Lost Learning Time Is Not the Crisis
We should be focused on our kids’ social and emotional needs, not academic expectations
As school districts begin planning to re-open this fall, a panic about lost learning time is dominating the discussion. This focus directly pits measures to close the achievement gap against the health, safety, and emotional well-being of students, teachers, and families.
New research — widely circulated in the media — asserts that students have fallen months behind during the coronavirus. This makes intuitive sense to parents and teachers who have watched their children and students struggle with remote learning. And polling shows that a majority of parents are worried that their children are falling behind.
It would be strange if closing schools for more than two months in the midst of a national crisis and widespread trauma didn’t impact academic gains. But there are also important reasons to challenge this focus and its underlying premises.
Research on learning loss, like much educational research, is presented in stark terms that imply it is based on conclusive results. In reality, this is very hard to measure. Many of the current projections are not based on new data but simply extrapolate from previous research on learning losses that take place over the…
