Re: Point 9. "Student achievement is up...These gains were not nearly large enough to erase all the pandemic-era learning losses, but they were large in historical terms." Back in 2020, I drew on ACT's research ("Catching Up to College and Career Readiness") and other sources to describe, using Jefferson County (CO) Public Schools as a quantitative example, concluded that, "before the pandemic arrived, the overwhelming weight of evidence supported the conclusion that, absent extraordinary efforts, it is very difficult for most students to catch up academically once they have fallen behind. For any district, board, or union leader to claim otherwise is grossly misleading.
Now Covid-9 learning losses have made this frightening and depressing situation much worse.
That remains as true today as when I wrote those words 3.5 years ago. The ugly truth that nobody in K12 wants to admit, is that most of the kids who were behind at the start of COVID, and/or who suffered substantial learning losses during the pandemic, will ever catch up to proficiency by the time they graduate. Few districts (much less teachers unions) are willing and able to make the substantial changes that would require. And our economy, national security, society, and politics will pay a frightful future price for that.
Re: Point 9. "Student achievement is up...These gains were not nearly large enough to erase all the pandemic-era learning losses, but they were large in historical terms." Back in 2020, I drew on ACT's research ("Catching Up to College and Career Readiness") and other sources to describe, using Jefferson County (CO) Public Schools as a quantitative example, concluded that, "before the pandemic arrived, the overwhelming weight of evidence supported the conclusion that, absent extraordinary efforts, it is very difficult for most students to catch up academically once they have fallen behind. For any district, board, or union leader to claim otherwise is grossly misleading.
Now Covid-9 learning losses have made this frightening and depressing situation much worse.
As a result, there are growing doubts that our students will graduate with the depth and breadth of knowledge and skills the nation needs to power economic growth and reduce inequality in the rapidly evolving twenty-first-century digital economy." (https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/will-students-recover-their-covid-19-learning-losses).
That remains as true today as when I wrote those words 3.5 years ago. The ugly truth that nobody in K12 wants to admit, is that most of the kids who were behind at the start of COVID, and/or who suffered substantial learning losses during the pandemic, will ever catch up to proficiency by the time they graduate. Few districts (much less teachers unions) are willing and able to make the substantial changes that would require. And our economy, national security, society, and politics will pay a frightful future price for that.