Lost Learning: COVID-19’s Devastating Impact on Students’ Education

The article “Students Lost One-Third of a School Year to Pandemic, Study Finds” from the New York Times discusses the results of a recent study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The study evaluated the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on students’ academic progress and the results were staggering.  The study ended up concluding that children affected by the pandemic are one third of a school year behind due to school closures, remote learning, and other pandemic related distractions. 

Children’s education has been significantly impacted by the difficulties of remote learning and other stressors that kids and families faced throughout the pandemic, and these issues were not resolved when schools reopened. Even two years after these losses, according to the analysis, children have not yet fully recovered, and this lack of development raises concerns that it will continue as they enter higher education and the workforce. The impact that the pandemic has had on children has been far-reaching and has long lasting effects on their future. It is important that officials take action to address this issue and provide resources and support to help children make up for the lost time and opportunities. This could include programs that provide additional learning and tutoring, as well as resources that address the broader issues that children and families experienced throughout the pandemic.

The author’s purpose in writing this article is to inform the public about the effects that the pandemic has had on our children in schools and to call onto policy makers to make changes and take action. There is not any noticeable apparent bias that is detrimental to the information presented in the article. The study that this article is based off is included in a way making it easier to understand, there is also real stories that are used to make this issue more relatable and comprehensible to most of us. In addition, expert opinions and findings are included to help support the claims that are being made and they provide additional context and help understanding the issue at hand. These expert opinions offer a broader perspective on the study’s results and help to highlight the importance of addressing the challenges facing students and educators during the pandemic.

The article “Students Lost One-Third of a School Year to Pandemic, Study Finds” sheds light on the devastating impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on students’ education, and highlights the need for urgent action to address the issue. Children have experienced significant learning deficits, especially those that come from low-income backgrounds, which threaten to follow them into higher education and the workforce. There is a powerful reminder of the need for policymakers and educators to take action to address the challenges facing students during this unprecedented time.  Schools and policy makers must provide resources and support to help children recover from these losses, and prevent them from becoming a long-lasting and inequitable legacy of the pandemic.

Sources

Baumgaertner, E. (2023, January 30). Students lost one-third of a school year to pandemic, study finds. The New York Times. Retrieved February 8, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/30/health/covid-education-children.html