Recovery for U.S. Students in 2021: What Schools and Districts Can Do to Make up for Lost Learning Time

Center on Reinventing Public Education. University of Washington Bothell Box 358200, Seattle, WA 98195. Tel: 206-685-2214; Fax: 206-221-7402; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site: http://www.crpe.org

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Allstate Foundation

Learning; Well Being; COVID-19; Pandemics; Educational Change; Individualized Education Programs; Educational Strategies; Learner Engagement; Culturally Relevant Education; Minority Group Students; Holistic Approach; Tutoring; Intervention; Extended School Day; Numeracy; Emergent Literacy; Dropout Prevention; Distance Education; Educational Innovation; Family School Relationship; Teacher Administrator Relationship; Faculty Development; Elementary Secondary Education; Public Schools

North Carolina; Arizona; Texas; Virginia; California (Oakland)

After eighteen months of school closure and disrupted learning, civic leaders, researchers, and educational leaders are getting a clearer picture of how students fared through the pandemic, and what new reality school systems face as they return to in-person schooling in 2021-22. Increases in community infection rates and parent hesitancy have thrown districts back into uncertainty, making it all the more critical to ensure continuity of learning and well-being for students who may not be able to return to classrooms as quickly as planned, and may face continued disruptions due to quarantines. As students return to a third year of disrupted learning, school and system leaders cannot lose sight of our schools' most critical charge this year: addressing unfinished learning and restoring student well-being. While gauging the academic impacts of the pandemic through spring 2021 has been challenging, a body of evidence is emerging from a range of public and private institutions studying this question from different angles. The best interpretations of the most reliable information available underscore a few critical observations: (1) the average student mastered less academic content this year because of the pandemic and associated disruptions to schooling; (2) the pandemic's average impacts on academic achievement, while significant, mask substantial variation in impacts across subjects, grades, demographic groups, and geography; (3) the evidence to date likely understates both the average academic impacts of the pandemic and the opportunity and achievement gaps it has produced; and (4) declines in student well-being indicators could diminish future conditions for successful learning. We propose the following six principles, some of which districts are already applying, to ensure students experience a positive, healthy, and restorative schooling experience this year: (1) provide each student an individualized, three-year instructional plan that uses data to address their academic, social, and emotional needs; (2) prioritize strategies that honor and re-engage students most impacted by the pandemic; (3) use tutoring, extended learning time, and early diagnostic systems to strengthen student foundations in math and early literacy; (4) provide at least one quality remote option while safely reopening schools in person; (5) pilot new structures for learning, such as flexible schedules, prioritizing content mastery over seat time, and new ways of structuring school; and (6) create coherent, aligned systems of support for educators and families. This moment demands new, bold leadership from all of us who touch the lives of students--from civic leaders to policymakers to system leaders to educators. Fast action and transformative change can prevent long-term harm. [The COVID Collaborative contributed to this report.]

As Provided

2021

ED615195