students for a successful start to the school year.

The next step was to map out the program. Since many schools and districts that used Fundations during the regular academic year did not intend to offer summer learning opportunities but still needed to help students begin the year with success, the task force created something that could be used either in the summer or at the beginning of the school year. The team also determined that it made most sense to examine the initial Fundations Units (essentially, the first month of the upcoming school year) to identify the most critical skills that would prepare students for success at the start. The district wished to provide a pre- and post- curriculum-based assessment, so this was developed with an eye toward the key skills directly related to the summer program rather than all the previous year’s foundational skills.

WLT planned intensive instruction in three half-hour components for each daily lesson with a focus on: 1) phonemic awareness, the alphabetic principle and phonics; 2) transcription skills: handwriting fluency and spelling; and 3) automatic recognition of words and reading practice with text that contains taught word patterns and attention to meaning and an organized, paraphrased retell. Finally, the task force put an appropriate name to the effort — Ready to Rise.

Although District A initially proposed allocating 30 minutes per day to the Fundations Ready to Rise program, WLT recommended 60- or, still better, 90-minute sessions to ensure real mastery. Although the daily summer sessions would be longer, the district also planned to provide math instruction and was considering using another independent online assessment of reading skills with corresponding lessons. WLT responded that it was not possible to achieve mastery of the key identified skills in a 20-day span with only 30 minutes a day, and though the lessons might be alternated within a 60-minute time frame, the 90-minute sessions were highly recommended. The program’s three components could also be done with three teachers working with small groups at different times throughout the day, and so did not necessarily require 90 consecutive minutes. WLT made the case that the spelling component of the lesson reinforces decoding, the storage of words in long-term memory, and reading fluency. The team also emphasized the importance of reading practice, as reading with fluency and understanding is the ultimate goal.

District A decided to follow the recommendation to do all three components of Ready to Rise. Several other schools and districts also decided to implement the program during the upcoming summer.

What larger insights can be drawn, once one is determined to focus on future rather than past learning goals? First, granular planning is critical: Leaders need to set out precisely how many minutes of instruction will be provided, the exact learning goals and the specific materials, identify all those involved (tutors, specialists, and teachers) and give them access to the shared professional development on the chosen acceleration strategies. Second, this requires a sea change from business as usual, where teachers attempt to impart skill-based standards using an eclectic rather than a coherent curriculum. It is not possible to accelerate children with fragmented content. Summer programs, tutoring, Response to Intervention, professional development — indeed, all efforts to prepare students for grade-level instruction — must rest on fierce agreement about the shared curriculum to be taught in classrooms. What we teach is the anchor that holds everything else in place.

David Steiner is executive director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy.

Barbara Wilson is an author and co-founder of Wilson Language Training.

El Paso area high school students performed significantly worse on this spring’s state standardized math exam, the first indication of the extent of pandemic learning loss in public education.

The percentage of first-time test takers who scored on grade level for the Algebra I end-of-course exam fell by 47 points compared to 2019, the most recent year the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness were administered.

The Texas Education Agency defines performance that “” as “strong knowledge of course content” and preparedness to move to the next grade level. Algebra I is one of five subject exams students must pass to graduate.

Only 32% of students in Region 19, the area that includes 12 school districts in El Paso and Hudspeth counties, scored on grade level this spring, compared to 79% in spring 2019.

Though the percentage of students considered at grade level on end-of-course reading and writing exams also fell, the declines were less severe, mirroring national and state trends.

This spring, 49% of the region’s first-time test takers scored on grade level on the English I exam, down from 59% in 2019. The percentage of students on grade level for the English II exam remained unchanged — at 57%.

Most students only engage with math in the classroom, whereas they are able to develop literacy skills in daily life, said Carmen Crosse, assistant superintendent of secondary education in the Socorro Independent School District.

“We read and write as we communicate with others,” Crosse said. “Math is not such a skill. It is one that is done academically, in classes.”

Texas released STAAR scores for high school end-of-course exams last week, the first statewide data showing the impact of months-long school closures. Results for students in grades 3 through 8 will be available June 28, Texas Education Agency spokesperson Frank Ward said.

Despite pressure from lawmakers and superintendents to cancel this year’s state standardized tests, which  happened in 2020, Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath to gauge students’ academic progress.

But unlike 2019, the STAAR exams were not mandatory this spring. Students who were learning virtually were not required to show up to campus to take the test, though high school seniors were required to take any end-of-course exams they either had not passed or not yet taken.

Though fewer students took the STAAR exams this year, Crosse said the results are still a valuable tool to evaluate learning loss.

All but one of El Paso County’s nine districts saw larger math performance declines than the state as a whole.

The share of El Paso County students on grade level in Algebra I dropped between 34 to 55 percentage points, compared to the 24-point drop seen statewide. Only the Canutillo Independent School District saw slightly more of its students perform at grade level in math than the state average.

The county’s large, urban districts, including Socorro ISD, were some of the last in the state to resume offering in-person classes in , though many families kept their students at home given the region’s high rates of coronavirus cases. About three-quarters of SISD students finished the school year learning remotely, and close to two-thirds of Ysleta students, according to data the districts provided.

Crosse anticipated SISD would see a decline in the number of students performing at grade level on this year’s STAAR exams, but said she was “really floored by the large drop in math,” which fell from 80% in 2019 to 25%.

“But I also know that it is a skill that needs to be practiced and that is only practiced in the academic setting,” she said.

SISD teachers and administrators are using the results to develop strategies to get students back on track, which Crosse said will likely take more than next school year. That will include integrating concepts students struggled to master into next year’s curriculum, as well as offering after-school and Saturday school tutoring programs for students who need extra support.

This fall will see students’ return to the classroom, as districts will to offer virtual learning.

That will go far in addressing learning loss, Crosse said.

“We know that face-to-face instruction is critical and we know that it is the best way to learn,” she said. “Although we did have many kids thrive in the virtual world, we had more kids that did not do as well, whether it was for social-emotional reasons or just academically because of the engagement.”

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.